East Meets West
East meets West: An Acupuncture Success Story
By Abby Ackerman
At Jill’s List, we have the great fortune to talk with many patients of Integrative Medicine – and we hear incredible success stories. Camilla, a Jill’s List member, shares her story on her transformation from skeptic to believer. One session of Acupuncture and a cyst that had bothered her for years disappeared completely. Here’s her story…
When did you first consider Acupuncture?
I have chronic sinusitis which becomes inflamed due to seasonal allergies. I also have asthma which restricts my breathing and becomes more prevalent in certain seasons. My sister, an M.D. in the cancer care department of a large hospital, suggested I try Acupuncture to treat my allergies. Not only had she heard other patients had success with Acupuncture for allergies, some of her own cancer patients had started using Acupuncture to help reduce the side effects caused by chemotherapy.
What was your initial reaction to your sister’s recommendation?
Acupuncture seemed so foreign to me, not to mention I have been afraid of needles my whole life. I also didn’t know where to begin to look for a reputable Acupuncturist. I didn’t know a practitioner or even anyone whom had used one. Later that year, I took a trip to Canyon Ranch in Lenox, MA. Canyon Ranch had several licensed acupuncturists on staff, and I felt that Canyon Ranch was the reputable and safe environment I was looking for.
What was your first Acupuncture experience like?
The practitioner from Canyon Ranch conducted a thorough assessment of my current health. He asked me several questions and checked my meridians and the flow of energy in my body. He suggested doing a general wellness treatment for my first time to strengthen my overall balance of chi. Seasonal allergies was on my list of concerns, but he did not focus on it specifically in this treatment.
The fear of the needles dissipated after I realized that there was little to no pain involved in the treatment. I was able to relax and rest while the needles “worked their magic.”
Did you feel any different after your first treatment?
My breathing had been somewhat restricted when I first arrived at my appointment, but after my session my breathing was clearer and better than it had been in more than 5 years. I felt relaxed and a bit calmer than I had felt before I walked in.
Did you continue with your treatments after Canyon Ranch?
When I returned home, I didn’t have a good resource for finding an acupuncturist in my area so I put it off. It wasn’t until I had a hip injury that I tried Acupuncture again as a treatment for my condition. This time, it was my Physical Therapist who recommended I use Acupuncture in conjunction with my physical therapy sessions.
After 10 treatments over the course of 1 month, my hip injury improved. There is no question that the Acupuncture helped.
Did you experience any other improvements in your health in addition to your hip?
While being treated for my hip, my practitioner noticed a cyst the size of a large gumball on my wrist. 
I had a ganglion cyst on my wrist for years caused by some unknown trauma to that area. An old wives tale suggests the treatment for a ganglion cyst is to smash it with a book or a Bible. None of the medical doctors I had seen about the cyst had a recommended treatment, as told me that there is no permanent cure. Surgically removing it was an option, but there was no guarantee it wouldn’t grow back.
So my acupuncturist put a few needles in and around the cyst that day and by the end of the session, it was gone. The gumball-sized cyst had literally vanished. It was a true physical transformation!
It has been over a year since that treatment, and my cyst has not returned.
Did you feel more comfortable trying Acupuncture the second time?
Getting a recommendation for Acupuncture from a reputable and credible source was very important to me. The matter of convenience was also a major contributing factor in my decision.
Would you recommend Acupuncture to others?
I have already recommended it to my husband and a few friends. I might even consider it for my children if there was a circumstance where they might benefit from it.
Having access to a resource like Jill’s List that I could trust and use to find a practitioner may have helped me find a practitioner sooner. Now, I can review my acupuncturist on Jill’s List, recommend my treatment with confidence, and hopefully help someone else with similar conditions.
From the Acupuncturist – Comments about Traditional Chinese Medicine from our Advisory Board Member, John de Kadt
We asked John de Kadt, a Licensed Acupuncturist, and Chinese Herbalist, to share his thoughts on how Traditional Chinese Medicine can address our everyday health concerns in a safe, relatively non-toxic, and less invasive fashion.
“Chinese Medicine dates back thousands of years and is a comprehensive primary care modality utilizing Acupuncture, Nutrition, Herbal Medicine, Qigong therapy, Tai Chi and Tui na Bodywork. Chinese Medicine can effectively treat a myriad of conditions and is a tremendously useful form of medicine that is rapidly gaining widespread acceptance in the west. In a culture where people are taking more and more pharmaceutical medication, which can at times have undesired side effects, it behooves us to learn more about Eastern Medicine.”
