If you have never been treated by a TCM practitioner, or even if you have, here is what you can expect from our service:
First of all, you can expect a very friendly and professional practitioner. Our entire staff is composed by practitioners that have masters degrees in Traditional Chinese Medicine, and are licensed by the California Acupuncture Board as a Licensed Acupuncturist.
After the practitioner reviews the intake form that you downloaded and completed before your appointment, the practitioner proceeds to ask a few more questions to better understand your case. We try to understand not only the symptoms, but also what might be the root of the problem. By understanding the emotional state of the patient, the eating and exercise habits, the onset of the symptoms, and how the symptoms might change, the practitioner begins to weave a Pattern. From this Pattern a Chinese medical diagnosis is made.
Once a diagnosis is achieved, a treatment plan is implemented. Depending on the severity of the symptom, a treatment plan might include: to treat the root of the problem first and then the symptom (if it is still there), treat the symptom first and then the root, or treat the symptom and the root at the same time.
The treatment usually involves acupuncture and Chinese herbs. However, if the patient does not want acupuncture, another way of stimulating the acupoints will be used, such as acupressure, microcurrent, cupping or moxibustion. In the case acupuncture is recommended and acceptable by the patient, the needles are kept between 30 to 40 minutes.
After the treatment, the practitioner fills out an herbal prescription that the patient can purchase on-line from our herbal partnering company. Most of the time the herbal formulas come in tincture form, requiring to mix 30 or so drops in a glass of water.
A subsequent visit is scheduled for the following week. A quick intake is done to see what has changed since the last treatment. If the Pattern has not changed and there is improvement, the same treatment plan is followed until the all the symptoms are gone. At this point, the patient is scheduled to be seen in two weeks.
