Transcription:
Acupuncture

Melanie Cole (Host): Acupuncture is among the oldest healing practices in the world. It’s used to diagnose, treat, and prevent disease. It can also be used to maintain wellness and to adjust changes in the seasons. At Summit Medical Group, acupuncture is used with traditional medical practices as a complementary approach to help patients achieve and maintain their goals. My guest is Risa Silverstein. She’s a licensed acupuncturist with Summit Medical Group. Welcome to the show, Risa. Tell the listeners what is acupuncture?

Risa Silverstein (Guest): Well, as you mentioned, acupuncture is one of the most oldest healing practices in the world. Tiny needles are inserted in pathways on the body and also on the outer ear to treat many different kinds of conditions and also prevent disease and boost the immune system, deal with inflammation. So it really does have a wide range of things that it treats.

Melanie: When you mentioned pathways, what are those? People don’t understand why you put the needles where you put them. So tell us about those pathways.

Silverstein: Okay. In this kind of medicine, we deal with pathways that are different than nerve pathways or blood vessels. These are pathways that correspond to different organs—the lungs, large intestines, all the organs of the body. And they run from head to toe and from the chest to the arms. What’s interesting about the idea of pathways is that even when a person has pain, we don’t necessarily have to needle local to where there’s pain because we’re dealing with a whole pathway. For instance, even somebody with a headache, we might put points in the hands and the feet to treat the opposite end of the body. There are times, for instance, when we’re dealing with back pain that we might put needles directly into the back, but not necessarily. Even the ear has a representation of the whole body on the ear. There are points along the bony part of the ear that actually, you can very specifically treat issues all along the spine. So it’s much different than treating with Western medicine.

Melanie: Risa, the big question everybody always wants to know: Does it hurt?

Silverstein: It does not hurt. These are very fine needles, and they don’t go in very far. It’s not like a needle that you get an injection with. In fact, when you see the needle, it’s the skinny little needle that’s very flexible. There’s nothing in the needle. It just stimulates the acupuncture points, and that’s where the pathways come close to the surface of the body. So, no, it does not hurt. People actually find it very relaxing.

Melanie: Okay. Are there any side effects?

Silverstein: The only side effects are periodically you can get a little bit of bruising. It’s not uncommon to hit a little blood vessel. Sometimes, it causes black and blue, periodically a little bit bleeding, nothing excessive. But, no, there are not side effects. People find it very relaxing, actually. Sometimes people will describe this sensation as tingly or heaviness in the body and really find it to be very relaxing.

Melanie: What are some of the benefits of acupuncture? What condition is it used to treat? You mentioned if there was something in the back, maybe you might actually go in the back area. But what else do you -- headaches, addictions, allergies? Give us a little list.

Silverstein: Okay, certainly all of those. People are most familiar with back pain, neck pain, but certainly, things like menstrual issues, menopausal issues, hot flashes. Headaches, you mentioned. Even things like constipation or allergies. I’ve also treated people for infertility, anxiety, stress, insomnia. Really, there’s a wide range of issues and side effects from chemotherapy like nausea or nausea when people are pregnant, so it really does cover a wide range of issues.

Melanie: How do people feel when it’s done? You mentioned that they feel more relaxed. Do they feel the results? If they’re someone who experiences headaches, Risa, or someone who is constipated, do they see results and see a difference from it?

Silverstein: Sometimes people see results very quickly, especially if the situation is acute. People may feel a change fairly immediately. Sometimes, when there’s chronic condition, things like rheumatoid arthritis or when dealing with joint pain, people will certainly feel less joint pain. They might feel more energy. Sometimes they don’t feel it right away. I have patients with those kind of conditions that may call me the next day and say, “Wow, I feel really great.” They felt a little different when they walked out, but it’s not unusual to feel it a day or two later. Sometimes it takes several treatments before people see a marked change. However, I could give you some examples when people really felt something very striking quickly. I had an older man who had a shoulder injury that happened 44 years ago, and he had very little ability to raise his arm and had a lot of pain. And then, first treatment, he was raising his arm quite a bit more, and in the second treatment, he was able to lift his arm all the way up, and it was very surprising, felt so much less pain. Another man had neck problem, also an older man. When he came to me with his daughter, his head was really bent forward. He couldn’t sleep in a bed comfortably because he couldn’t lay his head back. And within several treatments, he was lifting his head up. By the end of the month, he was back in his bed and very happy with the results. So, sometimes people really do see a change quickly. Other times, it takes a little longer. People also have lifestyle choices that are involved in this whole thing, and I’m very involved in partnering with my patients because sometimes I could do things that will help a person, but they may do something that works in the reverse. The simplest example of that is a woman may come to me carrying a heavy purse and come to me with shoulder and neck pain and I do something that really relieved it, but she goes back to carrying this heavy purse. There are many different things that people do that need to be addressed also in the context of a treatment, because we all do things that impact our health. Another example is how people hold the telephone when they’re multi-tasking. They may hold the phone with their chin and their ear, or when they’re on the computer and stressed, their shoulders may be raised. The work of acupuncture can be very effective, but it really also requires that patients partner with me, because that’s the big part of treating.

Melanie: Risa, what does it take to be a qualified practitioner? What should people look for when they’re looking for an acupuncturist?

Silverstein: Well, certainly, the person has to be licensed. There’s a national licensing exam. In addition to that, some states, including New Jersey, have state exams, but that’s certainly the basic. I went to school for over four years to train for this. I had to study both Eastern and Western medicine because it’s important to be aware of people’s Western disease pattern. I think that is certainly very basic. And then, you have to really resonate with your practitioner. I would say those two things are important.

Melanie: And tell us, when you’re working at SMG Medical Group, how does it work there? If someone wants to investigate getting acupuncture, what is it that they can expect?

Silverstein: What do you mean what can they expect?

Melanie: When they set up an appointment, what’s the first appointment going to be like? What’s involved in their getting involved in your practice?

Silverstein: People come in and they have to fill out a fairly comprehensive intake form. If it’s somebody who is a patient at Summit Medical, I will have our team look at their computer records. I really take seriously the notes of the different practitioners here. But they don’t have to be a Summit Medical patient to come to see me. Either way, they’ll fill out an intake form, and the first treatment will also include a thorough evaluation. I will ask them a lot of questions about their health, injuries, surgeries. I will look at their tongue. I will feel their pulse, because that also gives us information as to the person’s overall health. And then I will give them the treatment.

Melanie: That’s fantastic. What do you love about your practice, acupuncture and SMG Medical Group, in just the last minute for us?

Silverstein: I love working with my patients. I love to see patients getting better, and I love to see people’s reaction when they feel better. I think it’s very important to work in an interdisciplinary environment because health has to be treated on many different levels. I think that there is a place for both Western and Eastern medicine in treating people and helping them in their quest to health. And so, I feel very lucky to be in this kind of environment because I think it’s very important to treating patients.

Melanie: Thank you so much, Risa Silverstein. You’re listening to SMG Radio. For more information, you can go to summitmedicalgroup.com, where there’s much more information on acupuncture at Summit Medical Group. This is Melanie Cole. Thanks for listening.