Blue Waters Acupuncture Center

What does Acupuncture treat?

The World Health Organization (WHO) has a compiled list of Acupuncture controlled trials. This list shows proof that Acupuncture can treat or assist in treating the following conditions. Here is a summary of the WHO research results. For a more detailed list please see the  'Conditions We Treat' page.

• Pain Management

• Locomotor System Disorders
• Traumatic/Postoperative Pain
• Dentistry - tooth pain, cracked tooth pain, pre and post root canal
• Infections
• Neurological Disorders - stroke, multiple sclerosis, peripheral neuropathy,  Throracic Outlet Syndrome
• Respiratory Disorders
• Digestive Disorders
• Blood Disorders
• Urogenital Disorders
• Gynecological & Obstetric Disorders
• Cardiovascular Disorders
• Psychiatric Disorders & Mental Disturbances
• Pediatric Disorders
• Disorders of the Sense Organs
• Skin Diseases
• Supportive Care for Cancer
• Obesity
• Hyperlipidemia
• Non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus
• L and I cases (Labor and Industries - Workmans Comp) - LOW BACK PAIN ONLY  at present --  we are currently participating in a 2 year pilot project in the State of Washington.  You just need to ask your attending medical provider on your  L and I case for a referral to us. Call us for more details. 
• Personal Injury Cases - Auto Injury Cases

 In addition to these WHO summary list, we also treat Auto Injuries

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Do the needles hurt and is it safe?

No, it does not hurt and yes it is safe. Acupuncture needles are hair thin. In fact, they are thinner than a Cat’s Whiskers. When performed by a skilled practitioner the insertion of the acupuncture needle is practically painless. In many instances, you may not even feel them go in. Patients may feel a dull ache, dull pressure, or something in a completely different area because the meridians run up and down the body and the points are interconnected. 

After the insertion of the acupuncture needles you may feel some kind of sensation, usually for about five to ten seconds. Each person may experience different sensations, but here are some common sensations: heaviness, tingling, numbness, aching, soreness, and distention. These sensations may be uncomfortable but are not painful.  In a few cases, some critical points may ache or buzz as the problem is released from the body, but this usually does not last longer than 30-90 seconds.

When performed by a trained licensed professional, acupuncture is extremely safe.  Only sterile and disposable single use needles are used here at Blue Waters Acupuncture Center.

How many treatments will it take?

The number of treatments that is required varies based on the type of disorder and each individual. In general, acute disorders may require 1-12 treatments to observe effects. For chronic disorders, 12 or more treatments may be required to observe effects. The basic principle is, if it didn't occur overnight, it will probably not go away overnight. Initial treatments are closer together for maximum impact to begin to correct the problem as fast as possible or halt further decay or worsening of the health issue.

Then as the condition stabilizes the treatments are further spaced out. To solve a number of health concerns that have developed in a patients of months and in many cases have been brewing for years before they erupt, may take up to 4 months to resolve the disease aspect of the problem, then once the pain and suffereing are resolved, if desired, the patient can move into  the next phase of the treatment, which is bringing greater vitality and health  beyond correcting illness, through applying Chinese medical principles that date back to 3,000 BCE when Chinese medical roots began. The ultimate purpose of Chinese Medicine back then as now is prevention and therefore increased longevity.

A significant number of Chinese Herbal formulas are devoted to keeping the internal organs in a balanced healthy state so they can perfom there functions with peak efficiency to help keep the body healthy internally as well as keep the muskulosketal system system vibrant and flexible. These can only be implemented once the disease state is resolved. Prior to that the Chinese Herbal formulas are first used to attack and rout out disease to stop pain and suffering.

Next the formulas turn their attention to getting rid of the root cause of the diseaase as defined from a Chinese Medical point of view. Finally, and only then can the formulas be truely altered to promote  the maintanence of a healthy state of all internal organs long term. In my experience, in over six years of practice, for those who choose to use Chinese Medicine to help them achieve and maintain a healthy lifestyle, when they come to see me on a monthly basis, other than physical trauma, it is very hard for somthing "bad" to happen. Why is this?

The ancient Chinese Doctors were judged on how many healthy patients they had, not on how many sick ones they had. The competition was fierce to be the best so they developed their own methods for early detection to help even patient's who said they were perfectly healthy, to see there are any imbalances in the internal organs, and if any are present, to correct them even before they can become functional disturbances, or if left alone if then in some cases the functional disturbance might go on to become frank disease - pain that comes, and mostly or simply does not go away - ie constant)  due to one or frequently more than one internal organs that is/are imbalanced.

You see, from a Chinese Medical point of view, the internal organs, is where ALL of your either health or illness is coming from (other than physical trama say from a slip and fall or a car accident which is instananeous and from external sources).  Keep the internal organs healthy and health reins supreme. Let one or more organs become inbalanced to a signifcant degree for long enough, and disease insues. One particular strength of  the long standing unbroken practice of this formerly elite medicine of Chinese is that it is holistic. What this means is that the organs from a Chinese Medical perspective are far more defined by how they interact with each other, than they are ever defined by what they do by themselves.

This is why when I see someone I must leave "no stone unturned" as it were, because all of the organs are so intimately and integrally connected that I must strenthen any and all imbalanced or un-healthy organs, or the un-treated, un-healthy organ(s) will be like "the one bad apple that spoiled the whole barrel".

If someones body is like a small boat, and I plug the holes in the side of the boat that equal their main complaints, but I ignore the other weak organs or sick organs that are NOT as of yet presenting with any symptoms, then it is like having several holes in the other side of the boat that are allowing water to leak right back in, cetainly reducing the ability to heal the patient, if not preventing it all together.

Western Medicine, at the present time, tends to look at the internal organs somewhat like a car, parts that are individual and interchangable, and thus at times it misses the bigger picture while they are drilling down on the aspects of one organ as an individual function rather as one functioning whole, inseparable, but with different foci as organs.

Here is how disease starts from an advanced Chinese medical perspective:

The first is an energetic distrubance that is detectable by advanced Chinese Pulse Diagnosis (imbalances in one or more internal organs of a patient, but no disease, no symptoms present yet).  

This technique is not just a photo, it provides functional information about the health of every organ from a Chinese medical point of view.

The second is the detection of functional disturbance(s) (come and go, come and go, come and go).

The third, and late stage from a Chinese Medical Diagnostic perspective, is detection of frank disease and qualatatively, how imbalanced, how severe the disease is at the time of evaluation, like a snap shot at that moment in time of the health and function of all of the internal organs.

It is much easier to stop pain or suffering than it is to effect longlasting stabilizing of the condition for all of the reasons mentioned above. Therefore for longstanding chronic conditions it is not unreasonable for it to take about 4 months to fully addess the underlying disorders that lead to the pain and suffereing and/or weakness.

Once addressed then, if so desired by the patient, we can transition into the 'Emperor's Plan'. Chinese Medicine was designed to meet the needs of successive Emperor's and their families and the adminstrators of the empire. They wanted longevity and even 2500 years ago many of them were fertile into their 80's and lived into their 90's while the average The average northern european was lucky to eek out an existance to 30-35 and die of malnutrition and some infectious disease.

So Chinese Medicine was designed, of course, to treat disease. Then in order to live longer, it was designed to  prevent problems and therefore also to detect problems early, even, in many cases, before the patient is aware there is a problem as mentioned above. Now that is prevention. And where there is prevention, there is longevity.

Chinese Herbal Medicine is an intergral part of this whole process. There are  three major categories of herbs.

The first are categories of herbs and/or formulas just to treat disease, and relieve pain and suffering. The second are categories of herbs and/or formulas that treat disease but also help to prevent disease, and finally in the third are categories of herbs and/or formulas that prevent disease, strengthen the muskuloskeletal system (tendons, ligaments, cartilage, muscle, and bone), strengthen the internal organs, help to keep the emotions stable, and boost vitality and the immune system. They leave no stone unturned.

The combination of everything outlined above can lead to a much greater sense of wellbeing and vitality over longer periods of time beyond 4 months and up to one year and beyond as deeper excesses, deficiencies, and stagnations are washed out of the system that have built up insidiously over decades, like barnacles on the side of a once sleek ocean going vessel, reducing its speed almost imperceptively at first, until enough of a drag built up to the point that symptoms begin and then the person "just doesn't feel so good" any more. Or like moss slowly growing on the roof of a northwestern shingle roofed house until at some point the roof begins to leak.

On the Emperor's Plan we have monthly wellness visits where it is like bringing  a large ocean going vessel back into dry dock every month to scrape off what little barnacles of life have accumulated in just one month. Most illness have there roots months or even years in the making. Chinese Medicine has the ability to see these problems when they are still just subtle changes, or early functional changes, before actual dis-ease has set in. And in the early stage, as is always true for most things, it is easier to fix or eliminate.

Other than trauma, a slip and fall, or motor vehicle accident (which I hope no one ever has), in my experience, many problem can easily be fixed if they are less than one month old when one is coming for monthly early detections visits. So we see our Emperor's plan patients once per month, keep them on the approprate category of herbs as above and they just keep doing well, or bring us early complaints that are much easier to correct as outlined above.

So I hope this section answers the question about how many visits it will take. It depends. On how long the health problem and/or problems have been there, the level of severity, and the general state of health of the patient, and ultimately what the patient wants out of Chinese Medicine, which has alot to offer, if one chooses to partake of part, or all of it as outlined in detail above.

  Note: Acute disorders are disorders with duration of less than 1-6 months.

            Chronic disorders are disorders with duration of more than 6 months.

Finally, as we are not primary care in the State of Washington, depending upon the nature and severity of the problem, at times, when appropriate, I may recommend, in addition to our treatment, or in place of our treatment, either intitally or at an appropriate moment during care, that the patient see their PCP for further evaluation for health issues that fall into the primary care category, for further physical work up and/or psychological or mental counseling, what ever is appropriate for the individual patient. Or that they consider adding in another alternative health practitioner of a different disicpline if needed.

 

Does insurance cover acupuncture?

Many insurance companies are now paying for acupuncture treatments. Because each insurance company has different restrictions, it is best to consult with your insurance provider to determine if your treatments will be covered. We can also check with your insurer to see what your acupuncture benefits are for you.

We DO file insurance; therefore, please call us to see if we are providers for your insurance company. In the case that we are not in-network providers, we will issue you a superbill, which contains all the necessary codes for you to file with your insurance company. Some insurers will pay out of network benefits. Please remember, as it is in all health care offices, the filing of insurance by any health care office is a courtesy to the patient, not a requirement.

What’s a typical treatment like?

When you arrive for your appointment, you will be assigned a treatment room. If necessary, you may be asked to change into a patient gown. You will be directed to remove your socks and or shoes and lie face up on the treatment table unless otherwise directed.  Depending on where the needles will be inserted you will lie either on your stomach or on your back. Majority of the time needles will be inserted in your arms and legs. However, depending on your condition needles may be inserted in your ear, on your head, face, back or abdomen. Please wear loose fitting clothing that allows for easy access up to just above the knee or elbow, hwer most of the needles will go.

The doctor will guide you through your experience. After the needles are inserted, you will then lie and rest for about 15-20 minutes or more. Afterwards the needles are removed. Most all patients find the experience relaxing and soothing. Many fall asleep during their treatments.

 

Are we HIPAA compliant?

 

Yes  we are. 

 

 

BLUE WATERS ACUPUNCTURE CENTER

YELM, WA 98597

(360) 400-5625, FAX (360) 400-2013

 

 Please email us if you have a question that is not answered here

and we will be glad to address it for you. Our email address is: info@bwac.biz 

 

We look forward to serving you!

"At Blue Waters Acupuncture Center your health becomes crystal clear"