For Patients
Best Practice Acupuncture offers Chinese medicine – acupuncture, Chinese herbal medicine, cupping & gua sha, and nutritional therapy – from an integrative medicine perspective. At Best Practice Acupuncture, you get the best of the East with the best of the West: ancient, time-tested medicine that is evidence-based and supported by good science.
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Chinese Medicine:
A Traditional Understanding
With a 3,000 year history, Chinese medicine is the oldest continuously practiced medicine in the world.
Holistic, Naturalistic, Yet Very Sophisticated
Chinese medicine is based on a naturalistic philosophy that sees humans as dynamically and intimately interconnected with the rest of the natural world. Similarly, each human body is understood to be an organic whole, where all parts are interconnected and function in relation to each other. This emphasis on seeing the “whole picture” – whether it’s looking at a single human body or at the entire natural world – is what makes Chinese medicine the very definition of holistic medicine. And while it may seem simple, Chinese medicine – like the universe itself – is complex and very sophisticated.
Health = Harmony, Balance, and Flow
As understood in Chinese medicine, disease is caused when the harmony (balance of Yin and Yang), dynamic flow or Qi (pronounced CHEE), and interconnection in our bodies become injured, damaged, or disrupted somehow. Health is established by restoring the body’s natural connections, dynamic flow, and balance.
More Than Just Acupuncture
When people in the West think of Chinese medicine, they think of acupuncture. In fact, Chinese medicine is an entire system of medical theory, philosophy, and therapies. While acupuncture is the most popular Chinese medicine therapy here in the West, it is by no means the only one. Scroll down to learn more about other Chinese medicine therapies offered at Best Practice Acupuncture.
Acupuncture
Acupuncture is the insertion of sterile, very thin needles into specific points on the body to promote health and treat disease. Chinese medicine believes that injury, poor diet, unbalanced emotions, and other factors can disrupt the balance of Yin and Yang and the flow of Qi and Blood in the body, resulting in pain and other symptoms of disease. Acupuncture heals the body by harmonizing Yin and Yang and restoring the proper flow of Qi and Blood.
A Modern View of Acupuncture
Modern research has demonstrated that acupuncture exhibits a regulatory or homeostatic effect on human physiology that positively impacts the functioning of a number of the body’s systems. Acupuncture has been shown to:
- activate the endogenous cannabinoid and opioid systems to reduce pain and inflammation
- regulate peristalsis in the large intestine to improve digestion and elimination
- regulate neurotransmitters and the autonomic nervous system to improve mood and reduce stress
- regulate neurotransmitters and hormones which can positively affect the menstrual cycle and improve PMS symptoms