The healing art of acupuncture is rooted in ancient Chinese medicine dating back to 5th c. BCE, and has been practiced continuously to the present day. This ancient technology is based on the belief that the body contains an intricate network of energy pathways, and that optimum health occurs when energy flows through these meridians in a balanced and harmonious way.

Acupuncturists insert small, thin needles into specific points that are located along this network to balance the flow of energy and support their patient's innate capacity for healing. Acupuncture is being increasingly integrated with a variety of Western medicine specialities, including orthopedics/sports medicine, neurology, cardiology, chronic pain, fertility, and psycho-emotional health. A substantial body of Western evidence-based research has confirmed the effectiveness of acupuncture in addressing many conditions, and a list of some of the conditions that OCA acupuncturists treat can be found here.

Every treatment room at OCA has a TDP Far Infrared Mineral Heat lamp. These lamps not only provide heat, but the wavelength of their light penetrates deep into the skin, generating blood flow in the capillaries and small blood vessels. Pain often emanates from blood stasis, so these heat lamps can help to relieve pain on a deep level, with or without needles!

Electro-Acupuncture (EA) is the addition of an electrical current to the already placed needles, ranging in sensation from a light tapping to a calm buzzing. We use EA for many different kinds of body pain, employing milli-volts for muscles and micro-volts for joints and connective tissue.

Our EA machines use Alternating Current (AC), so we can keep them connected to the needles for the whole treatment if needed. We may also use a Direct Current (DC) stimulator on the needles for very short periods (10-30 sec.) in order to more quickly strengthen or lengthen muscle tissue.

When you see those people at the gym with red and purple circles on their back, it means they have received a Cupping treatment which pulled up the stagnant blood in those areas. While massage generally pushes into sore muscles, Cupping does the opposite—decompressing muscle and connective tissue while pulling out extravasated (stuck) blood that needs to get back into circulation.

Tui Na is a physiotherapy medical massage which is very effective in treating all kinds of musculo-skeletal disorders, including sports injuries, joint pain, frozen shoulder, low back pain, TMJ, etc. Tui Na employs many techniques, such as kneading, acupressure, joint mobilization, stretching, percussion, and cross-fiber friction to strengthen bones, reduce inflammation, smooth connective tissue, relax muscles, increase flexibility, and provide greater range of motion to the joints.

Gua Sha is ‘therapeutic scraping’ using a jade or stone instrument available in many different shapes. At OCA, we use Gua Sha tools made of terahertz stone because of its unique thermo-conductive nature, which even allows it to immediately melt through ice. For this reason, we use it to scrape down difficult scar tissue and overly-tight muscle tissue. We call it our ‘Vibranium’ tool :)

2500 years old, the Wire Brush is an ancient martial arts tool used for strengthening bones and joints and connective tissue in a practice called ‘Iron Shirt QiGong’. It looks like a giant whisk made of 88 stainless steel rods tied together that we tap on the bones and tendons/ligaments to create a simultaneous percussion and vibration, yielding thicker and stronger bones, and greater tensile strength of the connective tissue.

Positional release therapy is a practice of deep listening, asking the body what it needs to feel comfortable enough to let go. It is a subtle practice of holding and microadjusting the limbs, the head, the torso, manipulating the skeleton into the position, or series of positions, that allow the tissues to release. It is a gentle practice whose aim is to make the body feel heard, so that it can stop giving off danger signals, aka pain.

CBD cream is an excellent topical anti-inflammatory that we often use after the Acupuncture treatment, or in conjunction with Cupping in order to slide the cups along the painful tissue to relieve it.

Traditionally, Acupuncture has been done in combination with Moxibustion. The burning of the herb Moxa (Mugwort) over the needles and/or acu-points is used to move blood and promote circulation in areas where stagnation is present. We incorporate Moxa into our treatments sometimes by burning it in the traditional way, or oftentimes by using a Moxa-infused spray or cream.

Pachi-Pachi is a piezo electric device that works by compressing a crystal to create a tiny spark that we may use on Acu-points to verify their efficacy before inserting a needle there. We also use Pachi-Pachi for migraine patients to help ward off an attack.