The Fusion of Tradition and Science.
Q & A
- What should I expect during the first evaluation and acupuncture treatments?
- How does Acupuncture work?
- How many treatments does it take before I feel better?
- How often do I need to come for treatment?
- What makes you such a successful TCM practitioner?
- What is Qi? Can people feel Qi?
- Traditional Chinese Medicine seems very new to me. How long has it been practiced?
- How was TCM discovered?
- My insurance will pay for acupuncture if it is performed by an M.D. Does your M.D. degree qualify?
- A problem I had in the past was successfully cured by acupuncture. Can I still come in for treatment if there is nothing wrong with me?
- What inspired you to return to school to receive your Master’s Degree in Traditional Chinese Medicine after you had already acquired an M.D.?
- How does your acupuncture treatment vary from that of other licensed acupuncturists in Colorado?
1) What should I expect during the first evaluation and acupuncture treatments?
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2) How does Acupuncture work?
As your acupuncturist, I insert very fine needles into certain acupoints in the body. There are 365 acupoints total, and they are located primarily along the meridians, or energy channels, which move vital energy (Qi) throughout the body. If the energy moving along a meridian is insufficient, overflowing, or blocked, a Yin Yang imbalance results and illness develops. Acupuncture balances the energy flow and stimulates spontaneous healing in the body. Modern science has discovered that acupuncture promotes the release of endorphins and positive neurotransmitters in the body; this may explain why patients feel tranquil and sometimes sleep during treatment.As your acupuncturist, I insert very fine needles into certain acupoints in the body. There are 365 acupoints total, and they are located primarily along the meridians, or energy channels, which move vital energy (Qi) throughout the body. If the energy moving along a meridian is insufficient, overflowing, or blocked, a Yin Yang imbalance results and illness develops. Acupuncture balances the energy flow and stimulates spontaneous healing in the body. Modern science has discovered that acupuncture promotes the release of endorphins and positive neurotransmitters in the body; this may explain why patients feel tranquil and sometimes sleep during treatment.
3) How many treatments does it take before I feel better?
Everyone is different, and it depends on the problem. About 85% of my patients experience positive changes after just one treatment. On infrequent occasions, some patients may feel a little worse before they feel better as their body adjusts and detoxifies. In the rare case that a patient does not notice any improvements by the fifth treatment, the patient will most likely not respond to any of my treatments at all, and I may recommend that treatments discontinue.
4) How often do I need to come for treatment?
Once again, it depends on the complexity of the problem. Within the first few treatment sessions, I suggest to each patient a customized, four phase treatment plan to follow, which typically begins with two sessions a week for the first one to five weeks, and gradually decreases from there.
I use the techniques of Traditional Chinese Medicine to optimize the environment in your body so that it will be able to heal itself. Although the body is moving in the right direction almost immediately after the first session, the body has a tendency to slip back or revert to its old patterns within a few days. My treatment plans are designed to prevent this from happening so that you are always moving forward and will need less frequent treatments when graduating to the next phase.
5) What makes you such a successful TCM practitioner?
My integrative knowledge of Western and Eastern medicine gives me a unique perspective on health and healing. I have been able to fuse these two different views of medicine into one vision of how to heal people. In addition, my growing understanding of the nature of Qi through years of practicing internal Qigong has vastly increased my skill level, intuition, and my effectiveness as a practitioner. Qigong (sometimes translated to English as “energy work”) is an ancient Chinese art form of body and mind cultivation. Qigong helps strengthen and increase the awareness of the connection between the mind and the body, as well as the connection among humans, nature, and the universe.
6) What is Qi ? Can people feel Qi?
Simply put, Qi is “life force energy.” In addition to being its own entity as energy, it contains information and substance. According to Eastern philosophy, everything contains Qi and everything is in constant exchange of Qi. Most people are unable to touch or see the actual Qi, but are still able to feel the sensation of Qi and can see the result of its work. For example, many patients feel uplifted and look peaceful after an acupuncture treatment. Some people can feel a tingling sensation where the needles were placed even after the treatment is finished. Remarkably, some can even feel these sensations the following day.
Qi can be either internal or external. “External Qi” is projected outside of a human body by a highly talented Qigong master. At Harvard Medical School and other prestigious universities, scientists have actually been able to measure the effects of external Qi emitted (or projected) by the renowned Qigong master, Dr. Yan Xin, on different selected biological samples. (For more information, see the research report published in 2004 in Brain research 1006 (2004)198-206, “Involvement of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase and insulin-like growth factor-1 in YXLST-mediated neuroprotection,” www.elsevier.com/locate/brainres and www.sciencedirect.com.)
7) Traditional Chinese Medicine seems very new to me. How long has it been practiced?
The history of TCM goes back at least 5,000 years. This complex, elegant, and technical medical knowledge was at first passed down orally from generation to generation. When TCM was finally put into written form approximately 2000 years ago, it became known as the Huang Di Nei Jing, or the Yellow Emperor’s Classic Book of Internal Medicine. It is the oldest known medical textbook in the world, and documents TCM theories, including the meaning of the various pulses and circulation. More importantly, it explains the connection between body and mind and the relationship between humans and the universe. This remarkable treasure of medical knowledge was written thousands of years before European medicine recognized these theories. Its value endures until this day, as its theories continue to be used successfully to treat patients worldwide.
8) How was TCM discovered?
The history of TCM is so ancient that it would be difficult to fully explain it all here, so I will give a condensed version: According to Chinese literature, approximately 5000 years ago there were two village chiefs whose names were Huang Di and Yan Di. Huang Di specialized in acupuncture points and Yan Di was gifted with the use of Chinese herbs. Both were Qigong masters with extraordinary human abilities. It was said that Huang Di saw the Qi (life force energy) traveling through meridians (or energy channels) in the body, and that vision led him to determine which points on the body, when stimulated, would cause a certain type of healing response. Yan Di could visualize the different reactions in the organs of the body resulting from the ingestion of different types of herbs.
9) My insurance will pay for acupuncture if it is performed by an M.D. Does your M.D. degree qualify?
Although I have a medical degree in Western medicine and have passed the U.S. Medical Licensing Exam, I have chosen not to obtain a physician’s license in Colorado. I limit my practice exclusively to TCM, and am licensed in the state of Colorado to perform acupuncture and prescribe Chinese herbs.
10) A problem I had in the past was successfully cured by acupuncture. Can I still come in for treatment if there is nothing wrong with me?
Of course. The philosophy of TCM is based on preventive care. There is an ancient Chinese saying: “The superior doctor treats the undeveloped illness.” Think of your body as a garden. You don’t wait until the garden is completely taken over by weeds before you take care of it. Instead, you tend your garden and pull the weeds as they grow. Sometimes you even fertilize and treat your garden to prevent weeds from appearing at all!
11) What inspired you to return to school to receive your Master’s Degree in Traditional Chinese Medicine after you had already acquired an M.D.?
Very simply, TCM provided answers to questions that couldn’t be answered by Western medicine. As a doctor, I was often asked questions such as “How do I prevent illness?” and “How can I recover from illness naturally?” I couldn’t satisfactorily answer those questions based upon my many years of Western medical training. Because I was interested in preventive medicine, I continued to study TCM for an additional three years after medical school to learn the answers to these questions. Now, after 25 years of practicing, I have finally found some answers that I am pleased to share with my patients.
12) How does your acupuncture treatment vary from that of other licensed acupuncturists in Colorado?
The word “acupuncturist” is a loose title that applies to practitioners with varying amounts of training, skill and experience. It is rare for an acupuncturist to hold both a Western M.D. degree as well as a TCM degree. I believe that my integrative (or as I think of it, “fused”) knowledge of both of these systems, plus my many years of clinical experience, and my practice of internal Qigong, has permitted me to develop sensitivity, intuition, and a high level of skills. Ultimately, what sets me apart is both a very high success rate and resounding patient satisfaction.