Human Pin Cushions That Run!
By: Dr. Mark Hsu, DC
How’s it going? Dr. Mark Hsu, DC aka Pooky the Panda here with more information on what Model Wellness Doctors of Chiropractic can offer!
What is chiropractic acupuncture?
It is simply applying acupuncture before chiropractic treatments!
Acupuncture treatment is an amazing adjustment booster!
It is awesome what small hair-thin-like needles can do when inserted at specific points to target other areas of the body!
Chiropractic acupuncture helps complement chiropractic care by stimulating muscles and nerves that are causing pain and disease in the body.
Here are some combined benefits of acupuncture and chiropractic care in regards to your running habits:
- Reduced pain: chiropractic care and acupuncture each already reduce pain levels so add them together and get a more enhanced pain reduction to keep pounding away those miles!
- Stress reliever: applying more blood flow and balancing out your energy levels plus getting into alignment = worry less about your upcoming PR!
- Increased joint mobility: being able to loosen up the musculature around the body will tug less at the joints for you to increase your range of motion and hit those new strides!
- Maximized performance: more energy and feeling less symptomatic or even just a change in the previous symptoms that caused limitations will get you closer to that podium!
- Improved well-being: who can’t say they aren’t feeling better after all those changes mentioned in the bullet points before??
My explanation of chiropractic acupuncture is that there are hundreds of gates in the body. Sometimes these acupuncture points are closed from stressors and I place the needles accordingly to open the gates. If tolerated and once the gates are open, I will attach an acupuncture point stimulator for the gates to stay open and allow the blood/energy flow throughout the many channels (meridians) of the body.
The chiropractic acupuncture protocol overall takes about 15 minutes. 10 minutes of actual treatment time and 5 minutes is used for disinfecting the area, putting in the needles, applying the point stimulator if necessary, checking the intensity of the stimulator halfway at 5 minutes since starting the timer, taking out the needles, and cleaning up the needled area.
Many patients ask “Doctor, will I feel the needles and will it hurt?” to which I respond with….
“I won’t feel a thing…” Haha just kidding! You most likely will not feel any of them but everybody’s body is different and some gates are just more stuck closed so you may feel the insertion of the needles a little more than others.
It may also mean that you have more soft tissue structures that are overlaying the acupuncture point. Skin thickness and hydration can play a role so each acupuncture session is tailored specifically to the patient and differently depending on the practitioner.
How come some bleed and some don’t?
For some patients, there are capillaries close to acupuncture points so occasionally they get nicked and may draw some blood to the surface. Please don’t be alarmed and depending on the color of the drawn blood, I have a cool fact to tell you!
“Dr. Mark, how often do I need to get this done?”
Some of our top athletes get it done monthly and some as often as weekly leading up to major training or events. Again, every patient is different and we tailor the plan based on your body’s reaction to the treatment! Miraculously, it could take just one session and some may take a few more if it’s only slight progress, but progress nonetheless.
You can’t say it’s POINTLESS until you’ve tried chiropractic ACUPUNCTURE!
Give us a call 214.643.6888 or visit the website www.modelwellness.com so we can get you with a medical provider and assess your situation!
Tune into the next blog about DRY NEEDLING!