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Therapies
Over 5,000 years Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has evolved complex methods of diagnosis and treatment tailored to the individual's subtle patterns of disharmony. This allows it to not only treat fully manifest diseases, but also to assist in maintaining health and balance (i.e. wellness) to prevent illnesses from occurring. There are six major modalities in TCM:

Acupuncture: Needle on an acupoint
Massage therapy: Tuina (or called Anmo)
Moxibustion: Burning herbal stick placinf above an acupoint
Cupping: Vacumn Suction Cupps on the skin (near acupoints)
Herbs: Herbal Medicine (fighting diseases), Dietary Supplements (seasonal adjustment)
Therapeutic exercises: Tai Chi, Qi Gong and many others

Acupuncture involves the insertion of hair-thin needles into specific points on the body. There are as many as 2,000 acupuncture points on the human body (though 350 acupoints are commonly used), which are connected by 20 meridians (channels and collaterals). Most people feel only a minimal amount of pain as the needles are inserted. When practiced by a licensed practitioner, acupuncture is extremely safe and does no harm. It can treat many health conditions, and also bring total relaxation to the mind and body.

An acupuncture session usually takes 30-45 minutes. Patients will need a thorough diagnosis first. Most patients are treated once a week, some are treated up to three times per week. We expect patients to feel some relief of symptoms after a couple of sessions. Due to many variables, it is difficult to predict how long it takes for acupuncture to cure a particular health condition.

Acupatch is an adhesive patch with a metal pellet, which can stimulate an acupuncture point without penetrating the skin. Acupatch is effective in its own right, but it acts more slowly than acupuncture, and it is more effective for shallow acupoints such as on the ear. The advantage of acupatch is that patients can massage those acupoints patched, thus relieving certain symptoms on demand. We usually use acupatch in conjunction with acupuncture. For patients who do not like needles, acupatches may be used without acupuncture. Acupatch is effective for headaches, pain relief, overweight, and various addictions (smoking, drinking, substance abuses). An acupatch session takes about 10-20 minutes. Patients need to visit the clinic twice a week.

Cupping is carried out by placing an oxygen-depleted glass cup on the skin. The vacuum, which is created by a burning taper placed briefly inside the cup prior to its placement on the skin, stimulates the flow of Chi and blood in the cupping area. Cupping therapy can be performed as an alternative to acupuncture: the cups are placed over acupuncture points but they treat a larger area of the body. At Chi Wellness, cupping is usually used in junction with massage or acupuncture when needed. A cupping session takes about 20-30 minutes.

Herbal formulas consist of multiple herbs combined. There are 150,000 formulas recorded in Chinese medicine. Herbalists prescribe formulas specifically tailored for a particular patient and a particular medical manifestation of a condition. Here, Chinese herbal medicine has an advantage over other types of herbal treatments. Herbals are effective for many health conditions, and have little side effect when prescribed by qualified practitioners.

Patients will need a thorough diagnosis first and then be given a prescription of 5-20 herbs. A prescription is used for 1-2 weeks before patients are evaluated again. Chi Wellness is still at the process of building a pharmacy of 200 kinds of herbal extract powders. Meanwhile, we provide our patients with herbs in raw forms (requiring brewing) or powder forms through other quality herbal pharmacies in Boston.

Tuina Massage therapy is called Tuina (meaning push and pull) in China. The Tuina therapist manipulates the energy in the body by kneading the points along the Chi meridians. There are four main method schools in Tuina, encompassing about twenty techniques. One is Acupressure, which relies on fingers to stimulate acupoints. Tuina is used for relief of pains, headache, injuries, stress, insomnia, poor digestion, and irritable bowel syndrome. During the Tuina session, especially for one hour or longer, patients would get into a state of tranquility and total relaxation. Patients feel rested and yet energized afterwards. The therapeutic effects of Tuina often last for days up to a week.

Our form of massage is deep, strong and precise. During the first visit, we recommend customers with chronic aches and pains to have a whole body massage, which takes approximately one hour. In the first session, our therapist will survey and diagnose sore points in the whole body, and relieve pains systematically. Our treatment will not only treat pains being felt at the moment, but also expose and treat hidden pains. The latter may cause future injuries and health complications if not treated properly. It is particularly effective to combine therapeutic Tuina with acupuncture therapies. During or shortly after the session, customers may experience some soreness, which should not cause any alarm or require any medications.