On distal needling, aka “Finding the switches”

A balding man stands in the sunshine with a huge smile waves to the camera. Ocean and rugged coastline behind him.
Jul 09 2018
by Lisa Baird

People ask us all the time why we’re not putting needles into where it hurts. (“You know it’s my knee that’s sore, not my elbow, right?”) This is a totally fair question! The answer is that we use distal acupuncture: placing needles away from the site we’re treating instead of close to it. Distal points are below the knee, below the elbow, on the head and at the ears. It’s a safe, efficient and very effective way of practising that’s been used for thousands of years.

Posted in About the Clinic

Jaw Problems

A practitioner sets a needle into a patient's wrist as the patient reclines in a lazyboy. Two other sleeping patients are visible in the background.
Mar 31 2018
by Stef Cordes & Lisa Baird

The temporomandibular joint (also known as the TMJ) is a hinge connecting the jaw to the skull. There’s one in front of each ear. They […]

Posted in GCA Updates

Acupuncture for Cravings?

A seated practitioner works on a patient's feet while the patient relines in a lazyboy; several other people sleep in recliners in the background.
Mar 08 2018
by Stef Cordes & Lisa Baird

Acupuncture is widely known as an effective support for quitting smoking. We see good results with using acupuncture to treat all kinds of cravings, including food cravings.

Posted in Recovery

Hormonal Transitions

9 recliners in a semi-circle, each with a patient resting under red blankets. Practioner seated on a small black stool giving a treatment to one patient.
Jan 25 2018
by Stef Cordes & Lisa Baird

Hormonal transitions are a natural part of life and something almost everyone goes through. They can also be quite difficult! Community acupuncture can help.

Posted in Reproductive Health

Community Acupuncture for Nightmares

A row of three people reclining in lazyboys, covered with red blankets, with a practitioner seated on a stool glancing down at an acupuncture needle in her hand.
Aug 27 2017
by Stef Cordes & Lisa Baird

Acupuncture is great at treating stress, anxiety, and the impacts of trauma, and whether they are causing, aggravating or are the result of nightmares, acupuncture will likely help. We have treated numerous people for their bad dreams and usually see the nightmares get significantly less frequent, less severe, or even disappear completely.

Posted in Symptom Relief

Acupuncture and Cancer

A practioner needling a patient's ankles; two patients visible in the background in recliners covered in yellow sheets.
Jul 30 2017
by Stef Cordes & Lisa Baird

Acupuncture is a useful complementary therapy for cancer. Acupuncture treatment can help with side effects of cancer treatment such as nausea and vomiting, hot flashes, pain and inflammation …

Posted in Specific Conditions

Acupuncture for Numbness

In the foreground, a practitioner treating a patient with a needle in the forehead, in the background, another practiioner viewed from behind with a red blanket under one arm. Two other sleeping patients also in the background.
Jul 04 2017
by Stef Cordes & Lisa Baird

Acupuncture is well-known as a treatment for pain, but less so as a treatment for numbness. While it’s perhaps not as distressing as extreme pain, numbness can still interfere with someone’s ability to function and enjoy their life. We’ve seen acupuncture be very effective for treating many kinds of numbness…

Posted in Symptom Relief

Help for Inflammation

A practitioner setting needles into a patient's knee with a supply cart and three other sleeping patients in the background.
May 30 2017
by Stef Cordes & Lisa Baird

Inflammation is a natural reaction to physical trauma or injury, and a key part of the immune response to heal wounds and fight infection. Unregulated or “out-of-control” inflammation, however, can contribute to serious health problems. Fortunately, acupuncture can treat both body-wide inflammation including allergic responses (asthma, sinusitis, and colitis for example) as well as more local inflammation like tendonitis or a sprain that just isn’t getting better.

Posted in Symptom Relief

Community Acupuncture and HIV/AIDS

9 recliners in a semi-circle, each with a patient resting under red blankets. Practioner seated on a small black stool giving a treatment to one patient.
May 14 2017
by Stef Cordes & Lisa Baird

Studies show that for HIV positive folks, acupuncture can help with disturbed sleep, diarrhea, nausea, overall quality of life, and HIV related pain and neuropathy. Acupuncture will not interact with medication, and can actually help with the side effects of medication like …

Posted in Specific Conditions

Seasonal Allergies

Mar 31 2017
by Stef Cordes & Lisa Baird

At GCA we have quite a few regular patients who come for a cluster of treatments once a year, sometime between April and October, during their allergy season. Sometimes the relief is immediate, but if the allergies are really bad, it usually takes a few treatments for someone to feel substantially better.

Posted in Symptom Relief

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