Stressed? Anxious? Can’t Sleep?

Almost everyone we treat experiences stress as a factor in their health. Whether or not this is your main health concern, acupuncture can help your nervous system to cope with stress factors more easily. Each acupuncture treatment supports your body reaching a state of calm.

Treatments depend on the degree to which stress is disrupting your life. If you just need to unwind on a regular basis from a stressful job or very busy life, then ongoing treatments once a week will probably work well for you. If stress is keeping you from sleeping at night, or otherwise seriously impacting your quality of life, then we will probably recommend you start by coming in three times a week for a week or two, and then tapering down to once a week as you feel better. Many people make weekly acupuncture a healthy habit – I sure do!

Acute Conditions

Are you just starting to get a rotten cold? Did you sprain your ankle yesterday? Or did you throw out your back? Whatever has just happened, community acupuncture can help. When you’ve got an acute condition, a cluster of treatments, done consecutively, can give your body the momentum it needs to speed up the healing process and allow you to get back to your regular life a lot more quickly.

Digestive conditions

Digestive problems can be many forms of misery, for many different reasons. Acupuncture can help in a lot of ways: by calming digestive inflammation, by getting things moving if you’re constipated, by slowing things down if you have diarrhea, or by tonifying the entire system, and in general, allowing your nervous system to focus on rest and digestion instead of being in fight-or-flight mode.

Hormonal health

Irregular hormonal cycles can manifest as a variety of symptoms, for all genders. Low libido, irregular menstrual cycles, PMS, and menstrual pain are just a few examples. I have experience working with all kinds of hormonally related conditions, including menstrual disorders, fertility support, support during pregnancy, pre-pregnancy, pre-labor, and gender transition

The recommendations for treatment will vary widely depending on the condition(s) involved, and I am happy to work alongside any other healthcare providers you may be working with.

Allergies

Acupuncture treats allergies in two ways: by helping relax your body’s histamine response (thereby alleviating itchy watery eyes, itchy runny nose, sneezing, feeling as if your head is full of sand) and also by strengthening your body’s resistance to allergens.

What about if I am on allergy medication? It doesn’t make acupuncture less effective if you’re on allergy medication – even if you don’t want to stop taking antihistamines, you can still benefit from acupuncture.

If your allergies are currently making you miserable, then come in two or three times a week for a couple of weeks. After that, you may just need to come in when you’re in a flare up. If you’re living in dread because you know your allergy season is imminent, then come in once a week a few weeks before your allergy time, to strengthen your immune system – this can significantly reduce the misery

Chronic/severe medical conditions

Lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes, multiple sclerosis, fibromyalgia, cancer treatment…some medical conditions aren’t ever going to completely disappear, or, require ongoing conventional medical care, but community acupuncture can help. We find that regular acupuncture can minimize flare-ups, ease exhaustion, and treat co-factors like depression and weight gain. Acupuncture can also help to alleviate drug side-effects, like nausea from chemotherapy or digestive upset from pain medication.

Frequency will depend on your health condition; some folks come in just when they start to experience flare-ups, every month or so; others come in up to three times a week to maintain energy and get rested during chemo treatments or with severe health conditions. Often people will come and go as their symptoms come and go.

Addiction recovery

I take a non-judgemental approach. You set your goals for your health; it’s my job to support you. Acupuncture can be very effective for minimizing cravings and withdrawal symptoms, helping the body detoxify during withdrawal from substances, managing stress during withdrawal, and heal from the effects of addiction.

My recommendations for treatments will depend on the intensity of the addiction; if you’re quitting smoking, for example, I’ll probably suggest that you come for a couple of treatments before even quitting, to get your body a little more balanced before dealing with withdrawal symptoms.