Our experience tells us acupuncture can reliably and safely decrease pain and inflammation, quiet spasms, boost immunity, dispel migraines, shrink swelling, relieve pain in almost any location, regulate hormones, cut recovery time from surgery almost in half, calm anxiety, lift depression, restore mobility, improve digestion, and create a deep feeling of rest. Acupuncture is particularly helpful for people with chronic diseases, meaning conditions that can be managed but not cured. Because these folks often need to take many medications with multiple side effects, acupuncture can greatly improve their quality of life by helping with mood, energy and sleep – without creating any more side effects. Pain tends to come in two varieties: acute and chronic. Acupuncture treatment can be very helpful for both, but the treatment goals are different. It is helpful for patients to understand the difference.
Acute pain is the simpler variety. Acute pain is what results when you sprain your ankle: your nervous system sends you a signal that tells you something is wrong, and you need to stop doing what makes your ankle hurt. Acute pain is like a functioning alarm. You need to stay off your ankle in order to give it a chance to heal. We treat a lot of sprained ankles and other types of acute pain. For reasons nobody really understands, acupuncture speeds up the healing process; it reduces inflammation and swelling and also provides pain relief. Generally, for acute pain, we will recommend frequent treatments over a relatively short period of time.
A sub-set of acute pain is pain that is work-related or caused by over-use. We treat thousands of people for this kind of pain: bartenders and baristas with wrist pain, construction workers with back pain, grocery workers with foot pain, teachers with headaches. If all of these people could quit their jobs, move to Hawaii, and lie on a warm beach all day, they wouldn't need acupuncture. Their bodies would repair themselves just fine. But since they can't quit their jobs and lie on a beach all day, acupuncture helps them to maintain their bodies to keep doing those physically demanding jobs. This kind of pain usually requires on-going treatment, at least for as long as the patient has the job that is causing the over-use.
Chronic pain is something else altogether – in fact it is a distinct neurological condition – and it's much more complicated.
Although about 30% of Americans suffer from chronic pain, it is often poorly understood, poorly treated, and stigmatized. Some pain researchers are beginning to describe chronic pain as a disease in and of itself, a phenomenon that occurs when, for some reason, the body's warning signals don't work. Chronic pain is like a broken alarm; it's permanently stuck in the “on” position. In cases of chronic pain, there is often no diagnosis that can adequately explain why people are hurting. Many chronic pain patients are terribly frustrated that they are suffering so much and yet “the doctors can't find anything wrong”. Healthcare providers who are inexperienced with treating chronic pain may accuse patients of drug seeking, malingering, or just plain making it up.
Our experience tells us acupuncture can reliably and safely decrease pain and inflammation, quiet spasms, boost immunity, dispel migraines, shrink swelling, relieve pain in almost any location, regulate hormones, cut recovery time from surgery almost in half, calm anxiety, lift depression, restore mobility, improve digestion, and create a deep feeling of rest. Acupuncture is particularly helpful for people with chronic diseases, meaning conditions that can be managed but not cured. Because these folks often need to take many medications with multiple side effects, acupuncture can greatly improve their quality of life by helping with mood, energy and sleep – without creating any more side effects. Pain tends to come in two varieties: acute and chronic. Acupuncture treatment can be very helpful for both, but the treatment goals are different. It is helpful for patients to understand the difference.
Acute pain is the simpler variety. Acute pain is what results when you sprain your ankle: your nervous system sends you a signal that tells you something is wrong, and you need to stop doing what makes your ankle hurt. Acute pain is like a functioning alarm. You need to stay off your ankle in order to give it a chance to heal. We treat a lot of sprained ankles and other types of acute pain. For reasons nobody really understands, acupuncture speeds up the healing process; it reduces inflammation and swelling and also provides pain relief. Generally, for acute pain, we will recommend frequent treatments over a relatively short period of time.
A sub-set of acute pain is pain that is work-related or caused by over-use. We treat thousands of people for this kind of pain: bartenders and baristas with wrist pain, construction workers with back pain, grocery workers with foot pain, teachers with headaches. If all of these people could quit their jobs, move to Hawaii, and lie on a warm beach all day, they wouldn't need acupuncture. Their bodies would repair themselves just fine. But since they can't quit their jobs and lie on a beach all day, acupuncture helps them to maintain their bodies to keep doing those physically demanding jobs. This kind of pain usually requires on-going treatment, at least for as long as the patient has the job that is causing the over-use.
Chronic pain is something else altogether – in fact it is a distinct neurological condition – and it's much more complicated.
Although about 30% of Americans suffer from chronic pain, it is often poorly understood, poorly treated, and stigmatized. Some pain researchers are beginning to describe chronic pain as a disease in and of itself, a phenomenon that occurs when, for some reason, the body's warning signals don't work. Chronic pain is like a broken alarm; it's permanently stuck in the “on” position. In cases of chronic pain, there is often no diagnosis that can adequately explain why people are hurting. Many chronic pain patients are terribly frustrated that they are suffering so much and yet “the doctors can't find anything wrong”. Healthcare providers who are inexperienced with treating chronic pain may accuse patients of drug seeking, malingering, or just plain making it up.
Working Class Acupuncture provides low-cost acupuncture to the community through a cooperative, grassroots, financially self-sustaining model. Our goal is to offer people as much acupuncture as they want, in support of whatever goals they have, so that they can use it in whatever way works best for them.
Working Class Acupuncture provides low-cost acupuncture to the community through a cooperative, grassroots, financially self-sustaining model. Our goal is to offer people as much acupuncture as they want, in support of whatever goals they have, so that they can use it in whatever way works best for them.
Working Class Acupuncture works to create a safe and comfortable environment for all members of our community. We welcome people of all genders, sexes, races, colors, incomes, national origins, ages, abilities or disabilities, marital statuses (legal or otherwise), familial situations, religions, sizes and shapes, sexual orientations, and political beliefs. Your level of care will never be based on any of these factors.
