1. What happens during a treatment?

During the initial consultation, a patient interview is conducted by one of the medical doctors at the center. Patients have a chance to tell the doctor about their problem, give their history, and have any of their questions answered. The doctor may ask you additional questions, use diagnostic techniques of traditional Chinese medicine (examination of the tongue and pulse) or western medicine (similar to what your regular doctor does) to arrive at a diagnosis. The doctor will then make recommendations to you about treatments that may be beneficial, and tell you what the center has to offer for your case.

2. How is TCM used at the center?

Acupuncture is one of the therapeutic modalities in traditional Chinese medicine, and involves inserting needles at specific points on the body surface (acupuncture points) to achieve a therapeutic effect. It is a technique that has been used in China for over 2000 years with great success. In the past several decades, acupuncture has been developed and refined outside of China.

3. What can acupuncture treat?

Hundreds of thousands of conditions are noted in acupuncture texts, and acupuncture practitioners claim a great diversity of condition respond to acupuncture, but these claims lack evidence. On the other hand, modern clinical research has only investigated the efficiency of acupuncture in treating a limited number of conditions. Acupuncture may be used extensively, and as a first choice of medical care. Studies have shown acupuncture therapy to be effective in treating:

• Chronic pain: low back, neck, and facial pain, headaches, fibromyalgia, myofascial pain, joint pain, arthritis, tennis elbow, carpal tunnel syndrome, osteoarthritis.
• Acute pain: dental pain, post-surgical pain.
• Substance abuse: alcoholism.
• Neurological disorders: paralysis, palsy, parkinson’s disease.
• Asthma
• Urological problems: urgent or frequent urination, kidney stones.
• Gynecological problems: menstral pain, induction of labor, labor pain, hot flashes, hormonal irregularity
• Gallstones
• Depression

4. How effective is acupuncture?

Acupuncture is an effective treatment method used by millions of people in China, Korea, Japan, and other counties. Acupuncture encompasses a host of healing techniques that have been practiced for more than 2000 years. Though many different techniques and styles are in use in the West, scientifically studying acupuncture’s effectiveness has been problematic. This is partly because of the difficulty in studying a dynamic, patient-centered system whose practice paradigms often are artificially limited by the application of a reductionist methodology, which is dictated by the standards of scientific enquiry. However, acupuncture, unlike many indigent medical practices in the world, has withstood the test of time in China and in the West, with many practitioners and patients reporting real benefits for some conditions.

In 1997, the NIH consensus report stated that acupuncture is being "widely" practiced--by thousands of physicians, dentists, acupuncturists, and other practitioners--for relief or prevention of pain and for various other health conditions. It further states that promising results have emerged, for example, showing efficacy of acupuncture in adult postoperative and chemotherapy nausea and vomiting and in postoperative dental pain. There are other situations such as addiction, stroke rehabilitation, headache, menstrual cramps, tennis elbow, fibromyalgia, myofascial pain, osteoarthritis, low back pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, and asthma, in which acupuncture may be useful as an adjunct treatment or an acceptable alternative or be included in a comprehensive management program. Further research is likely to uncover additional areas where acupuncture interventions will be useful.

5. How safe are the needles?

The acupuncture needles used at the clinic are perfectly safe. All of the needles used in the clinic are designed for single use, and are disposable. Needles are never recycled, and the risk of infection is extremely small.

6. Are there any side effects with the treatments?

Acupuncture is a relatively safe treatment with minor possible side effects. An area needled can have some redness, bruising, minor bleeding, or swelling. In rare cases, individuals being treated can faint or undergo muscle spasm.

The local trigger point injections are done with Lidocaine. Lidocaine is a local pain killer (not a steroid), which is very similar to Novacaine (what they use in your dentist office). The dosage used is very small, and patients usually experience immediate pain relief after the injections. You may experience soreness, bruising, or minor inflammation in the area you had treated. In very rare instances, an allergic reaction can occur with the Lidocaine, which may cause inflammation, swelling, hives, etc.

Most of these side effects are very mild, and in the rare event something more substantial occurs, the clinic staff is well trained to deal with any of these problems.

7. Will the needles hurt?

A little, generally less than you would imagine. Many first time patients at the clinic have a bit of anxiety about the needling procedure. Most people in the U.S. are familiar with vaccinations and having blood drawn, but not with acupuncture. The actual treatment comes as a relief to most of these patients.

The needles that you have encountered in the past (at the office of your primary care physician) are all hypodermic needles. Larger needles that have a hollow body for injecting and\or drawing fluids. Acupuncture needles are all significantly thinner and smaller, and are not hollow. Different sizes of needles are used depending on what acupuncture points they are intended for, but the needles are all about as thick as human hair. As a result of their smaller size, the insertion tends to be far more comfortable. Many patients fell no pain at all.

The amount of pain you will feel during a treatment will depend on how sensitive you are to the acupuncture needles, and the acupuncture points that are used for your treatment (some points are more sensitive than others).

8. Who performs the treatments?

The clinic staff consists of both medical doctors (M.D.) and licensed acupuncturists (L.Ac.). Medical doctors do the trigger point injections, and both medical doctors and acupuncturists perform acupuncture in the clinic. Acupuncturists with a background in physical manipulation do the massage.

In the state of California, becoming and L.Ac. requires a student to complete a four-year masters program in TCM, or complete medical school in China. It also requires any potential acupuncturist to pass a stringent state board examination. All acupuncturists in the east-west medical center gradated at the top of their class from Chinese medical schools and are knowledgeable in both TCM and western medicine.

9. How long will it take for me to see improvement?

A number of factors will influence whether you will get better, and how long it will take. It depends on you current state of health. In general, patients who are elderly and those who have more chronic conditions will take longer to get better.

Your recovery will also depend on how often you receive treatment and how actively you work to improve your health. The clinic emphasizes improving your quality of life as a means towards recovery and maintaining health. TCM holds that an individual lifestyle is largely responsible for their state of health. Because of this, your doctor will ask you to take an active role in your treatment. You may be asked to do self-acupressure (like acupuncture but with pressure instead of needles), modify your diet, level of exercise, etc. The changes you are willing to make in your life style are likely to have a great effect on your level of well-being.

Patients are generally asked to come into the clinic once or twice a week for a 6-8 week period.

10. What will my insurance cover?

It depends on your insurance. If you have an HMO, you will need a referral from your primary care physician. If you have a PPO, a referral is generally not required, but plans vary in what services they cover. If you want to know exactly what your plan provides for, contact your insurance company directly.

Medicare covers up to twelve trigger point injections in a twelve-month period, and up to $1500 in massage and physical therapy. Medicare does not cover acupuncture. Patients may self-pay for services their insurance doesn't cover if they wish to do so.

11. Where should I park my car when I go to clinic??

Parking is available on-site at the Parkside Medical Plaza, which is run privately by Standard Parking. Unfortunately, the clinic does not validate your parking during your visit. There is, however, off-street meter parking around the clinic at lower rates.