Acupuncture

Consider Acupuncture

Acupuncture treatment is often overlooked and can sometimes seem scary. However, it is among the best known and safest of complementary and alternative therapies that people over thousands of years, with countless conditions, have benefited from. We have found it to be an effective technique and offer acupuncture to many of our patients who fit the criteria, when and where it would be effective.

Acupuncture in our IPM clinics, is most commonly used to treat pain. Athletes at the highest professional levels in every sport utilize acupuncture in their training and recovery process. Increasingly, acupuncture is also being used effectively for overall wellness, including stress management.

Acupuncture is successfully used to relieve discomfort associated with a variety of diseases and conditions, including:

Our Acupuncture Technique

The technique of acupuncture at IPM is performed by highly trained healthcare professionals. With extensive education in the anatomy of the human body, we target precise acupuncture points to stimulate nerves, muscles and connective tissue. In doing so, this stimulation produces analgesic actions by releasing natural endorphins and enkephalins to reduce pain.

What You Can Expect

Acupuncture points are situated in all areas of the body. Sometimes the appropriate points are far removed from the area of your pain. However, these points are directly connected to, and affect many other points further away.

To determine the type of acupuncture treatment that will help you the most, your doctor or practitioner may ask you about your symptoms, behaviors, and lifestyle.

This initial evaluation and treatment may take up to sixty minutes. Subsequent appointments usually take about a half-hour to forty five minutes. All of our acupuncture procedures are done in quiet, private exam rooms.

A common treatment plan for a single issue may involve multiple treatments a week. The number of treatments will depend on the condition being treated and its severity. In general, it is common to receive six to eight treatments but every person’s body and every person's healing reactions are different.

During The Acupuncture Procedure

Your acupuncture practitioner will tell you the general site of the planned treatment and whether you need to remove any clothing. If so, a gown, towel or sheet will be provided. You lie on a padded table for the treatment.

During an acupuncture treatment, one of our trained physicians insert thin sterilized, single-use needles into specific locations at various depths on your body. The insertion of the needles usually causes no, to very little discomfort. More often than not, patients do not feel them inserted at all.

Several needles are used in a typical treatment. Your practitioner may gently move or twirl the needles after placement or apply heat or mild electrical pulses to the needles.

In most cases, the needles remain in place for thirty to forty five minutes while you lie still and relax and can listen to music if you want! When it is time to remove them, there is usually no discomfort in this process and also little to no blood.

After The Procedure

Some people feel relaxed and others feel energized immediately after an acupuncture treatment. But not everyone responds to acupuncture. If your symptoms do not begin to improve within a few weeks, acupuncture may not be right for you, and other treatment options will be advised to include, but not limited to chiropractic treatment, physical therapy and/or massage therapy.