I found out about Thumbtack from an e-mail I got. It’s a directory that allows you to list your practice or place of business so more people can find you online.

If you have a business you need to promote online or you’re a fellow acupuncturist you ought to check it out —> Davis Acupuncture Clinic

Pain is a normal experience in life.  We all suffer some kind of pain in one form or another in our lives: pain in the head, neck, joints, back and even in the heart.  Pain is the most common and usually the primary complaint physicians hear in their profession.  To counteract pain, most of western civilized society have taken all kinds of pain medications, from over-the-counter drugs like aspirin or paracetamol to prescription drugs and we know that these medications usually carry unpleasant and unwanted side effects.

Pain, according to traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), is the manifestation of chi blocked or stagnating in the meridian system.  There are various meridian systems in the body and at each level where Chi blockage or stagnation happens, pain and ailment unique to that level occurs.  If Chi stagnates at the skin level, scars, bruising and certain types of dermatological diseases become manifest.  Stagnation in the level of the soft tissue can manifest through hard and sore muscles; Chi blockage in the level of the joints produces arthralgia, trapezius myalgia and lower back myalgia among others. Stagnation and blockages engenders all kinds of pain, including cephalgia, sore neuralgia, chest pain, stomach discomfort, menstrual pain and sciatica.

Acupuncture (sometimes in conjunction with herbs) is the premier treatment modality used by Chinese medicine experts to remove blockages and promote the free flow of Chi throughout the body.  The affected meridian is treated with hair-thin acupuncture needles inserted into specific points along that meridian, Chi flow then is restored back to normal. Because meridians interconnect to every part of the body, one may witness a Davis acupuncturist inserting needles on the feet or hands in order to treat a headache.

Because Chi and meridians are intangible and belong to a reality western empirical scientific methods will never discover, researchers in China and the West have mounted a number of studies documenting the effects of acupuncture on the endocrine and nervous systems.  These studies show that acupuncture stimulates the production of endorphins, which are the body’s natural painkillers. Besides endorphins, increase of the adrenocorticotropic hormone with acupuncture treatment was also noted. Neurotransmitters such as serotonin, dopamine, epinephrine and norepinephrine and many others were also found in the natural substances due to stimulation by acupuncture therapy. Researches have shown that transmission of pain signals through the central nervous system are often blocked by acupuncture.  Clinical studies on migraine cephalgia, low back pain, arthralgia, TMJ and dysmenorrhea have shown substantial differences between groups treated with acupuncture and the placebo control groups.

Acupuncture is a real and more practical alternative for the treatment of pain. It has many adherents worldwide and many practitioners in the United States.  It is widely accepted by more and more people for pain reduction.  Ancient wisdom and modern scientific research both confirm that acupuncture really works.