FAQ for New Patients at Centered: Richmond
Modern life can cause inflammation, stress, pain, and chronic illness, and many of these problems aren’t well addressed by doctors. Many patients are tired of 5-minute office visits or pills that just cause new issues.
At Centered: Richmond, our acupuncture providers create a refreshing patient experience. We get to know you and work to help you finally feel healthy, clear-headed, productive, and pain-free.
This is an old video; the clinic got a facelift, but the principles still apply.
How are we different? Our process is focused entirely on you.
There are four basic ways that we do things at Centered: Richmond Acupuncture & Wellness that set us apart from the health care you’re likely used to:
We listen. We take the approach that the more information we have, the better. You will see that reflected in our intake form, for starters, and how Maegan encourages you to share details that might seem insignificant.
We work to determine the cause of your symptoms. We are looking for common denominators, for connections, for the underpinnings of your health picture. Did all your problems start after a surgery, an illness, or a specific life event? Are your digestive symptoms connected to your mood issues, your headaches, or your body pain? Is your circulation functioning at its best, or is it limited or poor, contributing to pain, inflammation, and perhaps feeling too cold? There can be numerous causes of disease, and we specialize in identifying them to provide you with individualized treatment.
We partner with you to provide a step-by-step plan to help you achieve your health goals. First, what are your goals? Do you want the symptoms 100% gone, or do you want to just taper them down to a manageable level? We ask you what you want and then assist you in getting there.
We strive to make it all approachable, understandable, and attainable. Acupuncture and the like might be a bit out of your comfort zone. We get it. We thought it was weird once, too. Honestly, since we understand that mindset, we’ve fine-tuned our approach with that in mind. We explain things in terms that are easy to understand. We teach you about how the body works as it relates to your health concerns because we believe that understanding what you’re doing, why you’re doing it, and exactly what will come about from your efforts helps you to be motivated. Crazy, right?
My clinic is very focused on results and ensuring that you achieve them. Even though treatment plans can span several months, I typically know if a patient is going to get the results they desire in the first 4-6 weeks. I do this by having patients track and rate the severity of their symptoms on a daily or weekly basis. I review your weekly “symptom tracker” reports to gain a clear understanding of your progress and ensure that it aligns with everyone’s expectations. We will determine together if acupuncture is working, if any herbs are working, and adjust our plans accordingly.
I know that most of us don’t have endless time and financial resources, and I really take that seriously. I
I estimate that roughly of people just don’t seem to respond to acupuncture or herbs, or if they do, progress is relatively slow. I inform those patients promptly when I suspect they may be one of those individuals. It does no one any good to keep a patient in my service if I suspect that we can’t help them in a reasonable time frame. Any decision to continue or cease treatment is, of course, up to you!
When I was growing up my dad wanted me to go to business school and work for myself, but I wanted to be a psychologist and help others. I was raised in a small town in southwest Virginia, where most people had never heard of acupuncture, and many thought it was quackery, or worse. On top of that, I really loved science and medicine and was extremely skeptical of everything that didn’t provide hard, cold proof that it worked.
With that background, it is really amazing that I ended up here. Let me tell you how I was left in awe of the power of Chinese medicine, and never looked back. Read more…
People often ask us how acupuncture works, and I love answering that question because it is so clear to us that it does work. There are various styles of acupuncture and different techniques, and we haven’t fully understood how they all work; however, I can describe some important aspects that appear to be at play in acupuncture treatments. I believe the most important aspect of the treatment is the “therapeutic injury” component, as discussed in this excellent article by Time Magazine. What is happening with an acupuncture needle at the most basic level? You’re creating a tiny injury to the tissues. When you injure your body, it initiates a response to heal any injured tissues. This is called “acute inflammation.” Your body sends special cells and proteins to an area to stimulate healing. This appears to enhance the immune system’s overall function, enabling the body to better cope with other issues.
Acupuncture also can increase blood flow to certain areas of the body, and even stimulate specific parts of the brain. While our scientific understanding of how acupuncture works is just beginning to take shape, it is likely that we are only scratching the surface in terms of understanding what research can reveal about the full potential of acupuncture.
I often liken the process of undergoing Chinese medicine treatment (such as acupuncture and herbs) to physical therapy – it’s a retraining of the body. You start with a problem and build your results. It is also like training wheels on a bike. The point is not to leave the training wheels on forever but rather to eventually send the rider on alone as intended. In this vein, some individuals and conditions tend to respond to treatment relatively quickly, while others take more time. I generally do not patients with the intention of having them come indefinitely because that’s just not generally how it works! There are, of course, exceptions to this; elderly patients will often need ongoing care or patients with congenital conditions, but… you get our meaning, yeah?