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FAQ

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WHY SHOULD I GET ACUPUNCTURE?

OUR PHILOSOPHY & APPROACH: Many of our patients are brand new to acupuncture and traditional Chinese medicine. With our help, they discover how their body has an innate ability to heal.  MLW provides a space where your health concerns can truly be heard and you will receive treatment tailored specifically to your needs.

WHO IS ACUPUNCTURE GOOD FOR?

  • Those who want to better their health through natural methods
  • Those for whom western medicine has not been successful
  • Those seeking support in achieving a health goal
  • Those interested in taking an active role in their health
  • Those experiencing pain or discomfort
  • Those looking to address addiction
  • Those wanting to make a lifestyle change
  • Active, physical individuals looking to relieve strain on the body or to improve athletic performance
  • Anyone not aware of or familiar with traditional Chinese medicine who wants to investigate how it may support them, their health, and healing

WHAT IS ACUPUNCTURE GOOD FOR?

  • Relief of pain
  • Easing digestive issues
  • Improving the quality of sleep
  • Supporting the immune system
  • Promoting a positive mental state and outlook
  • Increasing relaxation and calm in today’s stressful world
  • Supporting the healing process after injury, surgery, or chronic disease
  • Stimulating lines of energy to address blockage or stagnancy in the body
WHAT DOES ACUPUNCTURE TREAT?

Acupuncture is recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a safe, effective, and drug-free approach for treating a range of conditions. Based on scientific research, the World Health Organization (WHO) recognizes acupuncture as an effective treatment in the following cases:

DISEASES, SYMPTOMS, OR CONDITIONS FOR WHICH ACUPUNCTURE HAS BEEN PROVED-THROUGH CONTROLLED TRIALS-TO BE AN EFFECTIVE TREATMENT:

  • Adverse reactions to radiotherapy and/or chemotherapy
  • Allergic rhinitis (including hay fever)
  • Biliary colic
  • Depression (including depressive neurosis and depression following stroke)
  • Dysentery, acute bacillary
  • Dysmenorrhoea, primary
  • Epigastralgia, acute (in peptic ulcer, acute and chronic gastritis, and gastrospasm)
  • Facial pain (including craniomandibular disorders)
  • Headache
  • Hypertension, essential
  • Hypotension, primary
  • Induction of labor
  • Knee pain
  • Leukopenia
  • Low back pain
  • Malposition of fetus, correction of
  • Morning sickness
  • Nausea and vomiting
  • Neck pain
  • Pain in dentistry (including dental pain and temporomandibular dysfunction)
  • Periarthritis of shoulder
  • Postoperative pain
  • Renal colic
  • Rheumatoid arthritis
  • Sciatica
  • Sprain
  • Stroke
  • Tennis elbow

DISEASES, SYMPTOMS, OR CONDITIONS FOR WHICH THE THERAPEUTIC EFFECT OF ACUPUNCTURE HAS BEEN SHOWN BUT FOR WHICH FURTHER PROOF IS NEEDED:

  • Abdominal pain (in acute gastroenteritis or due to gastrointestinal spasm)
  • Acne vulgaris
  • Alcohol dependence and detoxification
  • Bell’s palsy
  • Bronchial asthma
  • Cancer pain
  • Cardiac neurosis
  • Cholecystitis, chronic, with acute exacerbation
  • Cholelithiasis
  • Competition stress syndrome
  • Craniocerebral injury, closed
  • Diabetes mellitus, non-insulin-dependent
  • Earache
  • Epidemic hemorrhagic fever
  • Epistaxis, simple (without generalized or local disease)
  • Eye pain due to subconjunctival injection
  • Female infertility
  • Facial spasm
  • Female urethral syndrome
  • Fibromyalgia and fasciitis
  • Gastrokinetic disturbance
  • Gouty arthritis
  • Hepatitis B virus carrier status
  • Herpes zoster (human (alpha) herpesvirus 3)
  • Hyperlipaemia
  • Hypo-ovarianism
  • Insomnia
  • Labour pain
  • Lactation, deficiency
  • Male sexual dysfunction, non-organic
  • Ménière disease
  • Neuralgia, post-herpetic
  • Neurodermatitis
  • Obesity
  • Opium, cocaine, and heroin dependence
  • Osteoarthritis
  • Pain due to endoscopic examination
  • Pain in thromboangiitis obliterans
  • Polycystic ovary syndrome (Stein-Leventhal syndrome)
  • Postextubation in children
  • Postoperative convalescence
  • Premenstrual syndrome
  • Prostatitis, chronic
  • Pruritus
  • Radicular and pseudoradicular pain syndrome
  • Raynaud syndrome, primary
  • Recurrent lower urinary tract infection
  • Reflex sympathetic dystrophy
  • Retention of urine, traumatic
  • Schizophrenia
  • Sialism, drug-induced
  • Sjögren syndrome
  • Sore throat (including tonsillitis)
  • Spine pain, acute
  • Stiff neck
  • Temporomandibular joint dysfunction
  • Tietze syndrome
  • Tobacco dependence
  • Tourette syndrome
  • Ulcerative colitis, chronic
  • Urolithiasis
  • Vascular dementia Whooping cough (pertussis)

DISEASES, SYMPTOMS OR CONDITIONS FOR WHICH THERE ARE ONLY INDIVIDUAL CONTROLLED TRIALS REPORTING SOME THERAPEUTIC EFFECTS, BUT FOR WHICH ACUPUNCTURE IS WORTH TRYING BECAUSE TREATMENT BY CONVENTIONAL AND OTHER THERAPIES IS DIFFICULT:

  • Chloasma
  • Choroidopathy, central serous
  • Colour blindness
  • Deafness
  • Hypophrenia
  • Irritable colon syndrome
  • Neuropathic bladder in spinal cord injury
  • Pulmonary heart disease, chronic
  • Small airway obstruction

DISEASES, SYMPTOMS, OR CONDITIONS FOR WHICH ACUPUNCTURE MAY BE TRIED PROVIDED THE PRACTITIONER HAS SPECIAL MODERN MEDICAL KNOWLEDGE AND ADEQUATE MONITORING EQUIPMENT:

  • Breathlessness in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
  • Coma
  • Convulsions in infants
  • Coronary heart disease (angina pectoris)
  • Diarrhea in infants and young children
  • Encephalitis, viral, in children, late-stage
  • Paralysis, progressive bulbar, and pseudobulbar

Source: World Health Organization

WHAT CAN I EXPECT DURING MY TREATMENT?

An important part of our approach to traditional Chinese medicine is to understand the patient as a whole being. Our initial intake form helps build that understanding.  Please take a moment to fill it out and bring it with you to your first visit as it will help us prepare for your treatments and get to know you and your health goals better.

OTHER THINGS TO BRING:

▪A list of your current medications and supplements

▪Any recent x-rays, blood work, or other medical tests that are relevant to your health concerns

Your First Visit: Chinese Medicine Intake

This is an all-inclusive consultation that generally runs 90-120 minutes. During this time we will do an in-depth traditional diagnosis which includes taking a thorough patient history and physical exam. Once we have gathered sufficient information, we will determine a treatment plan personalized to your specific needs and discuss the goals of treatment.  We will at that time outline a strategy to work towards achieving them.

  • Pre-Acupuncture Recommendations: Please arrive for your session well hydrated and have had a light meal a few hours prior. We recommend wearing loose-fitting, comfortable clothing so that your acupuncturist can access your arms and legs easily. Feel free to bring a change of clothes with you if you can’t arrive in them.
  • During-Treatment: Once you’re here, we will discuss your chief health concern, as well as diet, sleep, stress, and other lifestyle aspects that are affecting your health. The treatment itself will consist of ultra-thin, sterile, disposable needles inserted gently into specific areas of the body. Once these are set, you get to lay back and relax – many of our patients like to call it “taking a needle nap”! Needles will at times be inserted and removed immediately and in some instances, they may be retained for 15-30 minutes.
  • Post-Acupuncture Recommendations:We recommend resting as much as possible, drinking plenty of water, and refraining from vigorous exercise or alcohol consumption following your treatment. Your body needs time and energy to heal, so this is the best way for acupuncture to have maximum effect.

Returning Patients: Acupuncture w/ Herbs

After your initial consultation, subsequent visits will run 45-60 minutes. Generally, follow-up treatments consist of 10-15 minutes of discussion and follow-up diagnosis followed by the treatment during which you will be left to relax for approximately 30 minutes while the needles do their job!

ACUPUNCTURE - FAQ

HOW DOES ACUPUNCTURE WORK?  The most basic principle of how acupuncture works is that the insertion of needles into specific points stimulates the body’s innate ability to heal itself.  The acupuncture points follow routes on the body that relate to the muscles, nervous system, and internal organs.  These points are based on an over 2,000-year-old Chinese understanding of how to treat disease and neuromuscular conditions.

WHAT IF I’m AFRAID OF NEEDLES?  Have no fear, fire cups (and moxa, and herbs, and etc., etc., etc.) are here!  One of the wonderful things about Chinese Medicine is that it uses a wide variety of modalities to help bring about health and healing.  While needling is the most well-known Chinese Medicine modality, have a lot of tools in our toolbox. We will work with you to find the right form of therapy to address your needs.

WHAT CAN ACUPUNCTURE HELP?  Most people think of pain management when they hear the word acupuncture.  But acupuncture and all traditional Chinese medicine modalities (such as cupping, herbal medicine, etc.) can help with a variety of symptoms and diseases.  Visit MLW if your digestion is out of whack if you’ve been having trouble getting a good night’s rest, or even if your seasonal allergies start to flare up.

DOES IT HURT?  No, in fact, many patients fall into such a deep state of relaxation that they often fall asleep on the table. The sterile disposable needles (or “pins” as some of my needle-phobic patients like to call them) are as thin as a whisker and generally feel like a tiny mosquito bite upon insertion.  Once in place, you can feel a variety of sensations such as tingling, heaviness, or warmth.  If at any time you experience discomfort, do not hesitate to tell us and we will adjust or remove the needle.

HOW SHOULD I PREPARE FOR MY FIRST TREATMENT?  We recommend that you arrive wearing loose, comfortable clothing so that your acupuncturist can access your arms past your elbows, and your legs below the knees.  It is also recommended to eat at least a little something if your appointment is first thing in the morning.  Please bring a list of your current medications, supplements, and any recent x-rays, blood work, or other medical tests that are relevant to your health concerns.

HOW OFTEN DO I NEED TO BE TREATED?  Since every health concern is as different as every person, and because every person responds at different rates, there is no cookie-cutter answer.  Typically, more acute conditions respond faster than chronic ones.  We will come up with an individualized treatment plan together that will be used as a road map for your path towards health.

DO YOU BILL INSURANCE? 

Yes, We do bill insurance both in network and out of network.  Currently, the Insurance that we are in network with: BCBS Montana, Wholehealth/triwest, Allegiance, Cigna, and PacificSource.

DO YOU ACCEPT HSA CARDS?  

We file with your insurance companies directly.  We can provide an itemized receipt for your visit. Depending on your insurance, some companies cover acupuncture treatments.  We advise patients to check with their insurance company, or give us call and we can verify your insurance beniftis for you.

We DO accept HSA’s (Health Savings Account) at Montana Acupuncture. Many patients use Health Savings Accounts (HSA) cards or Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA) to pay for their treatments.