Healing Modalities

Herbs

Herbs are plants, minerals and animal products that are used in formula combinations to stimulate your bodily systems and restore normal and harmonious functions.

Herbology/Supplements

• Using herbs is a really good adjunct to acupuncture and can be taken on a daily basis.
• Herbs will be given in pill or capsule formula, easy to take and carry with you.
• Herbal formulas have few if any side-effects, they treat your specific conditions and are customized for you.

Acupressure/Shiatsu

Acupressure/Shiatsu employs the same principles as acupuncture, but uses hand and finger pressure rather than needles. The style of shiatsu I perform is done on a mat on the floor. The client is fully dressed in loose fitting clothing and pressure and stretching are applied to the meridians and the parts of the body.

Moxibustion

This is a method of treatment whereby the herb, mugwort, is warmed above the skin at acupuncture poi nts. The heat warms the qi and blood which helps them to circulate smoothly throughout the body.

Lifestyle & Nutritional Counseling

These are important components of any health program. Suggestions may be given as to which foods and supplements to use/or avoid for a specific condition. Additionally, advice about stress reduction and exercise may be offered.

Gua Sha

Gua Sha is a technique wherein the skin is scraped, in strokes, by a round-edged instrument. In western terms, the scraping draws out blood and metabolic waste congesting the surface tissues and muscles, promoting normal circulation and metabolic processes. Gua Sha is valuable in the treatment of pain, in the preventionand treatment of acute infectious illness, upper respiratory and digestive problems, and many acute or chronic disorders.

Cupping

Cupping refers to an ancient Chinese practice in which a cup is applied to the skin and the pressure in the cup is reduced (by using change in heat or by suctioning out air), so that the skin and superficial muscle layer is drawn into and held in the cup. In some cases, the cup may be moved while the suction of skin is active, causing a regional pulling of the skin and muscle (the technique is called moving cups).

Cupping is applied to regions of the body that are affected by pain (where the pain is deeper than the tissues to be pulled). When the cups are moved along the surface of the skin, the treatment is somewhat like gua sha. Like gua sha, a certain amount of bruising is expected both from fixed position cupping and with movement of the cups. The bruising and color of the bruising indicates the amount of stagnation or congestion in that area.