How many acupuncture treatments will I need?
Your body as a garden
The concept of gardening gives us an excellent illustration for the theories behind Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and acupuncture. Imagine you are a gardener whose job it is to help a garden thrive. To help nature along, you must provide necessities such as water and fertilizer. You must make sure plants receive the right amount of sun, and you must weed out any undesirable elements. Gardening takes time and effort, but the reward is a beautiful, healthy garden, abundant with flowers and vegetables. One of the philosophies underlying... [Read more...]
What to expect from the early phases of treatment
Did you ever notice that the biggest hill of a rollercoaster is always somewhere in the beginning of the ride? This is so that the cars can develop enough momentum from the first hill to propel them through the rest of the course. Getting to the top of that first hill, however, takes some work. The full weight of the cars must be towed up the hill from a standing start before they can be released at the top. In fact, if the ride contains a really gigantic summit, sometimes you are pulled up a smaller hill first and then the momentum from... [Read more...]
Once I start, do I have to get acupuncture forever?
One of the biggest myths about acupuncture is that “once you start, you have to go forever.” First of all, it is entirely up to you how long you choose to continue to get treatments. Of course, like any other healthy habit, the longer you maintain it, the better your quality of life. But just to clear up some confusion, let’s look at the process of a comprehensive schedule of acupuncture care in another light. Perhaps the most apt analogy for continuing care for the meridian system is reconstructive orthodontics for your teeth. Both... [Read more...]
Are you stuck in first gear?
Imagine you are driving down the road with your gas pedal to the floor. Your car runs great and gets you to where you need to be. All is good. But then you look around and notice that everyone else is whizzing right by you. Determined to keep up with those around you, you take your car into the shop and have the mechanic give it a good once-over. The mechanic finds that while you have been getting to where you need to be, you have been doing so while driving in only one gear. In actuality, he discovers that your car has an entire set of... [Read more...]
