Acupuncture, Cupping, Traditional Chinese Medicine
At Remedy Wellness Centre Acupuncture treatments use a combination of techniques, so we can tailor a treatment that is unique and specific to your needs. Acupuncture may involve cupping, tui na massage and obviously needling or you can opt for acupressure if you still want the benefits of acupuncture but don't like needles. We provide acupuncture for fertility and managing symptoms during pregnancy, acupuncture for stress and anxiety, acupuncture for digestive health, acupuncture for muscle pain, acupuncture for headaches and much more.
Acupuncture is based on the premise that bodily functions are regulated by the flow of energy throughout the body, called Qi ( "Chee" ). Qi's balance greatly influences the mental, physical, spiritual and emotional part of the self. Disruption of this flow is believed to be responsible for the rise of symptoms and disease. Acupuncture treatment focuses on correcting imbalances in the flow of Qi by stimulation of specific anatomical areas under the skin called acupuncture points. These acupuncture points are connected by channels known as meridians. Acupuncture is used to encourage natural healing, improve energy, reduce or relieve pain and improve function of affected areas of the body.
The western view on acupuncture is that it affects neurotransmitters, reduces inflammation, balances hormones and therefore has a positive effect on the many systems of the body. Acupuncture has been clinically proven to help with digestion, mental health, hormonal imbalance, infertility, headaches, muscle pain, inflammation, joint pain and more. If you search online, you will find many studies supporting this. Pain BC has an excellent webinar about acupuncture: https://painbc.ca/health-professionals/webinars/acupuncture-and-chronic-pain
Acupuncture is based on the premise that bodily functions are regulated by the flow of energy throughout the body, called Qi ( "Chee" ). Qi's balance greatly influences the mental, physical, spiritual and emotional part of the self. Disruption of this flow is believed to be responsible for the rise of symptoms and disease. Acupuncture treatment focuses on correcting imbalances in the flow of Qi by stimulation of specific anatomical areas under the skin called acupuncture points. These acupuncture points are connected by channels known as meridians. Acupuncture is used to encourage natural healing, improve energy, reduce or relieve pain and improve function of affected areas of the body.
The western view on acupuncture is that it affects neurotransmitters, reduces inflammation, balances hormones and therefore has a positive effect on the many systems of the body. Acupuncture has been clinically proven to help with digestion, mental health, hormonal imbalance, infertility, headaches, muscle pain, inflammation, joint pain and more. If you search online, you will find many studies supporting this. Pain BC has an excellent webinar about acupuncture: https://painbc.ca/health-professionals/webinars/acupuncture-and-chronic-pain
What To Expect With Acupuncture
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An initial acupuncture consultation includes an in depth health history review, taking the pulse on both arms and inspection of the tongue. Based on the results of this assessment, acupuncture treatment is highly individualized and treatment focus will vary depending on your treatment goals and expectations. Techniques used may include needling, cupping, tui na massage, acupressure, etc. Follow up treatments are typically shorter in length and will follow a treatment plan determined by your needs and therapeutic goals. Since the effects of acupuncture are typically cumulative, you should plan to come back once a week for at least 3 consecutive visits. Your acupuncturist may also recommend some lifestyle changes, herbs or homecare practices. |
Acupuncture Treatment Expectations
Acupuncture Healing Reactions: This doesn’t happen every time, but a patient may notice that their symptoms get temporarily worse before they feel better, with acupuncture. This can even happen during acupuncture treatment (for example, a treatment for stress and frustration that makes you feel restless and frustrated that you can’t move during treatment). This usually doesn’t last long (a few hours to a couple of days) and usually the person feels much better afterwards. This is usually a sign that long term stagnation is beginning to break up - which is a good thing! This is not a very common result of acupuncture treatment, though it is not rare either.
No change: A person might not notice much has shifted after their first acupuncture session. This is not unusual especially if the issue being treated is a chronic one. It can sometimes take a few acupuncture treatments before a patient notices improvement. This is most common for chronic illness, complex internal issues, and when treating multiple issues at once.
Change That Doesn’t Last Long: Results after the first acupuncture treatment or two might be short lived - this doesn’t mean you won't ever get long term results. Healing is a process, and the first few treatments are helping to move your health in a new direction. Continued acupuncture treatment will result in bigger and longer lasting results. This is also one of the reasons we ask patients to come in for treatments spaced about 1 week apart in the beginning, as this will help the process move faster.
Significant Change: It is not uncommon to get feed back from new patients who can’t believe just how awesome they felt after acupuncture treatment! That’s always great to hear, but it is important to note that not every single treatment will result in the same mind-blowing results. Some treatments will seem more subtle then others, and some will seem more profound - this is all normal! Healing is rarely a straight line from injured to healed: Sometimes it can be a much more varied experience.
How We Prescribe Courses of Acupuncture Treatment:
How often you come in for acupuncture and for how many treatments in total, will depend on a few factors; The more concerns you have to address, the severity of your concern, how long you’ve had your concern, your daily activities, and your general overall health are all factors that will impact the number and frequency of treatments your Acupuncturist suggests.
For example, a generally health person in their 20’s or 30’s who recently twisted their ankle may only need 1 or 2 treatments to get better. On the other hand, if this same person continues to run long distances everyday, doesn’t eat enough calories, and refuses to do their home care, it might take as many as 6 or more treatments for their ankle to fully recover.
Likewise, a person in their 60’s/70’s who has hormonal imbalances, weight issues, diabetes, and a sedentary lifestyle will require more acupuncture treatments to address the same ankle injury as the person described above. This is because we are not just treating the ankle in this person’s case. Acupuncture is holistic in nature, so its hard (if not impossible) to treat things in isolation. While the treatment will be focused on the ankle injury, it would also be necessary to start addressing the health of this person as a whole. After all, how is your body supposed to help heal an ankle injury if it is suffering from poor nutrition, slowed metabolic processes, hormonal chaos, the general wear-and-tear of 60+ years of life, et cetera?
Generally speaking, a typical course of acupuncture treatment for concerns such as anxiety/stress, allergies, digestion, reproductive health, chronic issues, and general internal medicine complaints will require between 3-6 treatments spaced about 1 week apart, another 3+ treatments, spaced about 2-3 weeks apart, and then maintenance treatments every 4-6 weeks. This is a very general picture of a typical course of treatment - your acupuncturists should be reassessing you each time, and modifying your treatment course accordingly.
And please remember - some treatment is better than no treatment at all. Not everyone is in a position to come in for treatment as often as you or your Acupuncturist might like. That doesn’t mean that acupuncture won’t be helpful for you!
No change: A person might not notice much has shifted after their first acupuncture session. This is not unusual especially if the issue being treated is a chronic one. It can sometimes take a few acupuncture treatments before a patient notices improvement. This is most common for chronic illness, complex internal issues, and when treating multiple issues at once.
Change That Doesn’t Last Long: Results after the first acupuncture treatment or two might be short lived - this doesn’t mean you won't ever get long term results. Healing is a process, and the first few treatments are helping to move your health in a new direction. Continued acupuncture treatment will result in bigger and longer lasting results. This is also one of the reasons we ask patients to come in for treatments spaced about 1 week apart in the beginning, as this will help the process move faster.
Significant Change: It is not uncommon to get feed back from new patients who can’t believe just how awesome they felt after acupuncture treatment! That’s always great to hear, but it is important to note that not every single treatment will result in the same mind-blowing results. Some treatments will seem more subtle then others, and some will seem more profound - this is all normal! Healing is rarely a straight line from injured to healed: Sometimes it can be a much more varied experience.
How We Prescribe Courses of Acupuncture Treatment:
How often you come in for acupuncture and for how many treatments in total, will depend on a few factors; The more concerns you have to address, the severity of your concern, how long you’ve had your concern, your daily activities, and your general overall health are all factors that will impact the number and frequency of treatments your Acupuncturist suggests.
For example, a generally health person in their 20’s or 30’s who recently twisted their ankle may only need 1 or 2 treatments to get better. On the other hand, if this same person continues to run long distances everyday, doesn’t eat enough calories, and refuses to do their home care, it might take as many as 6 or more treatments for their ankle to fully recover.
Likewise, a person in their 60’s/70’s who has hormonal imbalances, weight issues, diabetes, and a sedentary lifestyle will require more acupuncture treatments to address the same ankle injury as the person described above. This is because we are not just treating the ankle in this person’s case. Acupuncture is holistic in nature, so its hard (if not impossible) to treat things in isolation. While the treatment will be focused on the ankle injury, it would also be necessary to start addressing the health of this person as a whole. After all, how is your body supposed to help heal an ankle injury if it is suffering from poor nutrition, slowed metabolic processes, hormonal chaos, the general wear-and-tear of 60+ years of life, et cetera?
Generally speaking, a typical course of acupuncture treatment for concerns such as anxiety/stress, allergies, digestion, reproductive health, chronic issues, and general internal medicine complaints will require between 3-6 treatments spaced about 1 week apart, another 3+ treatments, spaced about 2-3 weeks apart, and then maintenance treatments every 4-6 weeks. This is a very general picture of a typical course of treatment - your acupuncturists should be reassessing you each time, and modifying your treatment course accordingly.
And please remember - some treatment is better than no treatment at all. Not everyone is in a position to come in for treatment as often as you or your Acupuncturist might like. That doesn’t mean that acupuncture won’t be helpful for you!
About Cupping Therapy
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Cupping Therapy became a wider topic in the world as Olympic top swimmer Michael Phelps, and other Olympians have been seen with round, purple marks across their bodies in Rio 2016. Cupping is an ancient form of alternative medicine in which a therapist puts special cups on your skin for a few minutes to create suction.
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You can also think of it as a “sterile inflammation.” That’s because the cupping process draws blood from your vessels and into your tissue. Your body thinks it’s been injured, so it jump starts an inflammatory response, mobilizing antibodies to the area to try to heal it.
Benefits: Cupping therapy offers several advantages including aiding in promoting blood flow and increase blood circulation to muscles and tissue, supplies oxygen to cells, loosens knots, and can release and drain excess fluids and toxins.
Contraindications: if you have a bleeding/clotting disorder, blood thinners, or take medicine like aspirin or ibuprofen where bleeding is a potential side effect, you might want to skip cupping.
Benefits: Cupping therapy offers several advantages including aiding in promoting blood flow and increase blood circulation to muscles and tissue, supplies oxygen to cells, loosens knots, and can release and drain excess fluids and toxins.
Contraindications: if you have a bleeding/clotting disorder, blood thinners, or take medicine like aspirin or ibuprofen where bleeding is a potential side effect, you might want to skip cupping.
Gua Sha Channel Scrubbing
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Gua sha is a natural, alternative traditional chinese medicine technique that involves scraping your skin along meridian channels with a massage tool (Jade or other energy stones…) to improve your circulation. Benefits: Gua sha reduces inflammation, good for chronic pain, muscle and joint pain, such as arthritis and fibromyalgia. It also creates immediate relief from stiffness, fever, chill, cough, wheeze, nausea and vomiting. Contraindications: if you have a bleeding/clotting disorder, blood thinners, or take medicine like aspirin or ibuprofen where bleeding is a potential side effect, you might want to skip Gua Sha. Your acupuncturist is qualified to determine whether Gua Sha is a good treatment option to include for you or not. |
Tui Na Massage and Acupressure
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Tui Na is a Traditional Chinese Medicine massage style often used in conjunction with acupressure and/or acupuncture, cupping, Chinese herbalism, and qigong. Your acupuncturist may brush, knead, roll, press, and rub the body, meridians/channels, and acupuncture points to get the energy moving in the meridians and the muscles. Trigger point release, deep tissue massage and acupressure may all be used in these treatments, depending on your treatment goals. Benefits: good for acute and chronic musculoskeletal conditions, as well as many non-musculoskeletal conditions as meridians/channels and acupuncture points are connected to internal organ disorders. An excellent alternative to seeing an RMT. |
Electro-Acupuncture
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Electro-acupuncture is the stimulation of acupuncture points with electric current, using needles. The therapeutic goal is to promote the circulation of Qi, blood, and stimulate healing.
From a Western medicine perspective, electro-acupuncture works by stimulating muscles, nerves, circulation of essential substances, nutrient delivery to damaged tissues, and by decreasing inflammation. Patients may experience a tingling or pulsing sensation while being treated with electro-acupuncture, which is due to the current. Electro-acupuncture is typically only used for about 10-20 minutes of the acupuncture treatment length. |
The effects of electro-acupuncture, in some situations, can be faster and greater than manual acupuncture, and electro-acupuncture can be used for conditions that are not responding to traditional treatment – both acute and chronic. A unique advantage of electro-acupuncture is its ability to stimulate a greater area than the needle itself.
While electro-acupuncture can be used for a wide variety of conditions, it is especially good in the treatment of neurological diseases, chronic pain, spasms, and paralysis. It’s also great to use for stubborn muscle-skeletal pain that just won’t budge, and sport-related injuries as it speeds up recovery. It helps increase blood circulation to the target area, warm the muscles, reduce pain and remove any blockages. Using this gentle but powerful modality with acupuncture is an alternative way to enhance your treatment.
While electro-acupuncture can be used for a wide variety of conditions, it is especially good in the treatment of neurological diseases, chronic pain, spasms, and paralysis. It’s also great to use for stubborn muscle-skeletal pain that just won’t budge, and sport-related injuries as it speeds up recovery. It helps increase blood circulation to the target area, warm the muscles, reduce pain and remove any blockages. Using this gentle but powerful modality with acupuncture is an alternative way to enhance your treatment.
Five Element Acupuncture
What Are The Five Elements?
The Five Elements (5E) is a paradigm used in TCM to help us understand the natural flow of emotions, thoughts, feelings, and life itself. The Five Elements are sometimes referred to as The Five Phases to further emphasize the idea of movement from one phase to another. It is a general principal of TCM that humans are meant to live their lives in harmonious flow with the world around them. We see this idea manifest in our own lives when we choose to eat seasonally; We know there is value in eating what the Earth naturally wants to provide us with at any given time, versus forcing foods to grow in unnatural conditions. The 5E illustrates this natural flow both in the individual person and in the world around us.
The Five Elements (5E) is a paradigm used in TCM to help us understand the natural flow of emotions, thoughts, feelings, and life itself. The Five Elements are sometimes referred to as The Five Phases to further emphasize the idea of movement from one phase to another. It is a general principal of TCM that humans are meant to live their lives in harmonious flow with the world around them. We see this idea manifest in our own lives when we choose to eat seasonally; We know there is value in eating what the Earth naturally wants to provide us with at any given time, versus forcing foods to grow in unnatural conditions. The 5E illustrates this natural flow both in the individual person and in the world around us.
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The Elements:
Each Element helps to generate the next Element in the cycle, and each Element helps to control another Element from moving or growing out of control. This is shown in the picture to the left. The outer circle shows the generating cycle, and the inner star shows the control cycle. Each Element is associated with a seemingly endless list of of emotions, parts of the body, aspects of the world in general, and even weather patterns! For the purpose of this article the correspondences listed are those most commonly considered during treatment. Wood Element: Just like a tiny seed that stops at nothing to grow towards the sun, Wood Element corresponds to our drive to move towards a goal regardless of the obstacles in our path. Emotions: Wood is associated with the emotion of anger. While most people tend to think of anger as a negative emotion, an appropriate amount of anger can be a strong force pushing us towards our goals. On the other hand, a lack of anger can result in an inability to stand up for yourself, and too much anger can lead to violence. Read the full Five Element Acupuncture Article HERE |
