One of the strengths of acupuncture is that the entire body and all its systems are used to diagnose and treat patients.  Questions asked prior to your treatment run the gamut from what you eat and how thirsty you tend to be all the way to how often you have a bowel movement. (The last question tends to make patients blush but it is a really important diagnostic tool that can give a general idea on how your body is processing and operating on a daily basis.)

When I started receiving acupuncture, I thought all of these questions were random and completely unlike my experiences with western doctors. How could my bloating after eating ice cream affect my whole body? What did my stressful week at work have to do with my stomach issues?

I’m a slow learner, so it took me about 3 months to realize that these questions were leading me on a path to avoid what triggered my symptoms. When you are asked how often you are feeling bloated and what you ate prior to this sensation, you start to take note. That is the first step- acknowledging the interconnectedness of your daily experience from the first meal you have all the way to that stressful commute home.  The next step is recognizing how these components can affect your health. The third step is making alterations to your day to limit the pieces that do not make you feel good.

That is where acupuncture is so powerful-it facilitates relaxation and a calm feeling while treating the underlying symptoms.  Acupuncture teaches us that regular care and maintenance are effective in preventing the flare up of a chronic illness as well as the acute pain condition. The concept of prevention is somewhat foreign in our culture. Generally, we, myself included, seek treatment after symptoms are significantly impacting our lives. But what if we were able to recognize what made symptoms worse before they got to be extreme? Maybe the stress of the day could be met with a brief quiet time to decompress. Maybe we could avoid heavy foods all the time to give our digestive systems a break. And maybe we could even acknowledge that stress is a significant factor in our health.

Try an acupuncture consultation and treatment and see how you feel. Acupuncture will not be able to remove all of your stressors in your life. What it can do is support your body in relaxing more and decreasing stress’ strong physical and emotional impact. The goal is to bring patients to a place where relief and prevention are the coping mechanism.

See what changes and what remains the same after acupuncture.  Bring that information with you and use it as a guide to your healthier self because there is only one you and one now.