Over 5000 years old, acupuncture has treated billions of patients suffering from numerous afflictions. Safe, effective, and with no medical side effects, many people are turning to acupuncture as an alternative or compliment to Western medicine. Covered by many health insurance plans and practiced in many hospitals, alternative medicine is gaining increasing popularity in the West.

Acupuncture works on the principal of subtle energy manipulation in the body. This subtle energy is called chi. Chi travels through a healthy body via channels called meridians. When the chi is blocked, it does not travel through the proper meridians, and this gives way to ailments. By stimulating the proper points using acupuncture, the chi can be re-directed to flow properly. While acupuncture does not deny a mind-body connection, successful use in veterinary medicine proves that there is more to this ancient art than a purely psychosomatic effect (physical response of a mental stimulus).

So what is a treatment like? After your consultation, your acupuncturist will map out a treatment plan. Treatments generally last from 45 minuets to an hour. The factory sterilized, disposable needles are no thicker than a thread. Most of the time, patients can hardly feel the needles. Remember, needles used at hospitals for injections are much, much larger and inserted deeper into the body than in acupuncture. Acupuncture needles are much finer, barley inserted into the skin, and rarely even draw blood. Needles are disposed of in a bio-hazard container after each use.