Where Balance Meets Wellness / Ancient Wisdom, Modern Healing /
Restore your body, renew your mind / Rejuvenate, Revitalize, and Relax
WE ACCEPT INSURANCE, WORKER'S COMP, PERSONAL INJURY, HSA / FSA
我們說中文
Benefits of Acupuncture
What is Acupuncture?
Acupuncture is one of the oldest continuously practiced medical systems in the world, and in the United States it now sits inside ordinary care: covered by many insurance plans, used in hospital and VA pain programs, and studied in clinical trials. In practice, it is simpler than its history suggests. Very fine needles are placed at specific points, chosen for the pattern a patient presents with rather than for the name of the diagnosis.
How does acupuncture work?
There are two answers, and they do not contradict each other.
The traditional one: the body has channels, and symptoms appear where the flow through them is disturbed. Treatment aims at restoring the balance between channels. That is why, working with Dr. Richard Teh-Fu Tan's Balance Method, we often needle the opposite limb rather than the place that hurts, and why you may be asked to move the painful joint while the needles are in.
The physiological one: needling a point changes local blood flow and sends signals through the nervous system, prompting the release of the body's own pain-relieving and regulating chemicals. Research has documented effects on the nervous, endocrine, immune and digestive systems. How completely these two accounts map onto each other is still an open question.
What happens during an acupuncture treatment?
Your first visit starts with the history — what brought you in, but also sleep, digestion, energy, and how the problem behaves through the day. We look at the tongue and feel the pulse, and examine the area itself where that is relevant. Those findings are what the point selection is built on.
Then you rest on the treatment table while the points are needled. The needles are fine, and most patients feel little more than a dull heaviness where they are placed. They stay in for about 40 minutes. Most people fall asleep.
How many treatments will I need?
It depends on how long the problem has been there. Recent injuries and acute problems often need only a handful of visits. Long-standing conditions usually need one to two visits a week for a period, then less often as things hold.
Some patients feel a clear change in the first treatment; others need three or four before the pattern shifts. We would rather tell you after the first visit what we expect than give you a number before we have examined you — and if it is not working, we will say so rather than keep scheduling visits.
BENEFITS of Acupuncture and Herbal Formulas
Acupuncture treats a wide range of medical conditions, including:
Chronic and Acute Pain
Treated Through the Channels
Acupuncture is used for both recent injuries and long-standing pain. Needling increases local blood flow and prompts the release of the body's own pain-relieving chemicals, such as endorphins and enkephalins. At RUYI we work primarily with Dr. Richard Teh-Fu Tan's Balance Method, which treats through the channels rather than needling the painful area itself, so we can ask you to move the painful joint while the needles are in. Most patients feel a change during the first treatment.
Migraines and Headaches
Relief on the Table
Headache is one of the better-studied uses of acupuncture, and in our clinic it is one of the conditions that responds the soonest. With the Balance Method, the points are chosen on the limbs rather than the head, and most patients report the pressure easing while they are still on the table. A course of treatment is then used to reduce how often migraines return, and it can run alongside the medication you already take.
Insomnia, Sleep, and depression
Sleep and Mood Together
Sleep and mood are treated together in Chinese medicine, because they so often move together. We combine acupuncture with a Chinese herbal formula written for your pattern: the needles work during the visit, the formula keeps working between visits. The aim is to fall asleep more easily, wake less during the night, and feel steadier during the day. This sits alongside the care you already have, including counseling or medication, not in place of it.
Stress and Anxiety
Let the Body Settle
A treatment usually brings a noticeable drop in physical tension: slower breathing, looser shoulders and jaw, a quieter mind. Here too we pair acupuncture with a Chinese herbal formula, so the work continues between visits. Over time patients often report better sleep, steadier digestion, and fewer tension headaches. It sits alongside care from a mental health professional rather than in place of it.
Relaxation
Forty Minutes of Rest
Our treatments run 40 minutes with the needles in, and most patients fall asleep — we plan for it. Those 40 minutes are a genuine power nap, and it is when the body shifts out of a stress pattern and into repair, which is why patients so often describe it as the most restful part of their week. Some come for a specific complaint. Others come simply for this.
Digestive Disorders
The Earth Element
In five-element theory the digestive system is Earth — the soil. A plant only grows as well as the soil it sits in, which is why we address digestion in almost every treatment, even when the patient came in for something else. Acupuncture is used for bloating, irregular bowel habits, reflux, nausea, and appetite that has shifted with stress, often alongside a herbal formula. Persistent digestive symptoms should also be evaluated by your physician.
Allergies and Respiratory
Before the Season Starts
Seasonal allergies, sinus congestion, and a nose that runs through spring are common reasons patients come in. Acupuncture is used to ease congestion and the pressure behind the eyes and cheekbones, and is often started a few weeks before your usual season rather than in the middle of it. In Chinese medicine the aim is not only to clear the congestion but to strengthen the defensive layer that lets the season affect you in the first place.
Bell's palsy and Stroke
Timing Matters Most
Both are treated as rehabilitation, alongside your medical care. With Bell's palsy, timing matters more than anything else. In Dr. Lu's clinical experience the best results come when treatment begins within four weeks of onset, and the longer it is delayed the less can be recovered. Patients seen inside that window, treated two to three times a week and supported with a Chinese herbal formula, generally see recovery over the following four to six weeks. If you or someone in your family has just developed facial weakness, do not wait and see. After a stroke, acupuncture is used as part of a rehabilitation program working on limb movement, facial muscles, and swallowing. A stroke is a medical emergency — call 911 first.
