What Are the Different Styles of Acupuncture and Which is Best for Chronic Conditions?
I love to hear people’s acupuncture success stories, but almost as often, I hear stories of people getting temporary improvement, but when they stopped going for treatment, their results didn’t hold. there can be several reasons for this, but in many cases, it’s because people were receiving modern acupuncture, which does not use the full system of acupuncture.
tcm is a modern version of acupuncture
Modern acupuncture (TCM) relies on a small part of acupuncture, but acupuncturists who learn and use the entire system are able to help their patients in very different ways. It’s like going from using part of a road map to using the full thing.
Because of the incredible training I’ve been fortunate to receive from my teacher, ann cecil-sterman, I expect that my patients will fully heal, not just improve their symptoms. I also expect that this can happen in a relatively short period of time.
I’ve seen patients heal years of migraines in as little as a month; I’ve seen a patient diagnosed with allopecia arreata start to regrow hair in three months. I’ve seen bunions get smaller after one treatment, and I’ve seen hashimoto’s go into remission in less than three months.
the classical acupuncture difference
Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is a chopped up version of one small part of Chinese Medicine called the primary channels. What’s important to know is that the primary channels are what run the 24/7 functioning of our bodies. In Classical Chinese Medicine (CCM), there is also something called the complement channels, and their job is to protect the primary channels.
This means that as we encouter challenges like injury, illness, trauma, emotional challenges that are too much for the primary channels, our bodies see these things as threats. The complement channels step in to protect the primary channels, and they do this by storing those threats in the complement channels.
This is why your symptoms will often improve with TCM acupuncture. The treatments are giving the primary channels support. But the actual problem is no longer in the primary channel. It is still in one of the complemenet channels, because TCM simply cannot reach these other channels. This is why when you stopped getting treatments, your symptoms came right back.
I’m interested in treating the root cause of your problem, which is why I use the complement channels.
the time spent with a practitioner is a factor
In modern day practice, the acupuncture practice model has become no different than the allopathic medical model: see as many patients as possible in as little time as possible. In the allopathic world, this has resulted in unhappy and burned out doctors and unhappy and unhealed patients.
I see one person per hour so that we can discuss elements that support you getting well, like:
Chinese Medicine dietary recommendations
Lifestyle education
Exercise
Mindset work
In my experience, both as a patient and acupuncturist, allocating more time for patients results in greater healing in less time and in many cases, greater healing than is possible with other types of acupuncture or modalities.
