Acupuncture

If you want your life to flow smoothly, start with the movement of energy inside. Qi (pronounced "chee") is the life force that exists in all living beings, and its free flow is critical to your good health.

Think of Qi as a network of free-flowing rivers that irrigates your body with the energy it needs to maintain physical, mental,emotional and spiritual well being. Unfortunately, the stress and strain of daily life - from anxiety to injuries - creates blockages in the 14 main channels or meridians that carry Qi throughout the body. Restoring balance in your body is key, and acupuncture can help.

Chinese medicine practitioners have been performing acupuncture for thousands of years. Through this holistic approach to health care, hair-thin, stainless steel needles are strategically inserted into the skin to unblock the flow of energy.

Imagine a river with an eddy in it. If you place stick in the middle of the eddy, the water will disperse more evenly. The same is true of acupuncture, as a needle is placed into a blockage your body disperses the energy creating even flow.

Understandably, some people are reluctant to have needles inserted into their skin. However, these needles are so thin that most people feel only a mild sensation. Plus, while many local providers of acupuncture have received as little as 20 hours of formal training, the doctors at Southwest Integrative Medicine have completed up to 3,000! After all, the last thing you want from acupuncture is for the anticipation of the experience itself to create more anxiety than you may already have.

Of course, before starting any acupuncture treatment, a full medical history and physical exam must be performed,including tongue, pulse and common diagnostic techniques unique to acupuncture. And since we are integrative doctors, this alternative therapy may be combined with conventional medicine, simply depending on your unique needs, for the treatment of conditions that include: