PRIVATE ACUPUNCTURE TREATMENTS

Individualized treatment sessions take place in a private, peaceful setting on a comfortable acupuncture treatment table.  Tessa offers a full range of traditional Chinese Medicine modalities, including acupuncture, cupping, moxibustion, gua sha, and personalized herbal, dietary and lifestyle recommendations.

At your first visit, you will receive a comprehensive consultation to review your health concerns and relevant history. This is also a time for you to ask questions and share what feels most important in your healing process. Traditional diagnostic methods—including pulse assessment and tongue evaluation—are used to identify the root pattern of imbalance.

Treatment frequency varies depending on the nature and chronicity of your condition. some patients benefit from one to two visits per week in the beginning to build momentum and support steady progress.

During treatment, most patients enter a deeply relaxed state—many even fall asleep. Before leaving, you will discuss a personalized treatment plan, including recommended frequency and what to expect as your body responds and heals.

Initial Treatments, 90 min           $195

Follow up Treatments, 60 min    $145

10 treatment Package, includes free treatment $1950

24-hour cancellation policy. No refunds.

ABOUT TRADITIONAL CHINESE MEDICINE MODALITIES

ACUPUNCTURE
Acupuncture is the insertion of micro-fine needles into points along pathways on the surface of the body called meridians. These points and meridians have a direct relationship with internal organ systems and specific areas of the body. Stimulation of acupuncture points with needles has the effect of moving Qi (vital energy), promoting blood circulation and stimulating the body’s natural healing mechanisms. From a biomedical perspective, acupuncture appears to activate your body’s nervous system and circulatory system, which regulate the production, secretion and transportation of various molecules, including endorphins, neurotransmitters and hormones. By regulating physiological functions, a state of homeostasis is restored within the body. Our clinic uses sterilized, single-use, stainless steel needles that are so thin the diameter is often compared to that of a human hair. Insertion is relatively painless and most patients describe the needling sensation as one of warmth, dullness, pressure, heaviness or tingling.

CUPPING
Cupping is a technique that uses suction to apply glass or plastic cups to specific areas of the body such as the back or abdomen. The cups are held in place or moved along specific meridians in order to promote blood circulation and stimulate the nervous system. This technique is often used to relax muscles, alleviate pain, or treat cough and dyspnea.

GUA SHA
Sometimes called ‘coining, spooning or scraping’, Gua sha is defined as instrument-assisted unidirectional press-stroking of a lubricated area of the body surface to intentionally create transitory therapeutic petechiae called ‘sha’ representing extravasation of blood in the subcutis.

Raising sha removes blood stagnation considered pathogenic in traditional East Asian medicine. Modern research shows the transitory therapeutic petechiae produce an anti inflammatory and immune protective effect that persists for days following a single Gua sha treatment accounting for the immediate relief that patients feel from pain, stiffness, fever, chill, cough, wheeze, nausea and vomiting etc, and why Gua sha is effective in acute and chronic internal organ disorders including liver inflammation in hepatitis.

MOXIBUSTION
Moxibustion is a form of heat therapy in which dried plant materials called "moxa" are burned on or very near the surface of the skin. The intention is to warm and invigorate the flow of Qi in the body and dispel certain pathogenic influences.

Moxa is usually made from the dried leafy material of Chinese mugwort (Artemesia argyi or A.vlugaris), but it can be made of other substances as well. In the U.S., practitioners generally hold a burning moxa stick close to, but not touching, the surface of the skin.

In this method, the moxa material is compressed into a stick or pole, looking not unlike an oversized cigar that can be lit and allowed to smolder, producing a unique form of very penetrating heat. The smoldering moxa stick is held over specific areas, often, though not always, corresponding to certain acupuncture points. The glowing end of the moxa stick is held about an inch or two above the surface of the skin until the area reddens and becomes suffused with warmth. It is not uncommon for patients receiving moxibustion to report a sudden flooding of warmth that quickly radiates along a specific pathway away from the site of application. This is a good result, as it indicates the arrival of the Qi and signals that the flow of Qi and xue has been freed in the channel.

Moxibustion is used for:

• Pain due to injury or arthritis, especially in "cold" patterns where the pain naturally feels better with the application of heat

• Digestive problems and irregular elimination

• Gynecological and obstetrical conditions, including breech presentation in late term pregnancy

• Protection against cold and flu strains

Practitioners often do both acupuncture and moxibustion in the same clinic session when appropriate to the diagnosis and treatment strategy. Practitioners believe that the therapies increase each other's effectiveness when used together.

Unlike acupuncture, which is almost always done by a trained practitioner in a clinic setting, moxibustion can be easily used at home. It is not uncommon for Chinese medical practitioners to train their patients to use moxa on themselves to strengthen the effect of the clinical sessions between appointments.

HERBAL MEDICINE
Chinese herbal medicine involves the use of natural plant and mineral substances to produce healing changes in the body and is regarded as a powerful complement to acupuncture treatment. Many practitioners use Chinese herbs as a way of offering the body continual therapeutic input between acupuncture treatments. By taking herbs on a daily basis, the positive momentum created by acupuncture is enhanced. When properly practiced, Chinese herbal medicine is a safe, effective alternative to harsh pharmaceutical medications. We prescribe with the utmost integrity and skill and source the highest quality herbs.