What happens when a group of people with chronic illness gets the same treatments from doctor after doctor…specialist after specialist…flying around the country and driving 100’s of miles to find a cure? Most often they discover that conventional medicine does not have many answers for people who are chronically ill. They’re not sick enough for life saving surgery that western medicine is so prolific at and the medications being prescribed make them feel lethargic, nauseous, spacey, numb and sometimes hyper stimulated. Usually, this group with chronic illness starts to look outside of conventional medicine around the 2-5 year mark as their symptoms get progressively worse and the foods they can tolerate get smaller and smaller, and the hours they can remain coherent each day begin to dwindle.
At Catch a Fish Wellness what we have to offer is hope! We can say that if you are a good candidate for acupuncture we have a great chance of helping you feel at least 50%-75% better over the next 6-8months. It sounds like a long time however 5-10 years of living with a chronic illness where nothing is getting better for years at a time is far too long. Many ask, “Will I need to wait until the 8 month mark to feel better?” No…absolutely not. If you are a good candidate for acupuncture you will begin to feel better during the first week or two. You’re not going to feel 100% of course but you’ll begin to feel like things are changing for the better. For example: If your primary symptom is joint pain at a level #8-9 all day long you’ll begin to feel those joints start to open up and pain will go down to a level #4-5. If you have brain fog those symptoms will start to come down as well. In addition, as your assessments in Chinese Medicine start to show progress many patients have seen their western lab reports get better as well.
When our patients first begin treatment they have a lot of worry on their mind and a ton of anxiety about what is the right and best things to eat and do as there’s so much conflicting information. Why does one food or supplement help one population group so much and hinders or does the exact opposite to another group? It’s because medicine, herbs and food prescriptions should be given based on the individual not as blanket statements across the board. At Catch a Fish Wellness we give dietary advice, herbal formulas, life style changes and acupuncture based on your unique set of wellness challenges and the “climate” of your body. The climate of your body is the foundation for how Chinese Medicine treats illness and disease. Your body could be too Hot, too Cold, too Dry, too Damp, too Stagnant. Many in Chinese Medicine like to compare one’s body to a Garden’s health. For example, if you’re a gardener would you give the same gardening advice for the plants below?
Of course not! Each plant is suffering from vastly different climates (too hot, too cold, too dry, too damp, too much mold). This is exactly what’s happening in dietary advice, herbal advice and lifestyle advice. Across the board dietary advice doesn’t help everyone and definitely does not heal the garden as a whole. For example: The dietary plan of eating all raw foods worked for your neighbor because they have an inherent “heat” condition and the raw “cooled” down the heat. If you have a “cold” condition eating a diet that’s based on “cold” will cause bloating and gas and may you feel horrible. Those herbs recommended by your favorite blog article works great if your body is set up for that particular herb. Meaning if you have too much “dampness” and that herb’s job is to get rid of dampness then it works. If your body is too dry and you ingest herbs that make you more dry…you suddenly become wayyy too dry…so your symptoms would get more severe. It’s about what the individual person needs. When you go in for your first treatment at CAF we can tell you what is the climate of your body and gear yourself toward herbs, foods and life styles that help you get well.
One of the greatest attributes of Chinese Medicine is that it harnesses the power of your own body to make you feel better. It’s not a chemical cocktail that tries to make the body do something unnatural. It’s really quite ingenious how they discovered that by inserting acupuncture needles into the body (at the correct locations) it drastically reduces inflammation and increases the blood flow of the body that are locked down by tension and obstruction. In research where they used thermography to examine acupuncture’s effect on knee pain. The results are incredible as you can see the effects on knee inflammation pain below:
You can see this happen again and again on any pain or any body area that’s not functioning properly and not getting enough blood flow. This leads us to the question: What is Chinese Medicine’s definition of health? Chinese Medicine defines health as “Smooth flowing, nutritious, highly oxygenated blood coursing freely through the body.” Any disruption in this for an extended period of time and you have pain, sickness and disease.
If you’re NOT a good candidate for acupuncture we’ll know in the first 3-4 treatments. What happens when a patient is not a good candidate is symptoms will come and go and stay at a constant high level. For example: the level #8 back pain will stay at an #8 or will fluctuate between #7-8. Not much deviation. For some patients they’ll feel immediate relief with the acupuncture but once they leave the office the effects are short lived at 5-10 minutes. The good news is that we’ll know pretty fast.
What types of Chronic Illness do we treat most often? Below is a list of the most common (if it’s not on the list ask us and we’ll let you know):
• Crohn’s Disease
• Gastritis
• IBS
• Lupus
• Osteoarthritis
• Reactive Arthritis
• Rheumatoid Arthritis
• SIBO
• Trigeminal Neuralgia
To determine if you’re a good candidate for acupuncture please schedule your first treatment today and we’ll determine how effective acupuncture will be for you. To schedule call our office at: (703) -278-2271during regular business hours or send an email anytime (we typically respond within 1-4 hours):admin@catchafishLLC.com
We look forward to getting to know you and show you how to catch your own fish toward feeling better!
*Disclaimer: Results may vary.
Catch a Fish Acupuncture & Wellness
481 Carlisle Drive, Suite 116
Herndon, VA 20170
Phone: 703-278-2271
Serving Fairfax and Loudoun Counties in Northern Virginia
Zip Codes: 22066, 20148, 20151, 201152, 20164, 20166, 20170,
20171, 20190, 20191, 22182, 221124
Catch a Fish Wellness 