Conditions Treated

Acupuncture is most commonly used to control pain;

“Acupuncture is comparable with morphine preparations in its effectiveness against chronic pain, but without the adverse effects of morphine, such as dependency.” - World Health Organization Acupuncture: Review and Analysis of Reports on Controlled Clinical Trials.

However, there are many more uses for Oriental Medicine that are unique and effective, including the treatment of the common cold or flu. Our areas of special interest include:

  • Integrative Sports Medicine
  • Facial Rejuvenation
  • Fertility and Woman's Health
  • Neurological Conditions
  • Pediatrics

    • Because Traditional Oriental Medicine is about healing the individual as a whole and every individual is different, regardless of his or her condition, it is not difficult for a trained practitioner to treat all kinds of conditions.  However, some conditions are more effectively treated with modern western medicine like infections, for example. While there are many herbs with antibacterial qualities, they are slower than the antibiotics at the pharmacy, which could pose a serious risk to the patient who is forgoing pharmaceutical antibiotic therapy. However, if pharmaceutical antibiotics aren't working, then herbs can be a lifesaver, as many of our modern bacteria have not yet adapted to herbal therapies. It is always important to stay in close contact with your MD and we will never hesitate to refer, consult and otherwise communicate with your MD if it is at all necessary.

    Here are some more conditions effectively treated by acupuncture according to an official report from the WHO,

    Acupuncture: Review and Analysis of Reports on Controlled Clinical Trials

    They fit into 4 classifications described below:

    (1) Diseases, symptoms or conditions for which acupuncture has been proved through controlled trials to be an effective treatment

    (2) Diseases, symptoms or conditions for which the therapeutic effect of acupuncture has been shown but for which further proof is needed

    (3) Diseases, symptoms or conditions for which there are only individual controlled trials reporting some therapeutic effects, but for which acupuncture is worth trying because treatment by conventional and other therapies is difficult

    (4) Diseases, symptoms or conditions for which acupuncture may be tried provided the practitioner has special modern medical knowledge and adequate monitoring equipment

    We have organized them into categories for convenience:

    Pain

  • Facial pain (including craniomandibular disorders) (1)
  • Headache (1)
  • Knee pain (1)
  • Low back pain (1)
  • Neck pain (1)
  • Pain in dentistry (including dental pain and temporomandibular dysfunction) (1)
  • Periarthritis of shoulder (1)
  • Rheumatoid arthritis (1)
  • Sciatica (1)
  • Sprain (1)
  • Tennis elbow (1),/li>
  • Osteoarthritis (2)
  • Pain in thromboangiitis obliterans (2)
  • Radicular and pseudoradicular pain syndrome (2)
  • Spine pain, acute (2)
  • Stiff neck (2)
  • Temporomandibular joint dysfunction (2)
  • Gouty arthritis (2)

    • Allergies

  • Allergic rhinitis (including hay fever) (1)

    • Diabetes

  • Diabetes mellitus, non-insulin-dependent (2)

    • Digestive Issues

  • Biliary colic (1)
  • Dysentery, acute bacillary (1)
  • Epigastralgia, acute (in peptic ulcer, acute and chronic gastritis, and gastrospasm) (1)
  • Nausea and vomiting (1)
  • Obesity (2)
  • Abdominal pain (in acute gastroenteritis or due to gastrointestinal spasm) (2)
  • Cholecystitis, chronic, with acute exacerbation (2)
  • Cholelithiasis (2)
  • Gastrokinetic disturbance (2)
  • Ulcerative colitis, chronic (2)
  • Irritable colon syndrome (IBS) (3)

    • Psycho emotional

  • Depression (including depressive neurosis and depression following stroke) (1)
  • Competition stress syndrome (2)
  • Schizophrenia (2)

    • Addiction/Dependence

  • Alcohol dependence and detoxification (2)
  • Opium, cocaine and heroin dependence (2)
  • Tobacco dependence (2)

    • Woman’s Health / Pregnancy

  • Dysmenorrhea, primary (1)
  • Induction of labor (1)
  • Female infertility (2)
  • Malposition of fetus, correction of (1)
  • Female urethral syndrome (2)
  • Morning sickness (1)
  • Hypo-ovarianism (2)
  • Labor pain (2)
  • Polycystic ovary syndrome
  • Lactation, deficiency (2)
  • Stein–Leventhal syndrome (2)
  • Premenstrual syndrome (2)

    • Men’s Health

  • Male sexual dysfunction, non-organic (2)
  • Prostatitis, chronic (2)

    • Urinary Health

  • Renal colic (1)
  • Recurrent lower urinary-tract infection (2)
  • Retention of urine, traumatic (2)
  • Urolithiasis (2)
  • Neuropathic bladder in spinal cord injury (3)

    • Cardiovascular System

  • Hypertension, essential (1)
  • Hypotension, primary (1)
  • Cardiac neurosis (2)
  • Pulmonary heart disease, chronic (3)
  • Coronary heart disease (angina pectoris) (4)

    • Neurological System

  • Stroke (1)
  • Bell’s palsy (2)
  • Craniocerebral injury, closed (2)
  • Raynaud syndrome, primary (2)
  • Ménière disease (2)
  • Tourette syndrome (2)
  • Vascular dementia (2)
  • Coma (4)
  • Paralysis, progressive bulbar and pseudobulbar (4)

    • Surgery

  • Postoperative pain (1)
  • Pain due to endoscopic examination (2)
  • Postoperative convalescence (2)

    • Respiratory System

  • Bronchial asthma (2)
  • Small airway obstruction (3)
  • Breathlessness in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (4)

    • Eye Ear Nose Throat

  • Earache (2)
  • Epistaxis, simple (without generalized or local disease) (nose bleed) (2)
  • Eye pain due to subconjunctival injection (2)
  • Sore throat (including tonsillitis) (2)
  • Color blindness (3)
  • Deafness (3)

    • Skin

  • Neurodermatitis (2)
  • Pruritus (2)
  • Acne vulgaris (2)

    • Pediatrics

  • Bronchial asthma (2)
  • Postextubation in children (2)
  • Whooping cough (pertussis) (2)
  • Convulsions in infants (4)
  • Diarrhea in infants and young children (4)
  • Encephalitis, viral, in children, late stage (4)

    • Cancer

  • Adverse reactions to radiotherapy and/or chemotherapy (1)
  • Leucopenia (1)
  • Cancer pain (2)

    • Other

  • Leucopenia (1)
  • Insomnia (2)
  • Epidemic hemorrhagic fever (2)
  • Facial spasm (2)
  • Fibromyalgia and fasciitis (2)
  • Hepatitis B virus carrier status (2)
  • Herpes zoster (human (alpha) herpes virus 3) (2)
  • Neuralgia, post-herpetic (2)
  • Hyperlipaemia (2)
  • Reflex sympathetic dystrophy (2)
  • Sialism, drug-induced (2)
  • Sjögren syndrome (2)
  • Tietze syndrome (2)
  • Chloasma (3)
  • Choroidopathy, central serous (3)
  • Hypophrenia (3)

    • Integrative Sports Medicine

    Oriental Medicine has many modalities to help an injury heal more quickly and thoroughly. It can help ease the pain and assist with the healing process for chronic injuries as well.

    Sarah has been climbing, swimming, surfing, biking, hiking and otherwise taking her body to its limits since she was a small child. Her love for sports and the outdoors helps her, along with her extra clinical training in Integrative Sports Medicine at Five Branches Institute, and her experience as an RN, to treat all types of orthopedic and sports injuries.

    Fertility & Women’s Health

    Traditional Oriental Medicine is being effectively used as an adjunctive therapy during fertility treatment. We treat infertility, sexual dysfunction and a variety of women’s and men's’ health problems, including benign prostate hypertrophy (bph), menoupause, and PMS. Fertility involves both partners, so please bring your significant other with you.

    Neurological Conditions

    Sarah has been studying with Dr Zhu, learning his techniques to help patients with all types of neurological conditions. Dr Zhu’s scalp needle system is used primarily to help patients with paralysis. Dr Zhu’s results are nothing short of miraculous, helping people who were told they could not walk again to slowly get up on a walker and walk again. His treatments have also made significant differences in stroke patients’ recovery and can be effective for Multiple Sclerosis and severe and chronic pain as well. Most conditions are treated in conjunction with western medicine due to their severity.

    His methods require lots of hard work by the patient, who needs to exercise many hours a day, this along with frequent treatments where needles are placed in the scalp while the patient completes exercises to increase their level of functioning, decrease their pain and improve their overall well being. The scalp needles are inserted subcutaniously and usually do not cause much discomfort; most patients do not feel them after the insertion.

    Pediatrics

    Sarah’s love and patience with small children will help your child to feel safe. She uses tui na (gentle massage techniques) as well as essential oils and herbs to treat children, always with the involvement of their parents.