We offer traditional acupuncture as well as electro-acupuncture (also known as e-stim) and trigger point acupuncture (also known as dry needling in some health professions).

Acupuncture is the insertion of sterile, disposable, single-use needles into the body. Some of it’s benefits include:

Improve circulation by enhancing generation of nitric oxide (1).

Nitric oxide is a vasodilator, meaning it relaxes the inner muscles of your blood vessels, increasing blood flow and regulating blood pressure.

Release muscle tension and pain by stimulating and breaking up bands of bound muscle fibers called trigger points.

Relieve pain by producing endorphins, your body’s natural opioid-like peptides.

Acupuncture has been shown to stimulate the release of enkephalin, beta-endorphin, endomorphin, and dynorphin, which together have an analgesic (pain relieving) effect similar to opioid drugs but without the side effects.

Activate the parasympathetic nervous system (2), the body’s “rest and digest” state in which healing can occur.

When our body is in a state of stress and our sympathetic nervous system or “fight or flight” mode is engaged, we instead experience increased muscle tension, blood pressure, and inflammation.

Regulate the immune system by stimulating production of cytokines, T-cells, and B-cells (3).

Acupuncture is part of a system of medicine originating in China over 3,000 years ago. It has truly withstood the test of time, undergoing numerous processes of critical inquiry, experimentation, formalization, and refinement throughout the millennia in East Asia primarily. In the past 100 years there has been another phase of evolution through its interaction and integration with Western medicine practices and research. The two modalities complement each other well, with Chinese medicine able to offer effective solutions in many arenas where Western medicine falls short.