Notes from Your Acupuncturist: Conversations on Acupuncture, Alternative Medicine and Holistic Health

It’s the most frequently asked of all the frequently asked questions about acupuncture…is it painful?

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Today’s episode of the podcast is a listener question episode, and I’m answering the question I’ve been asked more than any other…does acupuncture hurt?

The short answer is…not really.

The long answer is that it depends on a number of variables, including the practitioner’s style, the type of needle being used, the desired therapeutic effect, and most importantly, what’s happening in your body at that very moment.

And what do all those sensations mean, anyway? They could indicate an area of qi stagnation, or they might mean you didn’t sleep well the night before, and they’re often signs of the subtle energetic shifts of healing.

If you’ve never tried acupuncture and curious about it feels, or if you’re an acupuncture patient who’s ever wondered why you feel some points more than others, this is the episode for you.

Notes from Your Acupuncturist is a reader- and listener-supported publication. If you enjoy my work, you can become a paid subscriber for just a few dollars a month at https://notesfromyouracupuncturist.substack.com

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What’s a medical treatment for kids that’s safe, free from side effects, completely natural, and also remarkably effective? You guessed it…acupuncture.

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Today on the podcast I’m joined by Faune Towery of Napa Acupuncture Practice to discuss acupuncture for a very special segment of the population: kids and teenagers. Faune has been a community acupuncturist for 10 years and has given over 50,000 treatments in her career so far. She regularly treats young people at her clinic, for everything from anxiety and difficulty concentrating, to sinus and ear infections, to digestive issues, and migraines and sports injuries. She’s even been known to help ease the pain of a teenage breakup!

In this podcast episode, we discuss:

* What kids and parents can expect from acupuncture, including why kids respond so well to acupuncture, and why a few needles and a few minutes of rest is often all that’s needed

* Modalities beyond acupuncture for kids and teens, including herbs, intradermal needles, ear seeds and acupressure

* Commonly treated pediatric conditions, and at what age can kids start getting acupuncture

* Advice for parents and other acupuncturists on how to help young people feel safe and comfortable with acupuncture, and get the most out of their treatments

* How acupuncture can empower young people to have a sense of agency over their own health and bodies

This delightful conversation with Faune reminded me not only of how much our medicine has to offer young people, but also how much fun it is to treat them.

I hope it will encourage more kids—and their parents—to try acupuncture.

Love and gratitude,

Your Acupuncturist

Faune’s clinic, Napa Acupuncture Practice, is a 501(c)3 nonprofit offering affordable acupuncture in a community setting, and also hosts a weekly free clinic for people who receive MediCal, EBT, WIC or HUD Housing. They are raising funds to continue the free clinic through the Napa Valley Give Guide. Here’s where to learn more and keep up with Faune and Napa Acupuncture Practice:

Web: https://www.napaacu.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NapaAcu

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/napaacupuncturepractice/

YouTube: @napaacupuncturepractice322

Donate: https://www.candogiveguide.org/nonprofits/napa-acupuncture-practice/

Huge thanks to Faune Towery for the great conversation, and to AudioCoffee for the music in this episode.

And endless love and gratitude to my paid subscribers for contributing to the sustainability of my work!

Notes from Your Acupuncturist is a reader- and listener-supported publication. If you enjoy my work, you can become a paid subscriber for just a few dollars a month at https://notesfromyouracupuncturist.substack.com

Stay in touch!

Web: https://notesfromyouracupuncturist.substack.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/notesfromyouracu

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/notesfromyouracu

Loved this episode? Leave a rating or a review!

P.S. You can listen to this show on any podcast player, and I just discovered a new one called Fathom.fm. Fathom allows you to save clips from your favorite episodes, and automatically generates chapter summaries and transcripts. It’s really cool! You can follow the show on Fathom here: https://fathom.fm/podcast/notes-from-your-acupuncturist-podcast

Become a paid subscriber! Visit https://notesfromyouracupuncturist.substack.com

When Marc Ryan decided to specialize in working with people with Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis, little did he know that within just a few months, he himself would be diagnosed with it.

Mark Ryan is a Licensed Acupuncturist, Cornell University graduate and two-time Hay House author specializing in the treatment of Hashimoto's. Through his research, including conversations with over 3000 people with Hashimoto's, Mark has studied the wide-reaching impact of thyroid hormones on the body, and discovered the keys to keeping Hashimoto’s and other autoimmune disorders in remission. And as he says, this is personal - he was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s soon after deciding to specialize in it.

Marc has developed a truly holistic approach to maintaining thyroid health, incorporating the Five Elements of Traditional Chinese Medicine, based on his unique perspective as an acupuncture with over 20 years of clinical experience. Through his books, website, and individual and group programs, Marc helped thousands of people with thyroid and autoimmune conditions reclaim their health.

In this podcast episode, we discuss:

* The effects of Hashimoto's Thyroiditis on the body and how it is typically diagnosed

* The genetic and environmental components of Hashimoto's and why it is often underdiagnosed

* The traditional Chinese medicine perspective on Hashimoto's, which connects the disease to the body's five elements and endocrine system.

* How to maintain gut health, and why it’s so important

* Practical advice for anyone wanting to manage or prevent Hashimoto’s and other autoimmune conditions.

I learned so much from this conversation with Marc, and I hope you do too!

Love and gratitude,

Your Acupuncturist

Learn more from Marc or work with him (including scheduling a free 30-minute strategy session):

Web: https://hashimotoshealing.com

Facebook: www.facebook/hashimotoshealing

Instagram: @hashimotoshealer

Buy Marc’s books:

How to Heal Hashimoto’s

The Hashimoto’s Healing Diet

Huge thanks to Marc Ryan for the great conversation, and to AudioCoffee for the music in this episode.

And endless love and gratitude to my paid subscribers for contributing to the sustainability of my work!

Stay in touch!

Web: https://notesfromyouracupuncturist.substack.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/notesfromyouracu

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/notesfromyouracu

Loved this episode? Leave a rating or a review!

Notes from Your Acupuncturist is a reader-and listener-supported publication. If you enjoy my work, you can become a paid subscriber for just a few dollars a month at https://notesfromyouracupuncturist.substack.com

Become a paid subscriber! Visit https://notesfromyouracupuncturist.substack.com

There’s no telling how many conversations Trey Brackman and I have had about acupuncture in the 10+ years we’ve been working together.

Usually we’ll start by discussing something mundane, like the clinic schedule, then one of us will bring up an interesting case study, and before we know it we’re deep in the weeds on esoteric theories, or new point combinations to try, or just generally being acupuncture nerds. This happened recently when we found ourselves talking about how acupuncture is both a science and an art, and I said, “Wait! This needs to be a podcast episode!” So here we are with today’s topic: the Art and Science of Acupuncture.

For this episode I didn’t really prepare a list of questions; I just decided to hit record and see where the conversation went. And I’m so glad I did. Trey and I talk about point selection, predicting disease progression, listening to what the needles communicate to us as practitioners, and how embracing the contradictions inherent in our medicine helps us serve our patients.

As Trey says, “Chinese Medicine is perfectly okay with paradox.” Two opposing forces can coexist within the same body. Heat and cold. Excess and deficiency. As we learn on day one of acupuncture school…it all goes back to yin and yang, always. And thus our medicine encompasses yin and yang, science and art.

Right-brained or left-brained, head or heart, scientist or artist, yin or yang…whoever you are, and wherever your tendencies lie, I hope you enjoy this conversation on the duality and oneness of our medicine.

Love and gratitude,

Your Acupuncturist

If you’re in Nashville, you can come see Trey at Encircle Acupuncture’s Bellevue clinic location. To keep up with him online, follow Encircle Acupuncture on Facebook and Instagram. Trey will occasionally pop into the Encircle social media feed with one of his (in)famous dad jokes…and you might just hear one if you listen all the way to the end of this episode!

Encircle Acupuncture: https://encircleacupuncture.com

On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/encircleacupuncture

On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/encircleacupuncture/

Huge thanks to Trey Brackman for the great conversation, and to AudioCoffee for the music in this episode.

And endless love and gratitude to my paid subscribers for contributing to the sustainability of my work! You can become a paid subscriber for just a few dollars a month at https://notesfromyouracupuncturist.substack.com

I’m always fascinated to learn about the many directions an acupuncture career can take. Isaac Haynes and I first met when we were both students at Yo San University in Los Angeles, when I was a senior intern and he was my observation partner. In the ensuing years, he’s practiced on a cruise ship, earned his doctorate, lived in China, become the dean of a doctoral program in the US, organized a virtual acupuncture summit, and launched a company to provide web-based practice management and educational tools for other acupuncturists and holistic practitioners. He’s been busy!

In this episode of the NFYA podcast, Isaac and I talk about the education he received after he graduated from acupuncture school—including completing his doctorate, exploring the the practice of hospital-based acupuncture in China, observing master tuina doctors, becoming an expert on scalp acupuncture, and going on to advise the next generation of doctoral level acupuncturists.

Isaac has now merged his passion for education with his interest in technology to launch healthsites.net, a web platform for health professionals, providing web design, e-commerce, marketing and more. In this new phase of his career, Isaac encourages his fellow practitioners to become educators themselves, and he’s created a platform where health professionals can share their knowledge and wisdom through online courses.

Isaac has traveled the world on his winding career path, and through it all he’s stayed curious about the many facets of our medicine, and the people who practice it. I loved hearing about what he’s learned along the way. I hope you do too.

Love and gratitude,

Your Acupuncturist

P.S. If you listen closely, you’ll find out what I’d want to study if I ever decide to pursue a doctorate, and how the idea was inspired by my patients!

How to keep up with Isaac:

Web: https://healthsites.net

Email: dr.isaachaynes at gmail dot com

Huge thanks to Isaac Haynes for the great conversation, and to AudioCoffee for the music in this episode.

And big thanks as always to my paid subscribers for helping keep my work sustainable!

Just in time for Halloween! We’re talking about zombie pathogens, evil qi, old bogeys, spectral entities, ghost possession, and a super deadly worm that’s created by black magic.

That’s right, we’re peering into the dark corners of Traditional Chinese Medicine, in search of some forgotten ghosts. And there’s no better guide for our expedition that Robert Hayden.

Robert Hayden has been an acupuncturist for 27 years and an educator for over 20 years. He practices at Presence Center for Acupuncture in South Florida, and also researches and writes about all sorts of interesting Chinese medicine topics on Substack at Clinical Mulch.

I invited Robert to join me on the podcast to talk about some of his favorite topics, which include some centuries-old principles that have been swept away from the modern construct we call Traditional Chinese Medicine.

Our conversation covers a lot of ground. First, we condense 1500 years of pathogenic factor theory into about five minutes. Then we talk about how to apply these age-old principles to modern diseases—things like autoimmune disorders, Lyme disease, and long covid. We touch on the innate intelligence of herbs, and the idea of expelling pathogens from the body by guiding them towards a convenient exit. Robert also introduces us to the Divine Farmer and the supernatural properties of herbs—accepted uses for our medicine that persisted for thousands of years, before being purged from the materia medica in the 20th century. Did I mention ghosts? And demon possession? And old bogeys? And something called Gu toxin? It’s a wild ride through the paranormal passageways of our medicine.

One of my favorite things about talking to other acupuncturists on this podcast is the renewed appreciation it gives me for the medicine I practice. This conversation with Robert certainly didn’t disappoint—I learned new herbs, new ways of looking at old theories, and even some new pathogens to watch out for.

As I said to Robert at the end of our conversation, “I feel like I’ve gone back to acupuncture school…in a good way!”

Towards the end of the episode, I reference a recent Facebook post from Robert. Here’s that full quote:

In acupuncture, we have something really unique: an inexpensive, simple way to regulate and even improve function on everything from a biochemical level to a mental-emotional (some would even say spiritual) level, that can be done on virtually everyone in any stage of life.

Instead, what we are trying to do is to promote it as an alternative (and thus, competition) to modalities that already exist: "It's like painkillers but without the side effects", "It's like Botox without shooting poisons into your face", or what have you.

Don't get me wrong. I think it's great that some ERs are starting to use acupuncture for pain management. I enjoy seeing more scientific attention to possible mechanisms for some discreet effect of acupuncture such as pain control. It's fantastic that people are finding that they have fewer wrinkles and thus improve their capacity to love themselves and be more confident in the world. But don't go throwing all your eggs into the reductionist basket. You're limiting the potential of something that can give us so much more.

It's like finding Excalibur and using it to cut weeds in your yard. What we have is unique. Don't lose sight of that.

So brew yourself a strong cup of herbal tea and settle in for an adventure. Let’s find out what haunts those old, boarded-up rooms in the mansion of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

Love and gratitude,

Your Acupuncturist

Huge thanks to Robert Hayden for the great conversation, and to AudioCoffee for the music in this episode.

How to keep up with Robert:

Presence Center for Acupuncture in South Florida: http://presencecommunityacupuncture.org

Clinical Mulch on Substack: https://clinicalmulch.substack.com

On Instagram @presence.center.acupuncture

And big thanks as always to my paid subscribers for making my work more sustainable!

How do you build and sustain one of the busiest low-cost acupuncture clinics in North America?

For Andy Wegman and the team at Manchester Acupuncture Studio, it’s not about marketing or advertising. Instead, it’s about inviting patients to be co-creators. When patients collaborate and participate, the result is a stronger, more resilient clinic community.

Andy Wegman has spent most of his 20+ years as an acupuncturist focused on creating and maintaining access to acupuncture treatments for modest wage-earners. He’s the founder and executive director of Manchester Acupuncture Studio in southern New Hampshire, and a longtime leader in the community acupuncture movement in North America. When I opened my own clinic 12 years ago, I often said to myself, “Listen to Andy. Do what he does.” I’m proud to call him a colleague and friend.

Andy and I have both been practicing community acupuncture for a long time. We treat patients in a group setting, offer our services at a low cost, and rely on a high volume model to be sustainable. We’ve both come to see our patients as collaborators more than customers, and in this episode we discuss the many ways in which patients participate in the success of our clinics.

We also talk about one of the most foundational elements of community acupuncture: putting patients in control of their own healthcare. It’s a notion built on trust, that lays the groundwork for a more resilient healthcare system. As Andy says, “There’s always an opportunity to welcome someone else’s perspective and help and expertise…it’s the challenge of creating that space to allow that to happen.”

Andy and I also meander down some winding side roads, such as why the notion of “compliance” is so problematic; suffering as a universal human experience; the internet as the invisible hand of collaboration; how we’re all creators of something; and why the ultimate expression of participation is simply showing up.

I hope this conversation serves as a reminder that you get to participate in building and sustaining the things that you love, and that sometimes, participating means simply showing up and caring for yourself.

You can keep up with Andy and the team at Manchester Acupuncture Studio at masnh.org and on Facebook @manchacu. You can download a free copy of his book Why Did You Put That Needle There? in English or Spanish at the Manchester Acupuncture Studio website, or listen to a free audio version (read by Andy!). You can also purchase a softcover version on Amazon.

Love and gratitude,

Your Acupuncturist

Big thanks to Andy Wegman for the conversation, and to AudioCoffee for the music in this episode.

If you enjoyed this podcast episode, please consider becoming a paid subscriber to Notes from Your Acupuncturist. Already a subscriber? You’re awesome! Thank you!

Welcome to the Notes from Your Acupuncturist podcast!

In this episode I interview Mary Morrison, Licensed Acupuncturist, qigong practitioner and lifelong wellness coach. Mary has a lot to say about how people heal, and we’d all be wise to listen.

Mary and I first connected through Facebook of all places, and from our very first zoom meeting I knew I had met a kindred spirit. When I decided to start a podcast, I knew I wanted to have her on as one of my first guests. Mary is trained as an acupuncturist, but her true passion is helping people uncover their healing potential through the practices she teaches. In this podcast episode, we discuss what it means to heal, how discomfort can be a source of power, flipping the narrative on pain and illness, learning to trust the wisdom of the body, how to show up as a healing presence for yourself and others. I could have talked to her for hours.

You can learn more about Mary’s work, including her in-person and virtual services, and the How You Heal and We Are Medicine Women podcasts, at www.howweheal.info.

I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did!

Love and gratitude,

Your Acupuncturist

Thanks to Mary Morrison for the conversation, and to AudioCoffee for the music in this episode.

If you enjoyed this podcast episode, please consider becoming a paid subscriber to Notes from Your Acupuncturist. Already a subscriber? You’re awesome! Thank you!

Welcome to the Notes from Your Acupuncturist podcast!

I am so excited to launch the podcast companion to Notes from Your Acupuncturist! It’s something I’ve dreamed of doing for a long time, and it’s finally happening!

I started this podcast to share more about the healing power of acupuncture and Traditional East Asian Medicine, and because I love talking to other acupuncturists. In each episode, I interview one of my colleagues to hear their insights and perspectives on how our medicine works. Sometimes we discuss broad concepts, and other times we might take a deep dive on a specific subject. Although we do occasionally get a little nerdy, these conversations are meant for anyone to enjoy, from someone who’s never tried acupuncture, to a seasoned practitioner, and everyone in between. I always learn something from these conversations, and I hope they leave you feeling inspired and enlightened.

My first full episode drops soon, and I can’t wait to share it with you! Be sure to subscribe so you’ll always know when a new episode is released. Talk soon!

Love and gratitude,

Your Acupuncturist

Notes from Your Acupuncturist is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.