Chronic Pain

by Stef Cordes and Lisa Baird

Acupuncture has long been recognized as effective treatment for all kinds of pain, and our sliding scale ($25-$50) allows people to access regular treatment, which is necessary in order for acupuncture to be effective. Pain is the number one reason people come to us for treatment.

We have four main things to say on the topic of treating chronic pain:

We believe what you tell us.

We know we can’t tell by looking at you or your daily activities how much pain you’re in. We know that people often learn to cope with very high levels of pain, because they have no choice. We are awed and humbled by our patients’ capacity to keep on going.

Acupuncture is a simple, effective tool.

One of the great things about acupuncture is that we don’t need a detailed explanation of why you’re in pain, in order to treat it effectively. We know that chronic pain can be a baffling experience. But to treat it, we just ask you where it hurts, and how much.

Acupuncture helps with other things that often accompany chronic pain.

Pain can contribute or be a causal factor for mood imbalances–it’s not surprising that hurting all the time can make us depressed and/or anxious. Luckily many people who come through our door find that acupuncture does wonders for their mood.

Chronic pain is also exhausting. We have had clients who are too sore to get a good night’s sleep, but who are able to rest deeply in our chairs. Acupuncture reliably eases the body from flight or flight mode into rest-and-digest mode, which makes it an excellent tool for breaking the vicious cycle of pain → tension → worse pain.

Acupuncture can help with RSI (repetitive strain injury) even when you can’t stop the activity that’s hurting you.

We see baristas with sore wrists, general contractors with sore backs, parents with aching arms from carrying toddlers. Even if you can’t get a break from the work that’s causing RSI, acupuncture can still help.