Radiant offers three types of services in a professional, relaxed atmosphere: Acupuncture, Herbal Remedies, and Wellness Strategies

What is Acupuncture?
Acupuncture is the use of very fine needles inserted into specific points of the body. The general theory of acupuncture is that proper physiological function and health depend on the circulation of nutrients, substances and energy through a network of channels or meridians. This network connects every internal organ and part of the body. The flow of nutrients, substances and energy is called Qi (pronounced Chee). It provides regulation, balance and coordination of physiological processes. Pain and illness result when a disruption or blockage occurs in the flow of Qi. Disruptions of Qi can be caused by many factors, including disease, trauma, pathogen, side-effects of medication, or lifestyle factors such as overwork, poor diet, emotions, lack of rest and stress. Stimulation of appropriate acupuncture points helps to restore sufficient, continuous and even flow of nutrients throughout the body.

Our acupuncture treatments focus on one of the following areas:
Chronic or Acute Health Problems
Facial Rejuvenation
Pregnancy and Postpartum Wellness


Chronic or Acute Health Problems
Acupuncture is a safe and effective means of treating these and other common conditions. This is not an exhaustive list. If you have a condition not listed here, please call the office to discuss your concerns.

allergies/asthma

anxiety/depression

arthritis/joint problems

back and neck pain

bladder/kidney problems

constipation/diarrhea

colds/influenza

cough/bronchitis

dizziness

drug/alcohol/smoking addiction

effects of chemotherapy

fatigue

fibromyalgia

gastrointestinal disorders

headache/migraine

high blood pressure

immune system deficiency

knee pain

menopausal discomfort (including hot flashes)

menstrual irregularities

musculoskeletal injuries

premenstrual syndrome

paralysis/numbness

sciatica

sexual dysfunction

sinusitis

skin problems

stress/tension

tendonitis

For health-related problems, Radiant offers both TCM acupuncture and Japanese acupuncture. We think it is important to match the right type of acupuncture treatment for each patient. Both styles of acupuncture are effective means of treating a wide variety of medical problems not adequately or safely treated by standard medical care. Your acupuncture treatment may also include Chinese Medical Massage, Japanese Passive Muscle Exercise or dietary therapy.

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The type of Acupuncture treatment you receive will depend on your preference and condition. Click on the links below for more information about each style of treatment:

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM)
encompassing both acupuncture and herbal medicine

Japanese Meridian-Style Acupuncture

Chinese Medical Massage

Japanese Passive Muscle Exercise

Dietary Therapy





What is Traditional Chinese Medicine?
TCM is a comprehensive, natural health care system that originated in China more that 2,000 years ago. It employs a sophisticated and complex system of diagnostic methods that takes into consideration the person as a whole and not just isolated symptoms. Practitioners of TCM are trained to discern patterns of disharmony and differentiate the nature and level of each pattern exhibited by the patient. A pattern of disharmony (or a combination of patterns) is the root cause of the patient's presenting problem. Treatment with TCM addresses the presenting problem and its root cause. Treatment can include acupuncture and/or herbal medicine.

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What is Japanese Acupuncture?
Japanese Acupuncture, sometimes called Meridian-Style Acupuncture was developed in Japan from deep roots in the Chinese medical classics. Rather than use the same process of pattern discrimination utilized in TCM, Japanese Acupuncturists focus more on palpation, both of the pulses at the radial artery and of the acupuncture points and meridians themselves to direct both diagnosis and treatment. Treatment with Japanese Acupuncture is more suitable than TCM for certain people at certain times, and for some conditions. For instance, Japanese acupuncture is superb at treating whiplash. And it is preferable for people who are afraid of needles because the needle insertions are very shallow (a few millimeters).

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What is Chinese Medical Massage (Tui Na)?
Chinese Medical Massage utilizes acupuncture points and soft tissue manipulation to release tension and pain in the body.

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What is Japanese Passive Muscle Exercise (Sotai)?
Japanese passive muscle exercise rebalances the energetic holding patterns affecting structural alignment. While the patient rests comfortably, the practitioner moves the patient's arms or legs in a proscribed manner to release tension and pain in the body.

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What is dietary therapy?
Dietary therapy uses food as medicine. There are many foods that can exacerbate a condition and many foods that can be beneficial. Chinese dietary therapy looks at the foods that are good for and those that are bad for the patient's pattern of disharmony. It is not primarily a weight loss therapy, although dietary therapy can be beneficial for weight loss.

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Pregnancy and Postpartum Wellness
At Radiant we welcome pregnant women with great joy because birthing and raising children have been powerful experiences in our own lives. We believe that pregnancy should be as comfortable as possible. Most discomforts and complications during pregnancy arise due to pre-existing tendencies in the mom, usually tendencies towards either too much internal heat or too much internal dampness. Add a quickly growing fetus swimming in a pool of fluid in the midsts of our own internal organs and tendencies towards excess heat and dampness quickly become more frankly expressed: nausea, fatigue, heartburn, constipation, hormonal acne, back pain, shortness of breath, insomnia, etc. Acupuncture is a wonderful means of addressing these problems in a way that is safe for baby and mom alike.

At Radiant we have successfully used acupuncture to induce or increase labor (when it progresses too slowly), to reduce maternal anxiety and facilitate labor acceptance, lessen pain during labor, and to support post-partum recovery. If you are interested in having an acupuncturist at your labor or delivery, you should discuss your interest with your midwife or OB/GYN. If your provider would like to talk to us about our services, please feel free to give them our contact information. We need to make arrangements to be on-call for a birth at least 4 weeks in advance. We look forward to meeting more radiant pregnant women!

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Facial Rejuvenation
Click here fo more information


Herbal Remedies
Traditional Chinese Herbal Medicine has been used for thousands of years to treat disease. Traditional Chinese medicinals consist of herbs, minerals, and some animal products. At Radiant we believe that acupuncture is less invasive than herbal therapy. Therefore, we treat with acupuncture first, and turn to medicinals only when necessary. We have had good success treating eczema with a combination of acupuncture and Chinese Herbal formulas. Sometimes discomforts associated with menopause also respond well to a combination of acupuncture and herbs. Fertility is also enhanced by the combination of herbs and acupuncture. At Radiant we are very careful about the quality of the herbs that we purchase and only use reputable companies with careful third party testing to guarantee that no heavy metals or other toxins contaminate the products.

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Wellness Strategies
At Radiant we believe that most people would enhance their health and wellness by incorporating self-care strategies into daily life. We work with individuals and groups to create meaningful, achievable habits for health. Using the medicinal qualities of food, rest, and exercise, as well as tools to build self-knowledge, trust, compassion and love, the wellness strategy that you create in partnership with Radiant is your personal blue-print to a self-directed life of greater possibilities.

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