Acupuncture As A Healing Medicine
Let’s be real here, volunteering to have a licensed practitioner stick needles into your body for healing purposes may sound ridiculously absurd, but acupuncture, a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) practice of penetrating the skin with tiny, stainless steel needles, continues growing in popularity year after year. More than 10 million patient acupuncture sessions happen in the United States every year!
The reason for its appeal? Acupuncture is generally safe and may be an effective therapy to help address a variety of health concerns.
Acupuncture is an ancient Asian medicine that functions to rebalance the body’s dysfunction by inserting thin needles into the body. These acupuncture points are associated with energy meridians in the body. Each point has a specific location, function, and application. The points are chosen based on the primary pattern of disharmony in the body. This disharmony is something the Licensed Acupuncturist determines based on their assessment. There’s a lot of question-and-answer time on your first session to help the Acupuncturist figure this out.
We’d all love to be in balance every day, but daily life can sometimes mess with that. Physical and emotional stressors can throw our energies off balance. Injury can cause things to stagnate in our body. Eating foods that don’t agree with you can disrupt the flow of energy. Not getting enough quality sleep throws off our rhythms and affects all our body systems. An unhealthy lifestyle in general can cause your body to rebel. If not totally rebel, it would just not work properly or optimally. Acupuncture works to help systems in our body run smoothly.
The main mode of treatment for acupuncture is the needles. People often ask, “does it hurt?” The simple answer is “it depends.” It’s not a cop out, it’s the truth. There are several styles of acupuncture that treat patients with different methods: needle size, insertion depth, manipulation or not, electric stimulation or not, etc. Japanese acupuncture, the style used by our Acupuncturist, is a powerful, yet subtle treatment experience. The needles are super thin, inserted superficially, and they’re not manipulated or electronically stimulated. Once they are in, they are left to do their work. The needles are about as thick as two strands of hair. Yes, they’re that thin! In addition to the needles, an Acupuncturist might use other tools to help with healing. Moxibustion is an herb (mugwort) that promotes the movement of energy, reduces inflammation, boosts immunity, and detoxes your energy meridian. Cupping can be used to break up any stagnation and promote healing & relaxation: tight muscles, respiratory problems, cough, anxiety, stress, etc. Sometimes cupping can leave bruise-like marks on your body, but the energy release feels so good!
Acupuncture is used to help many conditions. Most conditions that you would see a Medical Doctor for, acupuncture can help with: women’s health (fertility, menstrual cycles, pregnancy, menopause), headaches, pain management, arthritis, gastrointestinal issues (nausea, constipation, diarrhea, abdominal bloating, poor digestion), anxiety, stress management, allergies, and sleeping issues – just to name a few. It can be used as a tool to help your body simply relax and realign and it can be used to assist your body in the management of chronic conditions. Regardless of what you seek acupuncture for, you will leave a treatment feeling better than you went in.
We are so excited to have Tanya join our team here at AO-The Space! A little bit about Tanya: Tanya Miszko, L.Ac., is a licensed acupuncturist and a Diplomate in Acupuncture from the National Certifcation Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine. She received her Master’s degree in Acupuncture from The New England School of Acupuncture, with a specialty in Japanese style acupuncture. Tanya has been studying and practicing Shakuju (non-insertive Japanese style acupuncture) under the supervision of Kobayashi Shoji from Japan. She focuses on women’s health issues, stress reduction, and overall well-being. Tanya incorporates her passion for healing and health into an integrated mind-body therapy.
Call or text to schedule your appointment, and find out for yourself how healing and beneficial Acupuncture can be!
Stay healthy, stay well, and have a beautiful day!
xoxo - Jessie
