PRIVATE ACUPUNCTURE TREATMENTS

Individualized treatment sessions take place in a private office setting on a comfortable acupuncture treatment bed.  All modalities of Chinese Medicine are offered, including but not limited to: acupuncture, cupping, moxibustion, gua sha, and herbal/dietary/lifestyle recommendations.  If you want focused attention and time to speak with your practitioner, a private treatment with Tessa Nagel is for you.

Some patients may require 1 to 3 visits per week at the beginning of their particular healing process, depending on how chronic or severe the case may be. Inquire about treatment packages, which are now offered.

At your first acupuncture visit, a consultation will be performed to cover your health concerns and relevant history. During this time you will have an opportunity to ask questions or discuss concerns. Traditional diagnostic methods will be used to establish the root cause of your imbalance, including pulse reading and tongue inspection.

Initial Treatments           $150

Follow up Treatments     $95

Package (buy 10 treatments, get one FREE) $950

There is a 24-hour cancellation policy. No refunds.

*Pediatrics: Bring your babies, children and teenagers along!  We normally use no or few needles for small children and prefer to work with little stick-on-pellets and fun Japanese pediatric tools.

ABOUT TRADITIONAL CHINESE MEDICINE MODALITIES

ACUPUNCTURE
Acupuncture is the insertion of micro-fine needles into points along pathways on the surface of the body called meridians. These points and meridians have a direct relationship with internal organ systems and specific areas of the body. Stimulation of acupuncture points with needles has the effect of moving Qi (vital energy), promoting blood circulation and stimulating the body’s natural healing mechanisms. From a biomedical perspective, acupuncture appears to activate your body’s nervous system and circulatory system, which regulate the production, secretion and transportation of various molecules, including endorphins, neurotransmitters and hormones. By regulating physiological functions, a state of homeostasis is restored within the body. Our clinic uses sterilized, single-use, stainless steel needles that are so thin the diameter is often compared to that of a human hair. Insertion is relatively painless and most patients describe the needling sensation as one of warmth, dullness, pressure, heaviness or tingling.

CUPPING
Cupping is a technique that uses suction to apply glass or plastic cups to specific areas of the body such as the back or abdomen. The cups are held in place or moved along specific meridians in order to promote blood circulation and stimulate the nervous system. This technique is often used to relax muscles, alleviate pain, or treat cough and dyspnea.

GUA SHA
Sometimes called ‘coining, spooning or scraping’, Gua sha is defined as instrument-assisted unidirectional press-stroking of a lubricated area of the body surface to intentionally create transitory therapeutic petechiae called ‘sha’ representing extravasation of blood in the subcutis.

Raising sha removes blood stagnation considered pathogenic in traditional East Asian medicine. Modern research shows the transitory therapeutic petechiae produce an anti inflammatory and immune protective effect that persists for days following a single Gua sha treatment accounting for the immediate relief that patients feel from pain, stiffness, fever, chill, cough, wheeze, nausea and vomiting etc, and why Gua sha is effective in acute and chronic internal organ disorders including liver inflammation in hepatitis.

MOXIBUSTION
Moxibustion is a form of heat therapy in which dried plant materials called "moxa" are burned on or very near the surface of the skin. The intention is to warm and invigorate the flow of Qi in the body and dispel certain pathogenic influences.

Moxa is usually made from the dried leafy material of Chinese mugwort (Artemesia argyi or A.vlugaris), but it can be made of other substances as well. In the U.S., practitioners generally hold a burning moxa stick close to, but not touching, the surface of the skin.

In this method, the moxa material is compressed into a stick or pole, looking not unlike an oversized cigar that can be lit and allowed to smolder, producing a unique form of very penetrating heat. The smoldering moxa stick is held over specific areas, often, though not always, corresponding to certain acupuncture points. The glowing end of the moxa stick is held about an inch or two above the surface of the skin until the area reddens and becomes suffused with warmth. It is not uncommon for patients receiving moxibustion to report a sudden flooding of warmth that quickly radiates along a specific pathway away from the site of application. This is a good result, as it indicates the arrival of the Qi and signals that the flow of Qi and xue has been freed in the channel.

Moxibustion is used for:

• Pain due to injury or arthritis, especially in "cold" patterns where the pain naturally feels better with the application of heat

• Digestive problems and irregular elimination

• Gynecological and obstetrical conditions, including breech presentation in late term pregnancy

• Protection against cold and flu strains

Practitioners often do both acupuncture and moxibustion in the same clinic session when appropriate to the diagnosis and treatment strategy. Practitioners believe that the therapies increase each other's effectiveness when used together.

Unlike acupuncture, which is almost always done by a trained practitioner in a clinic setting, moxibustion can be easily used at home. It is not uncommon for Chinese medical practitioners to train their patients to use moxa on themselves to strengthen the effect of the clinical sessions between appointments.

HERBAL MEDICINE
Chinese herbal medicine involves the use of natural plant and mineral substances to produce healing changes in the body and is regarded as a powerful complement to acupuncture treatment. Many practitioners use Chinese herbs as a way of offering the body continual therapeutic input between acupuncture treatments. By taking herbs on a daily basis, the positive momentum created by acupuncture is enhanced. When properly practiced, Chinese herbal medicine is a safe, effective alternative to harsh pharmaceutical medications. We prescribe with the utmost integrity and skill and source the highest quality herbs.