I first became interested in herbal medicine as a teenager. While in junior high school, I planted a backyard herbal garden with multiple species. The selection even included comfrey, a purely medicinal plant whose invasive roots proved less than therapeutic for my parents once the offshoots infiltrated our lawn. Decades later, when considering various potential careers while living abroad in Japan, the experiences of my youth delineated a path through Chinese medicine that would both utilize my degree in Asian studies and satisfy my strong interest natural medicine—and which together could help the people in my community.
Eager to learn Chinese botanical remedies, acupuncture was, if I am honest, actually more of a disincentive than a motivation to embark upon the study of TCM. Not unlike most human beings, I had a natural dislike of needles, and a traumatizing experience blacking out in a clinic lobby after a routine blood draw had left me especially fearful of jabs. Nevertheless, as the core component of our Chinese medical curriculum in the West, I embraced the study and practice of acupuncture. Half-a-million needles later, I am a true convert who values both sharing and receiving this remarkable form of care.
In fact, I think of acupuncture as magic.
As a drug-free, non-surgical option, the wide range of patients with diverse complaints helped by acupuncture is staggering. While most patients see benefits from acupuncture, some past cases stand out: a couple that conceived after a decade of failed IVF; the Vietnam vet who found relief from back and hip pain which started during the war; an individual whose blinding migraines disappeared without drugs; a patient lacking viable sperm who became fertile; the individual with a serious pulmonary diagnosis, classified as terminal by doctors, who now works a tough physical job and enjoys life largely without any supplemental oxygen; and the patient whose dangerous manic episodes disappeared into emotional constancy and contentment free from depression and agitation. This is just a tiny sample of the innumerable successes in our clinic during the last 25 years, some so impressive as to be truly magical.
But the story does not end there. Unlike mainstream medicine, the effects of acupuncture are not limited to fixing the complaints that come through the clinic door; in fact, the real magic of acupuncture is enhanced general wellness. During a session, patients typically become deeply relaxed, often to a point where, as chronic tension drains from the face, their appearance visibly transforms. Muscular and emotional stress lifted, the systems of the body can function at optimal levels, and patients see positive shifts in their quality of life, far exceeding any main complaint. This often leads to the familiar question, “Can acupuncture do that?”. Or, more specifically, “Could treatment be helping me sleep better?” “Can acupuncture make my vision better?” “Could acupuncture possibly the reason I have been feeling happier recently?”
Yes. All this and more. Expert acupuncture care, as it turns out, can be a solution to problems which we are not even seeking to solve, or might not even recognize. In other words, acupuncture is an ancient Chinese secret which makes life more enjoyable.