Practiced for over 5,000 years, acupuncture is based on the belief that there is an invisible cocoon-like grid of meridians or channels–called Jingluò–wrapping the human body and through which your Qi flows.

Gently inserting acupuncture needles into specific acupoints along the meridians of your Jingluò allows the acupuncturist to stimulate the flow of Qi in channels where it is blocked or impeded enough to cause pain, illness or disease. By restoring your Qi to a normal flow begins the healing process of returning one’s health to a normal state of well being.

Made of extremely fine filiform (solid not hollow) stainless steel–roughly twice the width of a human hair–acupuncture needles vary in length from as little as ½ to 3 inches. The length of the needles used in a treatment depends on the various locations of the selected acupoints and the desired effect.

At the moment of insertion it is not uncommon to experience a slight stinging–like a mosquito bite–followed by a numbing, tingling or heat-radiating sensation. This surging or pulsing is often accompanied by subtle vibrations–similar to a mild humming or buzzing–inside your body. It is nothing to get alarmed about and might even lull you into a light nap.

The typical session will last 15-30 minutes during which the needles will remain in place as the acupuncturist manipulates them, lifting, twisting, rotating and gently thrusting them to achieve the effect called for in your treatment plan. The frequency and duration of treatments will vary from patient to patient but commonly, between ten and fifteen are prescribed, spaced roughly a week apart.

*Not folk medicine, this is one of the most remarkable healing techniques in the world. Backing it is an extraordinary and significant body of peer-reviewed real-world data gathered over thousands of years of research and human-subject trials.