Integrative Acupuncture Center

Acupuncture and Chinese medicine serving Ridgewood and Paramus, NJ

Call Today: 201.444.7150 69 West Ridgewood Ave. Ridgewood, NJ
Follow Us on FacebookFollow Us on E-mailFollow Us on YouTube
  • Home
  • Services
    • Acupuncture
    • Cupping
  • Meet Joshua
    • Meet Joshua Goldstein
    • FAQ
    • Blog
  • Testimonials
  • Conditions Treated
    • Acupuncture for Stress Relief!
    • Is Acupuncture Effective for Lumbar Spinal Stenosis?
    • 4 Reasons Acupuncture Helps With Pregnancy
  • Videos
  • Contact

Facts About Acupuncture

students in classroom
Learn the facts about acupuncture!

Facts about acupuncture are hard to come by. When searching for facts about acupuncture you may need to cull from many different sources to find information. There are actually 6 facts about acupuncture that you should know about. These facts about acupuncture will help you orient yourself when going into an acupuncture office, like when residents of Ridgewood and Bergen county do, when they call me for acupuncture.

Facts About Acupuncture #1 Acupuncturists Need to Evaluate You Just Like Every Other Practitioner

Let’s say you are having a pain condition, say a shoulder pain in your right shoulder. We would first do an evaluation to see where you are and where you want to go. So doing range of motion tests, feeling for trigger points, doing orthopedic testing, finding out what worsens it and what makes it better are all things we need to know. Like a school test, we want to “grade” where you are now, before “class”, so we can see how your doing and measure your progress better. So don’t  worry, an acupuncturist, worth his or her salt, will evaluate your body first. Then explain to you what is wrong and make recommendations.

Facts About Acupuncture #2 Acupuncture can treat other conditions besides pain

Many people are NOT aware that acupuncture can be used to help improve the FAD! FAD is a short hand for F=Fatigue, A=Anxiety and D=Depression. These three plus insomnia are conditions that unfortunately, so many people are suffering with. Many people, who come in to see me, come in because there is some awareness for using acupuncture for pain, but when they see how thorough the exam is, or how well you are treating the pain, or even how relaxed they can feel after a session, they may ask me about these things. Many are discovering how acupuncture and Chinese medicine can help you with the fatigue, depression, and anxiety that affects almost everyone in today’s fast paced, multi-tasking, demanding society

Facts About Acupuncture #3: Acupuncture Needles Don’t Make You Scream?

Acupuncture needles are probably the main reason why people don’t try acupuncture. Many people are afraid of needles. But it is refreshing to know that not ALL needles are made the same! Acupuncture needles are the smallest needles on the planet and have nothing injected through them. Somewhere between a cat’s whisker and less than a sewing needle, acupuncture needles are disposable needles that are inserted into the skin with minimal pain. The trick is to get beneath the skin quickly, and to bypass the pain receptors located just on the surface of the skin. Once in, you can feel numbness, distention, tingling, but no pain. If there is pain, the needle depth needs to be adjusted so it is not hurting any of the nerves.  Most people breathe a sigh of relief when they feel how easy it is. It is certainly not like any medical procedure involving needles would feel like because of the small size of the needles!

Facts About Acupuncture #4: How does acupuncture work if there is no medication in the needles?

Acupuncture needles tap into the nerves through the nervous system, the blood flow through the circulatory system so it can affect muscles, tissues, joints, and organs. So if you have pain and you increase blood flow to the painful area, like the shoulder, then you bring the body’s repair cells, the body’s own anti-inflammatory substances that it makes on its own to repair the painful spot and it shuts down the pain loop that is transmitting pain signals to the injured or painful site. Acupuncture helps regulate the heart, strengthening the immune system, stimulating the relaxation response to soothe the “savage beast” that perpetuates the chronic merry-go-round states of anxiety, depression, fatigue and insomnia.

Then the way you place the needles creates a specific pattern in the body, sort of like introducing a program into a computer, to make the body change towards the goal you are working on – get out of pain, feel more energy, feel less stressed.

Facts About Acupuncture #5: Acupuncturist Have Different Ways of Evaluating You

Acupuncturists look at the body in a different way. They want to see where you have poor blood flow and which organ systems are too hyperactive and which organs are too weak. All symptoms can be traced back to a non-functional organ system. So treating the symptoms is one thing, but to find out a little more, they take a peek and look under your body’s “hood”, like a mechanic repairing a car problem would do, to find out what’s broke and need fixing.

Many of these time honored ways, are old school and have been updated to take into account modern conditions that we see in the modern world.

Pulse diagnosis, is where you feel the wrist on the radial artery and it is one way we can detect imbalances in the body. Trained practitioners can tell all sorts of things from the state of your organs by the shape and jump of the pulse. They can tell if you have a sinus infection or allergy if you are tired, frustrated, if your immunity is weak, if you have chronic lower back pain, if you are having  a hormonal problem,  if you are suffering from severe neck or lower back pain. See, it all boils down to the abnormal shapes or jumps of the pulse and in which positions these sensations are felt. It  also depends on the size of your pulse. Big forceful or weak or totally absent. All these signs mean something and can be traced back to the symptoms you are suffering with.

This is just one method of looking at your body, and assessing what’s not working. The key word here is FUNCTIONING. You may not have a heart attack now, but an under functioning heart can cause anxiety, depression, insomnia, negativity etc. So it is important to nip the poor functioning heart in the bud before it gets worse  (note I did not say disease because it is not a diseased organ yet, just a poorly functioning one).

Facts About Acupuncture #6: Treatments need to be consistent to get the results you are looking for!

Many people compare acupuncture to drugs and medications. But this is a wrong comparison. When you stick a stimulus in your body with the acupuncture, you need to do it regularly enough to make the change you are looking for. Chinese herbs can really boost this effect as well. The key to life, weight loss, exercising and YES, acupuncture, is simply consistency. Depending on what you want to get fixed, will depend on the number of visits you would need. Treatment frequency and number of visits, is a very tailored and individualized depending on the severity of the condition, the relative health of the patient, and the things they do in their life that aggravate their symptoms.

A person who wants help with a sprain will need very few treatments to get a result compared to someone who wants help with their feelings of anxiety or depression. The key here is lasting change. To get that tipping point, we need to train your body to get better. That requires some level of consistency.  After your first visit or after a trial run, the acupuncturist can estimate the visits and the frequency needed.

So I hope this helps orient you in your journey in the realm of acupuncture and Chinese medicine. My patients come from all sectors of life, stay at home mom and dads, business and investors, teachers, bankers, technicians, nurses and other healthcare workers.  Many people

If you’d like to learn more, please call me to schedule your free no-pressure consultation,  I am always here to help you. Call 201-444-7150 or email me at integrativeacupuncturecenter@gmail.com. You can also read more about acupuncture on my blog posts on this website acupunctureYes.com.

GET YOUR FREE EBOOK
Enter your name and email address to get instant access to this informative ebook now!

MEET JOSHUA GOLDSTEIN


My purpose is to help as many people as I can, healthy or not, by improving the quality of their lives. In Chinese medicine, there is an emphasis on addressing the underlying cause(s) of disease. It is in this spirit that I practice, motivating people to make shifts in their thinking as well as shifts in their bodies so they can make lasting positive changes in their health and their lives.
Read More

Recent Posts

  • How Acupuncture Benefits Your Body by Enhancing Blood Flow
  • Treating Anxiety, Depression and Stress -Differing Perspectives East and West
  • Treating Hidden Causes of Seasonal Allergies
Integrative Acupuncture Center

Testimonials

I returned to this office for pain related to a sports injury. I had pain in the upper body region from boxing and sparing and was not getting relief from the medications prescribed to me from the orthopedist. My most recent injury was preventing me from even raising my arm to brush my teeth as well… Read more
Donna, Haworth, NJ
I had an L-5 fracture in my back, a broken ankle and arthritis in both ankles. Pain also existed in my lower back and ankles. I was referred to Integrative Acupuncture from my brother, who is a chiropractor, and through his website. Since seeing Joshua, my sleeping is 80% better. My lower back pain … Read more
Jim, Ridgewood, NJ
I cannot begin to thank Joshua enough for his help. My experience and results with him were wonderful. He is not focused on just helping you ameliorate your specific problems, but he also looks at everything else going on with your body rather than just one piece of you. He genuinely wants to help y… Read more
Dee, Hewitt, NJ
When I first came into see Joshua, I had pain in my foot from running. Previously, I had tried icing, rest, and stretching. When I tried the services from Integrative Acupuncture Center, I noticed the results were incredibly helpful. After just two sessions all pain in the targeted area was gone and… Read more
Rosesann, Ramsey, NJ
I have suffered from headaches all of my life between four to five times per week. I have gone to physicians and have only been prescribed medications for my headaches. The results were always the same, and I always felt foggy due to the medication. I was referred to Joshua’s office through a frie… Read more
Anthony, Paramus, NJ
My experience with him was phenomenal. He [Joshua Goldstein] is very good at what he does and he has a very well rounded approach to helping. I would recommend him to anyone, especially if they suffer from stress or aches.
Anastasia, Fairlawn, NJ
GET YOUR FREE EBOOK
Enter your name and email address to get instant access to this informative ebook now!

Contact

Integrative Acupuncture Center
69 West Ridgewood Avenue
Ridgewood, New Jersey 07450
Phone: 201.444.7150

Copyright © 2023 · Integrative Acupuncture Center · Acupuncture Ridgewood
201.444.7150 · 69 West Ridgewood Ave. Ridgewood, NJ
HOME | MEET JOSHUA | CONDITIONS TREATED | TESTIMONIALS | FAQ | BLOG | CONTACT
Acupuncture and Chinese medicine serving Ridgewood and Paramus, NJ
Website Design Virtual Design, LLC

Do You Have a Question?

    Your Name (required)

    Your Email (required)

    Your Question