In the comfort of our Tampa office, we offer acupuncture therapy to treat a variety of health and lifestyle issues you may be facing.
Acupuncture is a great form of alternative medicine which has successfully helped many overcome conditions where traditional medicine may have failed. We’ve helped many just like you here in Tampa Bay with overcoming allergies, weight loss issues, illness, and so much more.
Acupuncture treatments have been used for thousands of years to heal the body and mind. Often times our patients are visiting us because traditional medicine has not worked for them and they are looking for an alternative natural method of treatment. Acupuncture can also help in areas you may not expect. Your body has incredible capabilities to heal itself, natural medicine simply helps it do that. While traditional medicine can treat many conditions, it can also just treat symptoms of a greater problem.
Our aim is to help the body treat the core issue causing the symptoms. This also helps heal and improve other ailments in the body where you may not be aware of any problems. Book an appointment to visit our acupuncture clinic and Dr. Duke will go over your health concerns and discuss a treatment plan that works best for you.
What is Acupuncture?
Acupuncture therapy usually involves a series of weekly or biweekly treatments in an outpatient setting. It’s common to have up to 12 treatments in total. Although each practitioner has his or her own unique style, each visit typically includes an exam and an assessment of your current condition, the insertion of needles, and a discussion about self-care tips. An acupuncture visit generally lasts 30 to 60 minutes.
During treatment, the practitioner uses sterilized, individually wrapped stainless steel needles that are used only once and then thrown away. You may feel a brief, sharp sensation when the needle is inserted, but generally, the procedure isn’t painful. It’s common to feel a deep aching sensation when the needle reaches the correct spot. After placement, the needles are sometimes moved gently or stimulated with electricity or heat.
The traditional Chinese theory behind acupuncture as medical treatment is very different from that of Western medicine. In traditional Chinese medicine, imbalances in the basic energetic flow of life — known as qi or chi (chee) — are thought to cause illness. Qi is believed to flow through pathways (meridians) in your body. These meridians and the energy flow are accessible through approximately 400 different acupuncture points. By inserting extremely fine needles into these points in various combinations, acupuncture practitioners believe that your energy flow will rebalance. This will allow your body’s natural healing mechanisms to take over.
In contrast, the Western explanation of acupuncture incorporates modern concepts of neuroscience. According to the National Institutes of Health, researchers are studying at least three possible explanations for how acupuncture works:
- Opioid release. During acupuncture, endorphins that are part of your body’s natural pain-control system may be released into your central nervous system — your brain and spinal cord. This reduces pain much like taking pain medication.
- Spinal cord stimulation. Acupuncture may stimulate the nerves in your spinal cord to release pain-suppressing neurotransmitters. This has sometimes been called the “gate theory.”
- Blood flow changes. Acupuncture needles may increase the amount of blood flow in the area around the needle. The increased blood flow may supply additional nutrients or remove toxic substances, or both, promoting healing.