Acupuncture
Acupuncture is a holistic practice rooted in traditional Chinese medicine, designed to support the body’s natural balance and healing processes. Offered in person in Costa Rica, treatments may support a wide range of concerns, including stress, pain, sleep, digestion, emotional wellbeing, and overall health.
If you are new to acupuncture, it’s natural to have questions about what to expect. Your initial session includes time for a thorough intake and treatment, allowing space to explore your health history, current concerns, and the bigger picture of how your body is functioning as a whole. Chinese medicine looks at patterns across the entire system, so even if you are seeking support for one specific issue, other areas such as energy, sleep, digestion, and stress may also be discussed.
This process may also include traditional diagnostic methods such as pulse and tongue observation, which offer additional insight into patterns of balance and imbalance within the body. From there, your treatment is tailored to your individual needs and may include acupuncture along with other supportive modalities such as cupping, moxibustion, gua sha, Chinese herbs, dietary guidance, or other complementary therapies. Explore the sections below to learn more about these different approaches.
Acupuncture
Acupuncture is an ancient medical art from China dating back thousands of years. It consists of inserting very thin, single-use needles gently into the body to help the body return to optimal balance. (Keep in mind that optimal balance is different for each person; Chinese medicine takes this into consideration.)
Chinese Herbs
Chinese Herbs help to balance the body from the inside, and are something that you can do between treatments to continue to work on balancing yourself. I enjoy writing complex formulas for my patients that are customized for each patient, and keep myself abreast of research on drug-herb interactions – my patients can feel safe in that knowledge.
Moxibustion
Moxibution, or moxa, refers to the stimulation of an acupuncture point or larger area of the body by burning the herb mugwort near or directly on the skin. (If used directly on the skin, it is removed well before it has burnt down to the skin, so you will not go home with a burn.) It can be used to warm the body, to help Blood and Qi flow smoothly, or to supplement deficiencies.
Cupping
In cupping, a vacuum is created in a glass cup to create suction and apply it to the predetermined areas on the body. Cupping can be used for the early stage of colds, helping the Lungs to evacuate phlegm, treating pain, and many other issues.
Gua Sha
Gua Sha is similar to cupping in its use. It consists of rubbing the skin with a gua sha tool in order to alleviate congestion (Blood Stasis) in the channels. It can also be used for colds and asthma. In both cupping and gua sha, you may go home with some red or purple marks – these are not painful and indicate that there was a significant amount of Stasis at the areas we worked on.
Chinese Dietary Therapy
Chinese Medicine looks at nutrition in a very different way than western nutrition. Did you know that if you are cold-natured you should not be eating a lot of salads or cold food? And if you run hot, you should not be eating spicy foods? Doing either of these will worsen your condition. Liz really enjoys working with patients on modifying their diets to what will optimally support their personal healing. As Hippocrates said, “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.”
Essential Oils
Liz has been studying the use of essential oils on acupuncture points over the last three years with Lorie Eve Dechar, M.Ac., and Benjamin Fox, LMBT, in the Alchemical Healing Mentorship. She uses them both as an adjunct to, or in place of, needles. They can be a very good option for children (or adults!) who may be needle-phobic.
Flower Essences
Liz started working with flower essences over the past few years, again as a result of the Alchemical Healing Mentorship. Flower essences are used to heal soul or spirit level disturbances, and Liz has found them to be highly effective in her practice. In her experience, they work quickly and have long-lasting results.
As you can see, there are many tools available for use. Based on your time together, Liz chooses the ones that are appropriate for you. And because you and she spend a good deal of time talking in follow-up treatments (these are one hour visits), she is able to constantly reassess and modify your plan as you change.
Client Experiences
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