🌿 How Acupuncture Helped Megan Find Relief 🌿 Are you considering acupuncture for constipation? At 37, Megan was tired of feeling uncomfortable in her own body. She struggled with constant bloating, irregular digestion and sometimes went days without a bowel movement. The discomfort made her feel drained, sluggish, and disconnected from the life she wanted…
Acupuncture for Depression? Surprising Results! At 32, Sarah felt like her life was unraveling. Once a confident professional, she now found herself barely able to get through her workdays. Depression had taken hold, making even simple tasks feel insurmountable. On top of that, she dealt with persistent digestive issues—rarely having bowel movements, constant bloating, and…
It’s time for an acupuncture podcast interview? Maegan Hodge, from Centered: Richmond Acupuncture & Wellness, recently appeared on Dr. Aaron Hartman’s podcast to discuss the effects of acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). They discussed how these time-honored methods blend with medicine to tackle health issues in a holistic and science-backed manner. The chat focused…
Exploring the Main Contrasts Between Dry Needling and Acupuncture. When it comes to dealing with pain and physical discomfort, you might have encountered two treatment options that appear similar: dry needling and acupuncture. Even though both methods entail the insertion of needles into the body, they vary significantly in terms of their core beliefs and…
Dealing with chronic pain is debilitating, touching every aspect of your life, from work productivity to how happy you feel on a day-to-day basis. Fortunately, just because you have been suffering from this does not mean you are doomed to cope with it forever. Countless people have found relief through an ancient practice—acupuncture. This non-invasive…
Interested in home remedies for sinus ailments? In both literal and metaphorical senses, sinus infections can be excruciating. If you struggle with these, you have probably tried a wide range of therapies. However, have you ever thought about taking a relieved look in your spice cabinet?
Can You Use Acupuncture for Depression? Millions worldwide struggle with depression, a complicated and frequently crippling mental health illness. While there are numerous efficient therapies for depression, they often do not target the underlying medical factors contributing to it. Here is where treating depression with acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) can be helpful. We…
Acupuncture is a Powerful Tool for Fertility Have you been thinking about acupuncture for fertility? For centuries, people have turned to acupuncture as a safe and reliable method to boost fertility and ensure a successful pregnancy. The combination of modern scientific research and traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) results in a holistic method that improves…
Quick Tip for Side Sleepers with Neck, Shoulder, or Back Pain If you are a side sleeper with neck, shoulder, or upper back pain, I want you to watch this video. It’s short, I promise. Inside, I will go over one of two reasons that your side sleeping can be causing your pain and what…
Acupuncture for Occipital Neuralgia May Delight You! Occipital neuralgia can feel like lightning around the base of your skull or the back of your head. It can come on quite suddenly and happen multiple times during the day. For many patients, it is a living nightmare. The pain can be continuously aching, burning, or throbbing…
Low AMH and Acupuncture and Your Fertility Let’s talk about that in a second. First off, I need to give you some information on Low AMH. If you have been trying to get pregnant, you have probably heard of AMH (Anti-Mullerian Hormone. AMH can partially measure ovarian reserve. If your AHM is normal, that can…
Jaw Hurting? Acupuncture for Jaw Pain? Does your jaw hurt a lot? Is it hard to open or close your jaw? Do you get headaches or have some kind of facial or dental pain? Have clicking or popping? There are some of the most common symptoms of TMJ, or tight jaw muscles. They can be…
Acupuncture For Frozen Shoulder Have you ever rolled out of bed in the morning only to realize that your shoulder muscles are not working properly? Now, imagine this has been going on for months or years. Then, add in a nagging, achy pain that wakes you up at night and prevents you from being active….
Can Acupuncture Help with Neuropathy? Neuropathy can range from annoying to outright debilitating. If you’ve been suffering from neuropathy and you’ve seen a doctor about it, you’ve likely been through a lot already! If you don’t like the medications or are tired of constantly feeling this way, keep reading. What is Neuropathy Really Like? Neuropathy…
Is Acupuncture Good for IBS, Loose Stool, Bloating, and Other Digestive Complaints? Going through life with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) can be incredibly disruptive. Productivity at work is affected, and it can influence travel decisions and strain relationships. These difficulties are often all because you never know when to run to the bathroom. Many patients…
Using Acupuncture to Relieve Headaches + Migraines? Today, we will talk about using acupuncture for headaches or migraines. But first… What does it feel like to have a headache or a migraine? If you have them, you know. It could be a dull throb at the back of your skull, or behind your eye,…
Have You Considered Acupuncture for Your Back Pain? No one considers the full depth of how pain can change your life until something happens. For many of us, we believe we are healthy and doing great until one day some minor event like stepping off of a curb and jolting your spine or lifting your…
Can Acupuncture and Chinese Herbs Help with Chronic Sinus Congestion? Have you ever experienced sinus congestion that lasted longer than a week? When sinus pain and congestion linger, it can be tricky to find over-the-counter medications that offer long-term solutions. So, as we head into the time of year when more people are experiencing this…
Fibromyalgia and Acupuncture? An estimated 10 million Americans have fibromyalgia, and this number is on the rise. Fibromyalgia is more common in women and symptoms include muscle and joint pain, fatigue, digestive issues like IBS, depression, insomnia, and anxiety. Patients often feel misunderstood by healthcare practitioners due to the full range of symptoms they experience….
Is Acupuncture Good for Insomnia? Have you ever experienced the frustration of laying in bed trying to sleep, but you can’t calm your mind? Well, you are not alone. According to the National Sleep Foundation, 30-40% of American adults report that they have had symptoms of insomnia within the last 12 months, and 10-15 percent…
Can Acupuncture Work for Anxiety? Anxiety can be a truly overwhelming experience, but it feels different for everyone. It can feel like a racing heart or a churning pit in your stomach. It can make you feel nauseous or mess up your bowels. It can involve feeling restless, light-headed, or like you have hot flashes….
Is Using Acupuncture for Fertility Right for You? The experience of coming face to face with your fertility can be a stressful and overwhelming one. And it can be taboo even to discuss it, making the experience much more intense. If you’re undergoing treatment, there are the lab tests and the hormones and drugs and…
Acupuncture and Stroke Recovery: Decrease Spending on Long-term Care If you or someone you know has ever experienced the effects of a stroke, you probably understand how devastating this event can be. Stroke obstructs blood and oxygen supply to the brain. Stroke can cause damage to brain cells and nerves. Depending on which part of…
Maegan N. Hodge Speaks On Lyme Disease Last summer, our Principal Acupuncturist, Maegan N. Hodge, took some time to sit down with her colleague Andrew Miles, DOM of the Botanical Biohacking podcast to discuss the modern treatment of Lyme disease and how traditional practices of “witchcraft” in ancient southern China unwittingly contributed to advances in…
A Happy Tale About Acupuncture for Anxiety: Imagine trying to concentrate on something important while in the middle of a raging hurricane. The volume of background noise is amplified to a deafening high level, so you can’t even hear when people are talking to you. Stress hormones are coursing through your body giving you the…
Fluid Circulation and the Gut: The Two Most Important Systems for Health One of my teachers says something that is very obviously true but also quite helpful to think about: “The basic requirement of health is to have highly oxygenated, highly nutritious blood flowing to all of the tissues in the body.” This means you…
Acupuncture For Headaches, Explained Oh, Richmond, you all seem to have a lot of aching heads! Clearly, you are not alone, as headaches are one of the top ten most disabling conditions. Good news! We are going to talk you through the discomfort, and teach you about when acupuncture for headaches is most appropriate. Specifically,…
Acupuncture + Chinese Medicine for Hormonal Balance Acupuncture for Hormones? Plus other Tips and Tricks. In today’s world, we are seeing a steady rise in female patients struggling with hormonal imbalance and dysfunction. These issues are common, but not NORMAL. Meaning, you don’t have to live like this!! These are some of the most common…
What is Chinese Medicine? Chinese medicine, which includes the acupuncture modality, is a nature-based healing modality that has thousands of years of rich history. It is still being used today in clinics and hospitals throughout China and most of Asia as a primary medical modality, and its popularity has been increasing in Europe and the…
My job is mostly detective work. I dedicate a lot of time and energy towards helping people figure out why they have the problem(s) they have. We also focus on solutions. Most people get caught up in the basics – they don’t drink enough water, or they have a poor diet, etc. My running theory…
Can Acupuncture Treat Chronic Injuries? Many patients ask, “How does acupuncture work?” It’s a tricky question to answer because terms like “qi” and “yang” aren’t what most people are looking for right out of the gate. They want to hear the question answered in a way they can understand, which means explaining things from a…
Acupuncture For Stress If you’ve gone through a particularly stressful period in your life and feel drained or chronically prone to “getting stressed out”, you should consider Chinese medicine, or acupuncture, as one of the best ways to recuperate your energy. Stress is a part of life, but if the body isn’t able to maintain…
What is Chinese Medicine? What is Acupuncture? Acupuncture and Chinese medicine are poorly understood terms. In the Western world, we have developed an unfortunate nomenclature for practitioners of Oriental medicine. We call nearly all practitioners of this fully developed medical system “acupuncturists”, despite the fact that acupuncture is only one of the many tools available…
Why Acupuncture Is Fun & Not So Scary! After living in Portland, Oregon for five years where an acupuncture or naturopathic clinic is practically on every corner, and people seem almost bored if you tell them you’re an acupuncturist (only because they have one already, and 2.5 of their friends are acupuncturists), coming back home…
How to Pick An Acupuncturist Through conversations I’ve had with some folks lately, I’ve come to a fresh state of awareness regarding how overwhelming it can be when it comes to picking the right healthcare practitioner. It’s hard enough to find a doctor or a dentist that you like, and you don’t even really have…
Acupuncture for Scar Tissue Opinions on scars tend to vary pretty widely. Some people hide them, some wear them proudly, and some even seek them out. A random smattering of famous quotations about scars gives us some scope regarding just how widely viewpoints can vary. Rose Kennedy, J.F.K.’s mother, once stated, “It has been said,…
R.I.C.E. – Ice for Injuries? There are two divergent trains of thought in medicine today regarding acute injury & illness. On one side is the belief that the immune system largely tends to get in its own way, and thus suppressing the acute immune response, i.e., reducing acute inflammation and lowering fever, is the best…
Acupuncture and Chinese Herbs for Allergies It’s that time of year again! The trees are starting to bud out, and bulbs are coming out of the ground (never mind the periodic snows we were still getting in Richmond in mid-March this year). Folks are already pouring into the office with the beginnings of their seasonal…
Acupuncture for Flu (And Colds, Too!) It’s that time of year again in Richmond – the time when everyone around you is dropping like flies with the flu or some such – so it seems like a perfect time to write about what Chinese medicine can offer us in terms of avoiding getting sick. Have…
Acupuncture and Bloating One of the most incredible things about acupuncture or Chinese medicine’s approach to disease is that it recognizes that no two people, or their diseases, are the same. If a patient comes in with a cold, for example, Chinese medicine treatment is based not only on the patient’s specific symptoms but also…