San Diego North County Integrative Acupuncture Center > Services > Acupuncture

San Diego Acupuncture

Oriental Medicine is a complete and effective system of medicine that has been used for thousands of years to treat disease and promote health and well being. Within this system, ancient natural sciences such as acupuncture, herbal medicine, tui na, structural manipulations, moxabustion, and other healing modalities are used to rid the body of disease and restore the natural balance of health to the body. Acupuncture procedure on the back Acupuncture uses hair thin needles that are inserted into specific anatomical acupuncture points located on the body to stimulate, sedate and balance certain physiological responses.

How does Acupuncture work?

Your body has over two thousand acupuncture points that belong to a set of points along pathways or meridians that cover your entire body. Each one of these points has a particular effect on the function of your body and mind. When needles are placed into an acupuncture point, a signal is sent to your spinal cord, brain, organs and other tissues via channels or pathways, (some neural pathways are mimicked). The signal is point specific, and creates a different effect on your body and mind when used in combinations with other points. Many physicists are aware of certain frequencies that the body emits. These acupuncture points are said to be highly conductive or reactive points on the body that affect these frequencies. Basically, when a needle is inserted at these points, there is a change in frequency at that area, which sends signals to the brain and other tissues, cells, and structures to create a desired response. There are many other varied explanations of acupuncture, more information can be found on www.acupuncture.com.

What conditions do Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine treat?

According to the National Institute for Health (NIH), the World Health Organization (WHO), and thousands of years of documented evidence, Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine are effective in providing care for the complaints listed to the left (care is not limited to these condition ).

Does Acupuncture really work?

Of course it does. Millions of people receive curative relief from Acupuncture and continue to receive care from their Acupuncturist when needed. It is an extremely effective system of medicine that has been utilized in many Asian cultures for thousands of years. Acupuncture is currently being practiced world-wide by millions.

How many treatments does it take for Acupuncture to provide me with relief?

It really depends on the nature of your complaint or problem. Sometimes it just takes one treatment and for others it takes several more. It also depends how long you have had the problem. Although, many people that have had extreme pain diseases for many years have received relief within just a few treatments.

Does Acupuncture hurt?

No. Acupuncture can sometimes create a warming, cooling or dull achy sensation in the body, this is usually not painful. Some people describe the feeling as tingling or slightly numbing. For those with a fear of needles, we do offer needle-less acupuncture. This type of acupuncture utilizes a machine that delivers specific frequencies into an acupuncture point. There is no discomfort and most people don’t feel anything while the treatment is performed.

How deep do you insert the needles?

It really depends on what effect the practitioner is trying to achieve. Sometimes the physician touches the needle to the surface of the skin, and other times the needles are inserted to a deeper level.

What other health care services do you provide at NCIAC for your patients?

We use a combination of acupuncture, herbal medicine, electrical stimulation, diet therapy, structural balancing, exercise therapy, lifestyle counseling, tui na, reflexology, nutraceutical supplementation and other modalities that work to provide safe yet extremely effective health care results. Our main focus is to provide our patients with the right type of health care that suits their individual needs, thereby providing them with the best possible care.

Styles of Acupuncture:

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) Acupuncture: This system incorporates the Traditional Chinese Medical (TCM) metaphors (qi, blood, yin, yang, wind, cold, heat, damp, dryness) for explaining pathology, physiology as well as the selection of the classical acupuncture points utilized in the treatment. We use the classical energetic channels, called meridians, for diagnostic and treatment purposes. Classical hand techniques are applied for the stimulation of the acupuncture points and the acupuncture protocol is chosen from the TCM diagnostics of traditional assessments of the radial pulse and tongue. Fantastic for Internal medical conditions that are unexplained by Western medicine or need a new, different approach to treatment. This system also works very well in conjunction with Western medical treatments by minimizing, the sometimes, harsh side-effects of Western medicine.

Orthopedic: Orthopedic acupuncture utilizes many different aspects of physical medicine, in combination with specialized acupuncture techniques that drastically increase the effectiveness of correcting many different orthopedic disorders and complaints. Neuromuscular motor-acupuncture points are stimulated, either by hand or with electrical acupuncture devices, in which stimulate the muscles, similar to TENS but more effective and deeper, resulting in strengthening the targeted musculature and resetting pain pathways. Most people that benefit from this style of acupuncture are athletes or those with chronic persistent pain that have not responded to other treatments.

Neuropuncture: Applied neuroscience to classical TCM acupuncture theories and treatment. Integrating neuroanatomy, neurophysiology and neurochemical science and appling them to the theory of pathology and acupuncture treatment to correct the imbalanced neurosystems. Highly effective and clinically measurable. Excellent for any neurological conditions, orthopedic, and internal medical conditions. Neuropuncture is very effective in chronic pain cases as well as in pain management options especially when medication has run its course and dependency issues are concerned. Dr Michael Corradino, DAOM is the creator, and founder, of this unique acupuncture system.

Master Tung’s Acupuncture: Master Tung is regarded as one of the greatest acupuncturists of our time. Tung’s Acupuncture is a style of Acupuncture handed down by the famous Tung family of Northern China, for at least 300 years. For hundreds of years the family members studied, refined, and taught their unique system of points and techniques only to other family members, until the 20th century, when Master Tung started taking teaching disciples outside of the family in Taiwan. Master Tung was famous for using fewer needles, rapid patient response, never needling the diseased area, and of course, the usage of hundreds of points that were until recently unique only to his family. Tung’s style is remarkably effective on neurological, reproductive, internal, dermatological, and pain disorders.

I-Ching Acupuncture: The I-Ching, or Book of Changes, is a classical Chinese text of philosophy, cosmology, and divination. Artists, philosophers, scholars, and businessmen have been studying the 64 trigrams of the I-Ching and its many interpretations for thousands of years, applying it to mathematics, music, psychoanalysis, and many other diverse subjects. It is fabled the first emperor of China saw the I-Ching on the back of a turtle shell, and that the trigrams explain the connectivity of everything in nature and can predict the future. Dr. Chen Chao, an acupuncturist and expert of Chinese metaphysics, developed the I-Ching Acupuncture system, applying the power of the Book of Changes to medicine. This style is known for their more gentle, intuitive approach in their treatments. Excellent for pediatrics and geriatrics.

Auricular Acupuncture: Unlike TCM or I-Ching, Auricular Acupuncture is based more on neuroanatomy than metaphorical ways to look at physiology. The system of Auricular therapy most widely used today was developed by French neurologist Paul Nogier in 1957 and quickly adopted by the practitioners of China and around the world. Auricular acupuncture looks at the ear as a microsystem of the whole body, and by stimulating certain points of the ear, can neurologically effect any system in the body. Auricular therapy is highly effective on neurological conditions as well as detoxification and treatment of substance abuse as well as PTSD. The US military has recently deployed acupuncturist to Iraq and Afghanistan to treat US soldiers from combat PTSD. They are also teaching the Afghanis to use acupuncture when they do not have access to medical supplies.

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