What is acupuncture?
Acupuncture is a therapy that is part of Traditional Oriental Medicine system.  TOM understands the body as an energetic structure that can become imbalanced and produce symptoms and illnesses.   The treatment consists of using thin needles along specific points of the acupuncture channels in order to restore the normal flow of energy.  Pain in particular is understood as a blockage in TOM.

How painful is acupuncture?
Patients have a wide range of pain tolerance.  As a general rule acupuncture is a lot less painful that you would expect.  The needles are solid and very thin, the insertion techniques are meant to limit the pain of piercing the top layer of the skin.  Certain points are initially more tender to needling, especially if there is a lot of blockage at that level.   A lot of patients fall asleep during the acupuncture session.

How do I know if I am a candidate for acupuncture?
Although acupuncture was originally used for all health conditions, it is better known for certain conditions in the US: chronic pain, migraine headaches, allergies, stress, sleep, menstrual conditions etc.  Our office uses acupuncture in combination with chiropractic care when we feel that we will get better results than using chiropractic alone.  In that regard, we are determining if you are a good candidate for acupuncture.  Feel free to inquire about your specific problem.  There are many  health problems where acupuncture may not be the first therapy we use because other interventions will produce quicker results.

How painful is a chiropractic adjustment ?
Chiropractic adjustments are as a general rule painless when applied properly : only the necessary amount of force is used and the patient is relaxed rather than tensing in anticipation.  In some instances the adjustment can be mildly to moderately painful, only for a split second: the area adjusted in very inflamed, recently injured, there is some significant underlying arthritis or whole body painful conditions such are fibromyalgia.  If we feel that the adjustment may cause too much discomfort, we may choose to delay the adjustment until we have been able to control the inflammation with icing and therapies.

How long before I start to feel better ?
That will depend on your presenting problem and your body’s ability to heal itself.  The longer you have had the problem and the more severe the damage to your joints and ligaments, the longer the recovery.  As a general rule, we expect to see some improvement within three weeks of starting treatments.  At your initial intake we try to give you an estimate of how long you will be under active care before you are discharged to care on an as needed basis or on a preventive schedule.  90% of our patients will have care plans between 6 to 12 weeks.

Can pregnant women be adjusted ?
Pregnant women not only can, but should be adjusted during their pregnancies.  You can be adjusted all the way up to the delivery, and this will require us to use some different tables and props to accommodate the pregnant abdomen.  Women in the third trimester are very vulnerable to joint misalignments due to the high level of the hormone relaxin.   In addition, a normal alignment  and movement of the hips and pelvis is essential to allow the baby’s head to drop down before delivery.  Many of our patients report much shorter and easier labor when they have been regularly adjusted up to their due date.

Can children be safely adjusted ?
Children are subject to the same traumas that can lead to spinal misalignments as adults, and in reality, probably more frequently.  The birthing process, both with a normal vaginal delivery or a C-section, can cause traumas to the upper neck and cranial bones.  About the time when children learn to walk, they will suffer multiple falls on their heads and buttocks.  And the list goes on with normally active children who will experience multiple falls and bumps when they play hard.  The spine of children is slightly anatomically different from adults: the vertebrae start out as cartilage and gradually ossify until late puberty.  In that regard, adjustment techniques for young children will be slightly different from adult.  Another big difference between  children and adults is the neurological effect of joint misalignments and  the symptoms it produces.  Whereas adults will more readily experience pain , children tend to manifest other symptoms first, such as changes in moods, appetite, sleep, learning and coordination problems, lowered immunity, bowel and bladder malfunction

Can I be adjusted if I have osteoporosis ?
Chiropractic adjustments are quite safe for patients with osteoporosis.  The level of force and depth of thrust will be adjusted to accommodate bone density.  Patients with bone score below -3.5 (severe osteoporosis) may not be candidates for traditional manual adjusting, and other forms of therapies may be used instead.

What can you do for tendinitis and bursitis ?
Tendinitis is traditionally described as the inflammation of a tendon.  In order to effectively treat a tendinitis you need to determine the cause of the problem.  Repetitive overuse or use with excessive force and poor mechanics is often the cause, but imbalances in the trunk alignment can be a big trigger : for example misalignment of the hips will cause repetitive overuse of the hip muscle and quads causing hip bursitis and patellar tendinitis; misalignment of the neck and shoulder predisposes to rotator cuff and  elbow tendinitis.  In addition to addressing the above issues, you then need to specifically treat the muscles and tendons to break up areas of adhesions and scar tissues so that the muscle can resume normal function.  The technique we have found to be most beneficial is called Active Release.  See info under the resources page.