The word acupuncture literally means “to puncture with a needle” and comes from the Latin “acus” which means needle, and “puncture” which means puncture. Acupuncture is a method of stimulating certain points on the body by inserting special needles to modify the perception of pain or to normalize certain physiologic functions in the body. Relief is often the result, but faster healing of injuries, a feeling of well being, relaxation, and many other benefits are felt by many people when they receive proper acupuncture treatments. Our clinic in Richmond Hill has been providing acupuncture, administered by qualified and experienced Doctors of Chiropractic who all have post graduate training in medical acupuncture. Our Richmond Hill clinic has 3 acupuncture doctors and our clinic is open until 7pm Monday to Friday. We are also open on Saturdays and Sundays to meet your acupuncture needs. Our clinic provides contemporary medical acupuncture. This technique combines traditional Chinese acupuncture with modern biomedical knowledge. This combination of acupuncture techniques allows the doctor the opportunity to better organize the clinical information and provide safer and more effective acupuncture treatments. Sometimes the acupuncture is used by itself, or sometimes the acupuncture is combined with other therapeutic modalities. Our Richmond Hill clinic is fully equipped with everything necessary to make the acupuncture therapy the most effective it can be. The doctor works with the patient to decide what the patient needs and what they want in order to achieve the best possible results. Acupuncture provides a therapeutic effect by speeding up and enhancing the body’s own natural healing mechanisms. It is now well established in scientific literature that acupuncture also has an analgesic effect. This means that acupuncture has been proven to relieve pain. Sometimes electro-acupuncture is used in our Richmond Hill clinic as this technique sometimes makes the acupuncture more effective.

When the needle is inserted into the skin the patient might feel a variety of sensations. Sometimes the patient feels a small pinch, like a mosquito bite, and sometimes they don’t feel anything at all. Once the needle is in the acupuncture point the patient might feel some slight swelling, an ache, heaviness, an itchy feeling, warmth, a tickling sensation or some slight numbness. All of these sensations are normal with acupuncture. Sometimes the patient doesn’t feel anything, and this is also normal. The needles we use in our Richmond Hill acupuncture clinic are all pre-sterilized, single-use, disposable needles. The area where the needle will be inserted is first cleaned with an alcohol swab. Once the acupuncture needle is inserted the doctor might flick or twirl the needle, or sometimes stimulate the needle with electricity to maximize the benefit. After the acupuncture needles are removed from the patient they are disposed of in a biohazard waste container and of course they are not re-used by any other patient.

Acupuncture is an excellent treatment choice for many conditions. For other conditions, it may or may not help. And for some patients acupuncture is not recommended, and the doctor will tell you if you are a good candidate to receive acupuncture, or if you should not be having acupuncture therapy.

Some of the conditions that we regularly treat at our Richmond Hill Acupuncture clinic are:

Strains and sprains

Back pain

Neck pain

Pinched nerves

Repetitive strain injuries such as carpal tunnel

Plantar fasciitis

TMJ disorder

Arthritis

Shoulder injuries

Degenerative disc disease

Post herpetic neuralgia

Peripheral neuropathy

Headaches

Migraines

Sciatica

Insomnia

Low blood pressure

High blood pressure

Premenstrual syndrome

Dysmenorrhea

Asthma

Fibromyalgia

Chronic fatigue syndrome

Low energy

Mild depression

Diminished libido

Anxiety

Sleep disturbances

Bowel dysfunction

Allergies

Diarrhea

Constipation irritable bowel disease