YOUR TREATMENT EXPERIENCE

The Initial Visit: Approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes. This includes:

· A thorough and comprehensive review of your medical history as reported in the Intake Forms you will fill out ahead of time; · A complete diagnostic exam including Pulse and Tongue Diagnosis, relevant Orthopedic and Western Physical exams, and abdominal and channel palpation; · Dietary, Nutritional and Chinese Herbal counseling; · and Lifestyle counseling.

Treatment will consist of acupuncture and perhaps one
or more of the following traditional Chinese modalities
depending on your needs that day:

·	Acupuncture: you will rest for at least 20 minutes with the needles in;
·	Cupping: the application of small glass cups to the skin by using heat to create a vacuum inside the cup. They either remain standing in a desired spot or moved along the course of a channel or site of pain. This is extremely effective for muscle tightness and pain, and most often applied to the back, shoulders and neck. Patients report that it feels a lot like getting a good Deep Tissue massage;
·	Electrical Stimulation: One to four pairs of needles are hooked up to the leads of a small portable electrical device. An electrical current is then run through the leads into the needles at a frequency, amplitude and strength appropriate to your needs and comfort level. Patients feel a light tapping at the needle site followed by a dull heavy Qi sensation. This modality is often used for musculo-skeletal pain or paralysis, and provides a stronger and more continuous amount of stimulation than needles alone;
·	Bleeding: a single-use sterile lancet is used to pierce the skin and remove a few droplets of blood. Used primarily at sights of long-standing chronic pain and stagnation, but can also effectively be used to clear heat, lower fevers and reduce high blood pressure;
·	Moxibustion: a cigar-like roll of Mugwort, or Artemesia Vulgaris is lit and either applied within a few inches of the skin or attached to the end of an acupuncture needle. This allows the healing properties of the herb along with the heat to penetrate deep within the area to relieve symptoms of pain, marked deficiencies and coldness;
·	Far-Infrared Heat Lamp: Very effective for warming a cold patient, improving Qi and Blood circulation, and decreasing pain;
·	Bodywork: This can vary from patient to patient. I have been practicing bodywork since 1999 and I am very well-versed in a wide range of modalities. Sometimes this can be corrective Deep Tissue work and sometimes it can be of a more subtle and energetic nature;
Follow-up visits: Approximately 1 hour 15 minutes.
·	Sessions will include a briefer follow-up intake followed by a treatment specific to your needs that day.