Acupuncture FAQs
Depending on which treatment Dr. Soto designs for you, determines how much your treatment will cost.
To know more, contact our staff either by phone: (803) 404-7575, or by email: [email protected] to find out details.
Acupuncture is one of the therapies of Traditional Chinese Medicine, with a written history in China of 5000 years but dating back before recorded history. It is currently used by a quarter of the world’s population, mostly in Asia, Australia, New Zealand, & Many countries in Europe, and its popularity is growing rapidly in the west as scientific trials prove its efficacy. Acupuncture consists of the insertion of extremely fine needles into specific points to regulate the systems of the body and alleviate pain.
Acupuncture is used along with herbal medicine and dietary therapy to help the patient heal naturally and completely.
The Chinese have developed, over thousands of years, a working theory of acupuncture. They discovered pathways along the body that related to the organs and systems of the body, through which “qi” traveled. They found that when there was illness, the qi was blocked, excessive, deficient, or unbalanced. Acupuncture was one way of restoring and balancing the flow of qi. By inserting needles in certain points along the channels and manipulating the qi flowing through those channels, organ function could be regulated. It can relax the muscles and inflammation is reduced. Pain can also be alleviated.
Over the thousands of years that have passed, the doctors recorded their observations every generation learning from and improving upon those that came before. Today acupuncture is benefiting from modern research techniques.
He that takes medicine and neglects diet, wastes the skill of the physician
— Chinese Proverb
Chinese Herbal Medicine FAQs
DECOCTION
For internal use the decoction is the strongest and fastest acting of them all. An herbal decoction is made by boiling “raw herbs” (dried Chinese herbal medicine) in a pot usually for between 20 minutes and 1 hour. Because this is not a pre-made formula it can be custom designed to more exactly treat you the individual, as no two patients are ever the same. You can cook the herbs themselves, or have the herbs pre-cooked and sealed into dose-sized vacuum-packed bags.
PILLS
Although not as strong as the decoction, pills are very widely used because of the convenience they provide. Also, if you need to take herbs for an extended period of time, the pills are certainly the way to go. They are usually made by making a decoction and then drying it so that all that remains is a concentration of the active ingredients. They are also not as expensive.
TINCTURES
Tinctures are another form of ready-made herbal formulas. The medium provides a faster absorption, but I am skeptical of the amount of active ingredients able to dissolve into the solution.
POWDERS
There are some very high-quality powders made in Japan according to traditional methods. The Japanese practice a form of Chinese medicine called Kampo. These Kampo powders come in traditional doses, which are smaller, and are thus more subtle in action. These are most suited, as are pills, to long term use for chronic conditions, or for treating one’s constitution. They are also convenient for quick use in the early stages of a cold.