Acupuncture & TCM

During the initial visit, a full health history will be taken, and we discuss your symptoms, overall health, and lifestyle. Your tongue will be looked at and your pulse taken on both wrists. You will have ample opportunity to ask any questions you may have. You’ll then receive an acupuncture treatment, followed by recommendations for follow up care and what to do in the interim.

Before your first appointment, you’ll need to take 15 minutes to complete an acupuncture intake form. This can be done online from your booking confirmation email, or as a paper form at the clinic. Do not arrive hungry: you need some energy for the needles to work with. Do not brush your tongue on the day of your appointment. Do not arrive under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Avoid strenuous physical exertion for 3 hours after treatment. Bring shorts and a tank top, or a short-sleeved shirt to change into (women: it is helpful to wear a bra that clasps in the back for back treatments). Avoid wearing scents.

The number and frequency of treatments depend on the health issue, its severity, and the underlying constitution of the individual. Acute conditions can resolve quickly, with more frequent treatments over a short period of time. Chronic health concerns by nature take longer and respond better with less frequent treatments over a few months. Often some dietary changes are recommended, and other supportive measures. Chiropractic, physiotherapy, and/or massage may be helpful in conjunction with acupuncture in the case of musculoskeletal injury.

Acupuncture can help with a variety of conditions including: headaches and migraines, arthritis, insomnia, stress/anxiety, depression, IBS and other digestion disorders, back, neck and joint pain, MVA related injuries, circulatory problems and many more.

Acupuncture is very safe. All needles are single use, and pre-sterilized. Acupuncture is a regulated and restricted activity. Registered acupuncturists go through extensive training and examination to acquire their license, and must meet the standards set by their governing body (the College of Acupuncturists of Alberta) on a yearly basis in order to maintain their license. It is important to fully disclose any health conditions to the Acupuncturist prior to treatment.

On average, acupuncture fees in Calgary and surrounding areas range from $70 to $130 per treatment. Our clinic rates are $130 for the 90-minute Initial Assessment (including treatment) and follow-up appointments are 60 minutes @ $90.

Acupuncture points follow traditional Chinese energy meridians and affect your body by improving circulation, promoting the free flow of “qi”, releasing pain-relieving hormones and helping to heal many ailments. Dry needling’s primary goal is to release banded/ tight muscles and improve the health of the spinal nerve root.

IMS needling focused on using strong stimulation on the muscles to get them to release or strengthen. Acupuncture from a TCM perspective, on the other hand, does not use strong stimulation and it is based on channel theory and using certain points along those channels to heal the body naturally.

Acupuncture treatments are not painful. Acupuncture is performed with hair-thin needles that do not resemble the pain felt from a hypodermic needle. Patients often fall asleep and are in deep relaxation on the table.

There are certain points on the hands and/or feet that have more nerve endings that patients tend to feel more of a pinch when the needle is first inserted but that feeling dissipates as soon as the needle is in.

In some cases, you will feel some sort of sensation or tingling around the area of the needle, or sometimes that whole body part, but that is just the feeling of the “qi” gathering at that certain point. It should not be a painful feeling at all.

One of the great advantages of acupuncture is that it is very safe. Other than an occasional bruise, there are no side effects.

Much like a massage, you may feel a bit tired after an acupuncture treatment because of the strong energy and blood movement throughout your body.

Depending on the ailment you are coming to see your acupuncturist for, the areas for needle placement are widely varied. Needles are placed at specific acupuncture points on the body. The needles are most commonly placed at or around the elbows, at or around the knees and on the lower leg. Other common areas are on the back, abdomen, hands and ears.

Acupuncture is safe during pregnancy and can help relieve many pregnancy and postpartum conditions. Because there are some acupuncture points that are contraindicated during pregnancy it is very important to inform the practitioner if you are pregnant. Acupuncture is recommended through your first trimester to help assist embryo development, prevent miscarriage, relieve nausea and address any other symptoms that may arise.

Acupuncture stimulates the body’s natural feel-good hormones and reduces the level of stress hormones like cortisol. Studies show that acupuncture is an effective treatment for anxiety, with fewer side effects than medications.

Like blood in the circulatory system, Qi moves throughout the body via pathways called meridians. By inserting needles at specific points in the body, acupuncturists restore the balance of Qi and the body’s overall health.

Acupuncture can help quiet the mind, increase relaxation and decrease stress to promote sleep. The treatment can also help increase the release of natural melatonin in the body to help improve sleep.

Acupuncture can help with weight loss by regulating hormone production, improving the metabolism, optimizing digestion, reducing inflammation, suppressing the appetite, lessening water retention and optimizing other bodily functions that are related to obesity and weight loss.

Although acupuncture would do little to help breakage, it can address an issue at the hair follicle. Poor blood flow or localized hyper immune responses can cause hair loss. Acupuncture is able to promote blood flow to targeted areas, one of these areas being the scalp/hair follicle.

Acupuncture has been used for dermatologic disease in Asia throughout its long history. There is a growing body of modern evidence accumulating on its usefulness. Acupuncture can be used successfully to treat acne, atopic dermatitis, psoriasis, warts, etc. Acupuncture has been used to treat both the acute skin eruption of herpes zoster as well as treating the condition’s late neurologic sequelae.

Still, keep in mind that acupuncture treatment requires regularity. Treating acne with acupuncture will likely take multiple treatments at regular intervals.

Symptoms like bloating, constipation, diarrhea, nausea, cramping, and abdominal pain are an indication that things are not moving through the digestive tract efficiently. The root cause of many digestive issues is often chronic stress, improper diet, poor sleep habits, and other lifestyle issues.

Acupuncture helps by balancing the gut-brain axis and the nervous system to reduce stress, which in turn improves digestive function. One of the side effects of an overactive sympathetic nervous system is decreased digestive function. Acupuncture also helps reduce pain and inflammation which helps regulate stomach acid and promote peristalsis.

By stimulating the energy of the “Lung” and by regulating the “Liver” the acupuncture treatment aims to calm the exaggerated response to the allergens. When symptoms are not so present, the treatment will aim to balance and strengthen the identified TCM disharmonies that contribute to the problem. Acupuncture treatments for allergies have therefore a preventative and therapeutic aspect.

Symptoms like runny nose, itchy eyes, sneezing, itchy throat, asthma, etc. can all be relieved by TCM/ acupuncture.