Welcome to our Chinese Medical Clinic Spring of Health

Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine is especially effective in the treating and relief of tendonitis, sports injuries, work and occupational injuries, carpal tunnel, and chronic pain. Other conditions that can benefit from acupuncture are allergies and sinus problems, PMS, digestive problems, back pain, arthritis, flues and common colds.The following are suggestions on how you can maximize the benefits from our acupuncture and herbal treatments. We appreciate any suggestions or feedback on how we can make your experience in our office more comfortable.

To Get the Best Results From Acupuncture Treatment

Acupuncture works with the energy in your body. If your energy is balanced the acupuncture can best direct it. On the other hand, if you arrive to your acupuncture treatment with imbalanced energy, the treatment will be less effective. Here are some recommendations on how you can increase treatment effectiveness: Please wear loose fitting clothing that can be folded above the knee and elbow without blocking your blood circulation. Come to treatment neither hungry nor with a full stomach. If you are hungry just before treatment, eat a light meal. Or if you have eaten a full meal, wait a minimum of one hour before treatment.

Avoid extreme physical, emotional, and mental activities a few hours before and after treatments. Avoid taking hot baths a few hours before and after treatments. Taking a hot bath makes your skin sweat, which drains your energy. Abstain from the use of alcohol or recreational drugs.

Your First Appointment

Allow 1.5 hours for your first appointment. (Subsequent visits will last one hour.) During this time we will go over your intake form and review your health history, discuss your life style and your reason for coming.

The Intake Form

In Chinese medicine, this form is different from those used in Western medicine. For example, we ask questions about your sleep, diet, stress level, emotions and so on. Also, the practitioner may ask to look at your tongue and feel your pulse. If you have pain, he or she will ask you to point to the exact spot where it hurts and to rate the intensity of the pain on a scale of 1-10. You may also be asked which emotion, if any, you experience more than all others. The practitioner then assembles the information into one inclusive picture. This process is parallel to putting a puzzle together where each piece of information contributes to the overall picture.

Based on that overview, the practitioner is able to diagnose the origin of the imbalance. A treatment plan, which may include acupuncture and herbs, can then be devised along with recommendations for life style and diet changes that are designed to speed your recovery process.

Acupuncture Preparation and Treatment

Acupuncture’s main benefit is to regulate the energy in the body. For example, pain in the body indicates blocked energy. Acupuncture is very effective in removing the blocked energy. When you enter the treatment room, you will be asked to remove your shoes and socks, and to lie on the massage table on your back.

The practitioner will adjust your clothing to expose your legs up to the knee and your arms up to the elbows.

Then the acupuncturist will insert a few very thin needles (about as thin as a hair) in the acupuncture points.

 

The depth of the insertion depends on the muscle thickness of the area where the needle will go.

For example, the insertion in the hands is shallow when compared with the thigh. You may feel different sensations as the needles are being inserted. Some people report feeling a tingling or electric sensation, a slight prick, or pressure (or sensation) in another area of the body.

 

The sensation is often subtle, but occasionally can feel sharp or strong. After less than a minute these initial sensations fade and you will be able to completely relax. The needles are left in the body for 30 to 40 minutes.

Electric Acupuncture Treatment

A combination of acupuncture and electricity is a relatively new addition to the repertoire of treatments that Chinese medicine provides. This treatment is done by first inserting needles into the body, then hooking the needles to very low voltage electrical wires. This technique is often used for healing tendon, muscle, and bone injuries. Another famous use for electrical acupuncture consists of numbing a specific area of the body to assist in surgery. In the West it has mainly been used in numbing the teeth during dental work. There are also other electrical tools that can be used independently of acupuncture to stimulate the energy flow in the body. The acupuncture treatments that use electrical stimulation feel like tingling or muscle twitching that comes in waves of sensation. The electrical equipment allows the acupuncturist to adjust the strength and intervals of the electrical impulses to the needs of the client.

Post-treatment Information

After treatment you may experience lightheadedness. If this happens, please inform one of our staff members. Even if you feel fine after a treatment, we recommend that you take a few minutes in our waiting room to relax before leaving our office. It is recommended that you plan for a few hours of easy relaxation after your treatment. The energy that is put in motion by the acupuncture treatment will continue to move and change in your body. You may experience some aches, twitching, tiredness, hunger or other sensations. This is perfectly normal, and may continue for 24-48 hours.

Treatment is most effective when the energy is allowed to move as it needs to without the demands of hard physical work, emotional or mental stress. Even eating a large meal or taking a hot tub is not recommended right after treatment, as these activities are energy-consuming and reduce the treatment’s effectiveness.

Acupuncture needles may occasionally create a small bruise.

Participating in Your Own Healing Process

Chinese Medicine’s perspective is that life style and diet are the cornerstone of health. I will recommend a life style and diet change that will help balance and improve your health.

During an acupuncture treatment I will encourage you to participate by communicating with me how you are feeling, what is working for you and what is not, so that with time we learn how to work in a cooperative and harmonious way.

Recommended Reading

The Web That Has No Weaver, by Ted J. Kaptchuk, O.M.D. This book gives an overview of Chinese Medicine and its strengths and weaknesses when compared with Western Medicine. The book is written for lay people and acupuncturists, and some sections are a bit technical.

Healing with Whole Foods, by Paul Pitchford. This book explains the main concepts of Chinese Medicine and provides the reader with a wealth of information on how food may be used as medicine, from an Eastern perspective.

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Spring of Health
626 Frederick St. Santa Cruz Ca. 95062
The name on the door is “Jade Spring Acupuncture”
831-423-3777 | elishalivni@gmail.com

Treating, Treatment and Relief of Tendonitis, Sports Injuries, Work Injuries, Carpal Tunnel, Chronic Pain, Santa Cruz, San Jose, Capitola, Aptos, Soquel, Scotts Valley, Monterey, Seaside, Marina, Salinas, Santa Clara, Los Gatos, Campbell, Cupertino, Sunnyvale