7 Reasons to Try Acupuncture

At Starting Point Acupuncture in Bothell, Washington, we do things a little differently. Dr. Heintze specializes in chronic and hard to treat cases and often people do not know that acupuncture can help more than just pain. We often hear “I wish I would have started months ago.” As people find relief from symptoms they had for years or even decades.

Here are the Top (may be lesser known) conditions we can help:

Insomnia / Restless Sleep

One of the top ways that acupuncture helps to improve health is by regulating sleep and even curbing insomnia. It can be a ‘Catch 22’ where your pain affects your sleep, which makes your pain worse. If you are not getting high quality sleep it can lead to what is now termed ‘Painsomnia.’ This is why acupuncture can be such a safe, effective, and valuable tool to help to regulate sleep without the harsh side effects of relying on sleeping pills. Acupuncture has been found to help regulate sleep by getting your body out of that sympathetic state into the parasympathic which is the nervous system that turns on when we sleep. If you get your sleep regulated, it can dramatically help to reduce pain levels and inflammation.

Anxiety

It is estimated that over 60 million people worldwide are affected by anxiety. Many are placed on prescription medications which may come with unwanted side effects (such as insomnia…). Often people seek out more natural ways to help curb anxiety that does not come with side effects and can help with underlying stress. This is where acupuncture may help. There are SO many studies showing that acupuncture can help to ease anxiety. Read more about how, in our previous post.

 

Allergies

Runny nose? Sneezing? Watery, itchy eyes? Does this sound familiar?

Seasonal or otherwise, allergies can be debilitating.  But multiple studies have shown that allergy symptoms can be decreased and sometimes even eliminated with the use of regular acupuncture treatments. Immunity begins in the gut and acupuncture treatments for allergies will focus on the energetic meridians that support your immune system.

 

Migraines

Migraines is one of the top things we see at Starting Point. Why? It is often a complex and chronic condition that many still suffer from flares, even when placed on emergency migraine medication. One of the ways that we help people reach a point of migraine prevention, is to address the root cause. If you don’t do that, the migraines will keep coming back. We use an integrative approach to care and acupuncture is definitely included in our Migraine Program. Acupuncture can reduce the frequency and intensity of migraines over time. The majority of patients treated at the clinic are people who used to suffer from migraines. I have found that most often the cause can be multi-factorial and people find relief from migraines for a more extended period of time, getting regular acupuncture treatments. It is often the missing link to help people get rid of their migraines for good!

 

Menstruation Issues | Infertility | PCOS

Many women suffer monthly from menstruation problems. It can be that the period is irregular, painful or so heavy that it leads to anemia and fatigue. There can also be mental-health effects associated with periods such as depression and anger.  In addition many women report a diagnosis of PCOS which may be the cause of symptoms or they report infertility. Acupuncture (and other treatments we do in our Fertility Program) can help to regulate hormones, boost fertility, and help insulin sensitivity that may be contributing with those with PCOS. There is hope! Curious just how we can help insulin sensitivity, read our previous post here.

 

Chronic Pain

Pain relief is the number one reason why people turn to acupuncture, and for good reason. If you’ve tried everything else and got little to no relief, acupuncture may be right for you.  Did you know that acupuncture can help more than just low back pain? Yep! At Starting Point, we specialize in chronic pain cases such as those with CRPS, Post-surgical pain, failed back surgery, pain from osteoarthritis, and even fibromyalgia. Read Dr. Heintze’s featured article that was published in the Northshore Magazine on how we can help chronic cases.

 

Neuropathy

Neuropathy is a term that describes when nerves are damaged or even dying. It is often a sequela of chemotherapy, diabetes, surgery, or can be idiopathic/no known case. Often people experience numbness and tingling in hands or feet which affects ability to do tasks, driving, increase risk for falls, and decreases quality of life. What makes our clinic different is that we do testing during your consultation to see how severe your neuropathy is and if our treatments can actually help your case. Acupuncture has been found in studies to help increase blood flow to nerves, decrease inflammation, and can help to decrease numbness. Read about a case and testimonial on how we can help neuropathy, here.

 

If you suffer from chronic pain or a hard to treat case and just not finding relief from current therapies. Give our office a call at (425) 686-4498 to schedule an initial consultation to learn how we can help.

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Dr. Ellie Heintze, ND, LAc, is a naturopathic doctor and acupuncturist in Bothell, WA at her practice Starting Point Acupuncture. She specializes in chronic and complex cases and commonly treats neuropathy, fibromyalgia, migraines, autoimmune, and infertility cases. Dr. Ellie Heintze is also the author of the book, A Starting Point Guide to Going Gluten-Free  and Keep Calm and Zen Out available on Amazon.

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Sources:

Insomnia: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13548506.2020.1738015

Anxiety: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1566070210000718

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0965229919300470

Migraines: https://headachejournal.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/head.12525

Immune health: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1566070210000573