Why I Became An Acupuncturist

All of my life I have always known I want to be a doctor.

Very early on I learned that our bodies can heal themselves in amazing ways given the right nutrition and herbs.

With the power of Chinese Medicine, we can learn to listen to our bodies and eat healthier.

For myself this is one of my earliest memories, but what really made me interested in Chinese medicine was the fact that both of my grandmothers were very ill. I took them to both their acupuncture and doctors appointments, and saw how both the practitioners worked with them. Seeing how the acupuncturist communicated and shared their progress with them, I understood that it was a different relationship than a western physician.

Mind you, I am very passionate about all medicine and have always used western medicine when needed. But the shift in my family who saw acupuncturists was fascinating because they were being encouraged to take ownership of their progress and improvements, whereas with doctors it was, “here is your prescription and come back for a check up.”

Acupuncture became quite important to everyone’s health.

It helped both of my grandmothers live for much longer than expected. My stepmother’s mom had congestive heart failure but by utilizing the right Chinese herbs coupled with the right medication allowed her to have a lot of improvement in a short amount of time. Many people do not know that acupuncturists from China are trained as western medical doctors and acupuncturists. Because of this, her acupuncturist (who was a cardiologist too) was able to save her life.

He safely used Chinese herbs to help reduce her edema, improve her cardiac output, and support her, so she had more energy to take better care of herself. This was a woman who didn’t really think that Chinese medicine would work at all, but with her son-in -law's request she gave it a try. 

We saw a complete change in her skin. Her eyes looked shinier, brighter, and healthier. She lost edema in her lower body and she had more flexibility and motor function in her hands. She began to walk better, her urine output was much higher, and she had more vitality. It was absolutely amazing for her to also have improved blood pressure. Her doctors were so impressed.

The real turning point for myself was watching my stepmother, who had suffered from infertility for years, finally become pregnant. She went to the Chinese doctor for several reasons, but the primary one is because she kept having recurrent miscarriages. She had to work very hard to become pregnant and did everything that the doctors in Chinatown told her to. She took her herbs, changed her diet, improved her exercise and sleeping, as well as went for weekly treatments.

My father also went, and in doing so they really made it huge in their Physiology and they became pregnant.

The ultimate reason I became a Chinese medical practitioner is because I saw so many examples of family members healing their health when no one thought it was possible.

I wanted to be in a profession where patients had the opportunity to be a part of the solution and work as a team to learn how to care for themselves and their families. Traditional Chinese medicine is customized to each individual and it works to heal their imbalances from the inside out. Teaching patients’ self-care is a huge gift. Being able to hear every day that your patients are getting and staying healthy is an amazing way to spend time at work.