When spreading the word about the benefits of acupuncture, I often find one of my greatest challenges is in informing people about how they can use acupuncture, and what they can use it for. For example, many of us have heard that acupuncture can be used to help you quit smoking, or lose weight. Yet this common notion of acupuncture is based on an oversimplified view of both Chinese medicine and human nature. While acupuncture does help provide the body with the strength and balance it needs to make dietary or habitual changes, it cannot wave a magic wand to reverse behavioral patterns overnight. Instead, acupuncture is at its best when it solves the problems people have otherwise been forced to "learn to live with" - from back pain to heartburn to the side-effects of chemotherapy. 

“acupuncture is at its best when it solves the problems people have otherwise been forced to ‘learn to live with’”

My experience has demonstrated that acupuncture can fit into a person's life in unexpected ways, freeing them from chronic discomforts which they are condemned to endure due to a lack of sufficient treatment in Western medicine. Many of these chronic conditions have become accepted as "normal" in our society - heartburn, eczema, chronic headaches, allergies, even infertility - when the truth is they are all treatable using acupuncture and traditional Chinese medicine. Because of Chinese medicine's holistic view of the human body, it understands these conditions as symptoms of a "system breakdown" or imbalance that can and should be corrected, rather than as a series of symptoms that can be masked through various stop-gap measures (such as antacids or Advil). 

“Chinese medicine sees the body as one integrated, functioning system. If one part breaks down, the other parts will necessarily be affected.’”

Chinese medicine sees the body as one integrated, functioning system. If one part of the system breaks down, other parts - particularly if they fall on the same "track" (called meridian) as the broken down part - will necessarily be affected. Using hair-thin needles, acupuncturists can stimulate the flow of energy that runs through the body, in a sense "rebooting" the broken down part of the system and allowing it to strengthen and re-engage with the body again. 

“we must understand not only the problem you know about, but also the underlying cause that may be affecting you in ways you didn't even recognize.’”

As an acupuncturist, I believe one of my primary goals is to come to understand a patient's full health picture, not just one small segment of it. I pride myself on my ability to understand not only the problem you know about, but also the underlying cause that may be affecting you in ways you didn't even recognize. You may come to the Center because you have heard that acupuncture can be good for back pain, and six months later find that we have not only worked out the back pain, but have also taken care of that lack of energy you've been feeling at work, or the rosacea on your face. 

“in my experience, acupuncture can be utilized in ways that many people have not yet considered”

As an acupuncturist, I also take pride in honesty. I have always been the first to tell a patient when I don't believe acupuncture can help the condition they are looking to treat. In my experience, though, acupuncture can be utilized in ways that many people have not yet considered, and having a frank and open consultation with an acupuncturist will almost certainly help you to identify and relieve those conditions for which acupuncture provides the best, and often the only, true relief.  

- MaryEllen Velahos, L.Ac, Dipl. Ac