FAQ
What Does Acupuncture Do?
Acupuncture Public Awareness Video
The Association of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture of British Columbia (ATCMA) shared a public awareness video about how acupuncture can improve the quality of life of people.
What Is Acupuncture?
The purpose of Traditional Chinese Medicine(TCM) Therapies is to recover the natural balance of your body by stimulating acupuncture points on the body. It can not only enhance recuperative power, immunity and physical and emotional health, but also improve overall function and well-being
Acupuncture activates the body’s Qi and promotes natural healing by using fine, sterile needles at specific acupoints in the body. It can not only enhance recuperative power, immunity and physical and emotional health but also improve overall function and well-being. It is a safe and effective way to treat a wide variety of medical problems.
What Is Community Acupuncture?
The Short Version
We define Community Acupuncture as the practice of offering acupuncture: 1) in a setting where multiple patients receive treatments at the same time;
2) by financially sustainable and accountable means, whereby community acupuncture clinics depend directly on the support of the people who receive acupuncture in them, rather than on grants, donations, or other funding;
3) within a context of accessibility, which we create by providing consistent hours, by making frequent treatments readily available, by offering affordable services, and by lowering all the barriers to treatment that we possibly can, for as many people as we possibly can, while continuing to be financially self-sustaining.
For The Long Version, read here
How can you afford to charge so little to community acupuncture?
Because we treat lots of people. What’s most important to a community acupuncturist is simply to give many people the chance to receive treatments. Likewise, the business needs to see many people in order to make ends meet.
Plainly said, we want acupuncture to be readily available as a means to help take care of the health of our neighbors and communities.
Do I have to take my clothes off for community acupuncture treatment?
Absolutely not. Occasionally, we may need to have access to areas just above the knee or up to the shoulder joint, in which case we’d ask you to wear shorts or a tee shirt.
But by and large all it takes to get ready for treatment is to roll up pant legs and shirt sleeves, as points on the lower arms and legs are the most commonly used in community clinics. No need to take any other clothes off.
Do Needles Hurt?
Not really much at all. However, getting an acupuncture treatment isn’t always painless. More than anything a treatment should be a deeply relaxing and sleepy slice of time for you.
Here’s what we’d like our patients to know: You may feel a bit of a pinch when the needles are tapped in, but this should ease right away. If you continue to feel a pinching or a burning sensation at the needle site any longer than this, let us know. It means we haven’t placed that needle real well. If on the other hand you are feeling a slight ache or heavy feeling near the needle, this is usually a good sign – a clue that the body is reacting in a productive way.
The bottom line is that as long as the feelings around the needled areas don’t keep you from closing your eyes and napping for a little while, we say let them be.