Elite Tier Acupuncture Treatments
John’s diagnostic and treatment style is unique. He is the ONLY person in Oregon outside of Portland to have been trained in Acupuncture Physical Medicine directly under the founder of this acupuncture style, which brought dry needling (trigger point acupuncture) to the West. Rather than solely relying on verbal, pulse, and tongue intake, he also gathers much of the pertinent information by utilizing precise palpation techniques (feeling with the fingertips and palms of his hands) of the acupuncture meridians, soft tissue, nerves, and bones. He may also perform orthopedic and active range of motion exams in order to further develop the best treatment plan.
Personalized Acupuncture Treatments
Each treatment is tailored to each patient’s needs at that time. Sometimes a session might consist of two styles of acupuncture. John will most likely be utilizing the Acupuncture Physical Medicine style of acupuncture as the foundation of a treatment.
If it’s most appropriate, patients may receive electrostimulation acupuncture which is performed by adding electrical stimulation to the needles. This approach helps to regulate the nervous systems and achieve faster relief. Sometimes John may utilize fire cupping therapy, gua sha (the original Graston/IASTM techniques), or Tuina which is a style of Chinese Medical Massage. Occasionally, John may use the Kiiko Matsumoto style of acupuncture to help with internal organ-based complaints.
In addition to the work on the acupuncture table, if he feels it would be helpful, he might suggest dietary changes or Chinese Herbal Medicines to help you make great gains in your healthcare. John may also suggest stretches and rehabilitative exercises, and his expansive firsthand knowledge of other healing modalities and practitioner library can allow for proper referrals if it is the best move for helping you to achieve your healthcare goals.
John is extensively trained in Western Medicine and can read your bloodwork results, imagining results, and has the ability to translate any findings your doctors have discovered about your health conditions. He can then offer you advice on how this all spells out in the language of East Asian Medicine modalities in order for you to feel self-empowered and thus have a better understanding on what steps may be ideal for you to take in order to obtain optimum health.
Trigger Point Acupuncture and Dry Needling Expertise
John often performs Trigger Point Acupuncture, which is sometimes called “dry needling” by non-acupuncturists, and even acupuncturists themselves are now starting to use the term to describe this technique. Trigger point and Motor Point work is an essential part of the Acupuncture Physical Medicine style of acupuncture, which is the main healing modality in John’s clinic.
Many patients come into his practice because they were referred out for dry needling, with those who referred being unaware that this approach has been used in Classical Chinese Acupuncture for at least six thousand years. John has extensive training in trigger point work and in fact trained directly under the Western World’s pioneer in the technique, who founded The Tri-State College of Acupuncture, which other acupuncture schools nicknamed “The Trigger Point Acupuncture School.”
Dr. Mark Seem was ahead of his time and has had a massive influence on treating both complex pain and stress-holding patterns with his Acupuncture Physical Medicine style of acupuncture which he developed over decades of clinical practice and teaching at his school.
There are so many questions that people have about trigger point acupuncture and why non-acupuncturists are using needles as a therapeutic approach to treating pain and calling it something different than acupuncture (hence the term “dry needling” gaining popularity). This acupuncture technique has been utilized for centuries but the reason the term seems new to the general public in the West is because in East Asia people aren’t using English to describe it. Non-acupuncturists who claim to perform “dry needling” are not acupuncturists and therefore cannot claim to be doing “trigger point acupuncture.”
If you would like to learn more about the modality and where it currently fits into Western healthcare and the controversies around it, please read more about it here.
Blending Western and Eastern Healthcare Insights
Patients note that John is fantastic at helping to bridge the gap between Western diagnoses from their doctors and the Eastern diagnoses from his practice, which helps to provide a solid explanation about their healthcare needs. One of John’s goals is to encourage his patients to gain self-empowerment over their healthcare options. He enjoys working with his patients and not on them. In each treatment, he asks for verbal feedback while applying any of the healing modalities that are being used. That said, another one of his goals is to get you the relief you seek as quickly as possible!