October's Free Friday (and Saturday)

Ever wondered what acupuncture is all about? What it's like to get a treatment? How it can help you deal with _________?

Free Friday is my way of introducing the good peoples of NE Ohio to the awesomeness that is acupuncture.

So come check out my office, see what a needle really looks like, and, if you're willing and able, get a FREE TREATMENT. If you want to book back-to-back treatment times with a friend or a loved one, feel free.

One caveat . . . In order to be able to devote proper time/attention to each individual, I need you to schedule a 1/2 hour treatment time. Treatments are booked on a first-come/first-served basis, so reserve your time now!

Contact via phone: 440.251.4754 or Email: austin@lakeerieacupuncture.com

Treatment times available (updated as slots are taken):
Friday 28th: 11:00a, 11:30a, 12:00p, 12:30p, 4:00p, 4:30p, 5:00p, 5:30p
Saturday the 29th: 9:00a, 9:30a, 10:00a, 12:00p, 12:30p, 1:00p

Feel free to spread the word to anyone you think may want to stop in.

Thank you, and hope to see you then!

Do you notice a difference in the experiences of clients who are more and less open to the treatment?

Sometimes.

Every person's experience in the treatment room is unique. The level of comfort that one experiences in the treatment room is something that I, as practitioner, do my best to maximize, but it's not completely within my realm of control. I check in and interact with them during the treatment, and they ultimately are in control of what's being done, of what's ok. I like to call acupuncture elective medicine, because patients are empowered in my treatment room. They provide feedback, they help us make decisions in partnership, and they contribute to what each specific treatment is focused on.

In my experience, the biggest hinderance to the treatment experience is the fear of needles hurting. If a person has a fear of needles, I do my best to help quell that fear. I will remove one of the single use, sterile needles from its packaging, and they can touch it to see how thin it is. We will use breath to prepare and time the insertion of a needle. Often their fears are alleviated quickly, but if it is too much of a hinderance to a treatment, I can offer stimulation of the acupuncture points with tuning forks or palpation with fingertips. Both are effective at getting things moving in the body.

Patients that are resistant to treatments are often nervous on the table, which often shows up as tension in the body. They are often unwilling to take on responsibility for their actions that may be affecting them negatively, which in turn makes treatments less effective or not effective at all.

Patients that are open to the treatment are often completely relaxed and comfortable on the treatment table. They are willing to discuss changes to aspects of their lifestyle that may aid them in their quest to regain their well-being. They take on "homework" between treatments and are active in the process.

With all this in mind, any patient can experience a big shift as a result of a treatment, and any patient may leave a treatment without a sense of a change taking place. Sometimes a big shift doesn't hold very long; sometimes a shift occurs a few hours or days after a treatment. It's a part of the mysterious nature of the medicine.

Do I need to believe in acupuncture for it to work?

In my experience, a person does not need to believe in acupuncture for it to work. I've been asked this question a few times. Each time, the person asking has been interested in whether or not acupuncture is something that conflicted with their religious or spiritual beliefs.

I am not going to claim to have all the answers in relation to whether or not acupuncture is in accordance with or against one's religious beliefs. That's not for me to judge. If someone were to tell me that they believed it went against their religion, I would have to respect that. My sense is that unless someone rejects any and all medical interventions as being counter to their faith, I don't see there being an issue with what acupuncture has to offer them.

Now, irrespective of the religion conversation, I get that acupuncture is a little different. The concepts at its core such as qi are not things that the typical American is going to quite grasp (after 3+ years of study, I have difficulty completely grasping the concepts myself). And that's ok.

Two questions/counterpoints to consider:

Dogs, cats, and horses are all often treated with acupuncture. Do animals need to believe in it for it to work for them? Clinical experience leads me to believe that they do not (and that it can be effective treatment).

Does a person have to believe in or understand how taking an aspirin makes their headache go away? How an antihistamine helps their breathing? 

I hope this answer has been helpful.

Free Friday, September 23rd

Wondering what this acupuncture stuff is all about? Know someone you think may benefit from treatment?

Free Friday is Lake Erie Acupuncture's way of introducing the good peoples of Northeast Ohio to the awesomeness that is acupuncture. So please, come check out the clinic, see what a needle really looks like, and, if you're willing and able, get a FREE TREATMENT. Yep, free.

The only caveat . . . You have to schedule a treatment time. Treatments are scheduled on a first-come/first-served basis, so if you want to grab a time, get ahold of me one of the following ways:

Phone: 440.251.4754
Email: austin@lakeerieacupuncture.com

Treatment times currently available:

1:00, 1:30, 2:00, 4:30, 5:00, 5:30
(If you want to book back-to-back treatment times with a friend or a loved one, feel free!)

The clinic is located in the Willo Medical Building, 36001 Euclid Avenue, Willoughby, Ohio (across the street from Lake West Hospital). I'm on the main floor, Room B-7. After you enter the building, take a right, and I'm the last door on the right-hand side.


I welcome the opportunity to meet with you and discuss what acupuncture can do for you.


Hope to see you then!

What is Acupuncture?

What is Acupuncture?

Acupuncture is a 2000+year-old system of medicine designed to both restore and maintain one's health and well-being. Its roots are grounded in an ancient Chinese world-view and culture that stressed the importance of being in balance with the natural world that surrounds you.

The system is based on the concept that we have Qi (or Chi, pronounced "Chee"), or vital energy, flowing through our bodies. When Qi flow is optimal, we are "healthy". When Qi flow is not optimal, depending on the wheres, whys, and hows, various conditions of disease will arise. 

Things that can disrupt the flow of Qi can be either internal or external, such as an emotional disruption (being stuck in grief after a loss or overcome with anger), a pathogen (a bacteria or virus), an environmental factor (excessive exposure to cold or humidity), or an injury (straining a muscle or breaking a bone). 

Basically, life disrupts the flow of Qi in everyone to some extent, and it's our job to smooth things out so that we feel well. A lot of times, we can do that ourselves. Sometimes we need a little help, which is where acupuncture comes into play.

An acupuncturist uses various forms of observation and engagement with you to determine where the flow in your body can use some help. We will ask questions and use touch to gather information. We will listen to pulses in your wrist, take a look at your tongue, and check your range of motion. After assessment, we will determine a course of action, based on you and our understanding of you, to help your body return to optimal flow.

This post begins a series of entries designed to answer common questions people have about acupuncture. 

If you would like to submit a question, you may do so via the comments below, or by emailing me here.

Next time . . . How does it work?

Q? and A.

Have a question about acupuncture? Submit it here.

Free Friday August 26, 12-4pm

Wondering what this acupuncture stuff is all about? Know someone you think may benefit from treatment?

Free Friday is Lake Erie Acupuncture's way of introducing the good peoples of Northeast Ohio to the awesomeness that is acupuncture. So please, come check out the clinic, see what a needle really looks like, and, if you're willing and able, get a FREE TREATMENT. Yep, free.

The only caveat . . . You have to schedule a treatment time. Treatments are scheduled on a first-come/first-served basis, so if you want to grab a time, get ahold of me one of the following ways:

Phone: 440.251.4754
Email: austin@lakeerieacupuncture.com
Facebook Page: Lake Erie Acupuncture
Treatment times available: 

12:00, 12:30, 1:00, 1:30, 2:00, 2:30, 3:00, 3:30

(if you want to book back to back treatment times with a friend or a loved one, feel free!)

Hope to see you then!

Austin the Acupuncture Guy

flying timeitis and a three-step "cure"

Well, since my last post, I have:
--visited the family in Oregon
--co-hosted a 60th birthday/40th anniversary party for my awesome parents
--returned from Oregon and did a bunch of treatments
--celebrated my 38th birthday
--attended craft fairs in Mentor (x2), Akron (x2), Gordon Square, and Lakewood (my wife is a jewelry designer, and in shameless-plug fashion her work can be found here)

Sprinkle in random acts of husbandry and father-stuff like cooking, shuttling the daughter to and from volleyball practice, and so forth, and man, life has been moving quickly. Fly is timing. ;) August is half-way done. School will be back in session soon.

I know I'm not alone in all this crazy running around, and I'll wager some people reading this would look at my list and think it's a little light compared to theirs. We are busy, we are stressed out, and we've got a lot of stuff to do! It's all too common in our world today, and if one isn't careful, the accompanying side effects can mess with you on multiple levels.

Here are three things that anyone can do to help themselves feel better in the face of flying timeitis:

1) Breathe. This may sound dumb, but it works. Read these next few sentences, then stop and check in with yourself. Sit upright in a chair. Notice your posture. Get comfortable. Take a slow, deliberate, deep breath in, focusing your attention onto the upper part of your chest. Fill your chest with air and exhale quickly, letting go. Different breath, wasn't it? Most of us don't breathe fully unless we bring our attention to it. In the face of stress, anxiety, fear, anger, sadness, we forget to breathe. Take a minute now to pause and breathe.

2) Drink water. Again, duh, right? Everyone knows that we're supposed to drink water . . . But how much have you had today? Are your lips chapped? Is your mouth and throat dry? When you went to the bathroom last, what color was your urine? We all need water. In the hot of the summertime, we need more than we think. But Austin, you're saying, I spend my time cool in air conditioning! This dries you out even more. Do yourself a favor, and have a glass of water. And then, have another one.

3) Know your limits. We all push. One more thing, task, chore, especially now, as days have started getting noticeably shorter. Just this last thing . . . When we're tired is when we're most likely to make a mistake, injure our bodies, get in an accident, etc. As my mom likes to tell me, Everything counts. Rest is included in that, as is checking in on your inner wisdom. Is it worth pushing to get that one last thing done today? Can it wait until you're better able to give it your full attention? If you're going to saddle up and push through to get it done, are you willing to accept whatever the consequences are? Knowing your limits, and respecting them, is an important thing.

If you or anyone you know is struggling to get through a bout of flying timeitis, I hope these simple steps help.

Until next time,

a.

free friday revisited (better late than never)

Friday, July 29, I offered my second Free Friday event at my office in Willoughby. I thought I'd share my thoughts about the event.

I ended up doing 8 treatments from 9:30-4:30. I started earlier than I initially scheduled (11am) to make room for an interested Westsider, which was fine with me. I find that being willing to be flexible about my hours when I can serves, and in this case, it definitely did. I stayed later than I had initially scheduled (3:30pm) to listen to my last patient. I find that being able to truly listen to what a person needs to say serves, and in this case, again, it definitely did. I had one person miss their slot, which was A-OK (it happens) and allowed me a moment to catch my breath.

While I won't go into specifics about treatments (like anyone else in the medical profession, I am bound by HIPAA privacy laws), I can offer a couple of observations about what Free Friday was like:

1) Most of the people attending scheduled appointments because they were curious about what acupuncture could do for their pain.

This is the most common reason that people in the U.S. pursue acupuncture treatment, so that was not surprising to me. What was and is surprising to me, though, is the amazingly varied ways in which human beings experience pain. It's a unique to each of us type of experience.

I got the sense that few of them felt as if they'd been heard or understood by many people, including their families and healthcare practitioners. They seemed surprised that I was interested in hearing as much about their situation as they could tell me, and that I was asking them lots questions around the pain, in an effort to get a clearer picture of their circumstances.

2) Most of the people were surprised how they felt during the treatment.

One of the top three questions about an acupuncture treatment is, "Do the needles hurt?" Again, not surprising, given our relationship to needles and shots in a traditional Western medical setting. There are a variety of factors that come into play when answering this question . . . and the overwhelming sentiment among the free fridays was that surprisingly, it didn't hurt like they were worried it might.

There were some specific points that generated more sensation than others (a lot of this depends on their location on the body), and there were some that were surprised because it felt like the needles were still in the points when I told them we were finished with the treatment (admittedly, I think this is an odd/cool aspect of the medicine). By and large, the prevailing opinion could be summed up as, "Huh . . . that wasn't so bad."

3) Most people were surprised by how they felt after treatment.


People reported that they felt different from their first experience with acupuncture. Maybe their pain was addressed, or they felt calmer, or just . . . different when they got off the table (it can be hard to process and put into words in the moment, especially since it's something new). In following up with people over the last few days, some have experienced big shifts, some more subtle. Some are interested in following up with more treatment, others I may not hear from again.

All in all, it was a wonderful opportunity for me to be able to expose new people to what an acupuncture treatment is like, how it feels, and what being treated can offer them.

And I can't wait to do it again sometime this month. When I have my August date and time set, I'll announce it here, via Twitter (@lakeerieacu), and on Facebook (Lake Erie Acupuncture Page).

Thanks for reading!

free friday

Today is my 2nd Free Friday event. I am offering the community an opportunity to learn about acupuncture and to experience it firsthand. Based on how it went the first time, I decided that this time I'd better schedule appointments!

I decided to start doing this event as a means to bring the medicine to the people. While I am surprised at times with the open response to acupuncture when I talk with people about it, I realize that few in Lake County have been exposed to what the needles look like, what a treatment consists of, and, most importantly, what they experience in a treatment. It is my intention to offer free treatment events throughout 2011, once a month.

So yeah, from 11am-3pm today, I am giving away treatments. Each person that signed up gets a half-hour of chat, diagnostic interaction, and a simple, safe treatment so that they get a sense of what acupuncture is all about.

I have not set dates for Free Fridays going forward, and, in fact, it might be a different day than Friday next month. I will keep you posted here, on Facebook, via Twitter, and at my website as I determine the date and time.

I will write more about the experiences of the day this evening, but in my excitement about the event, I wanted to put some quick words down about it.

To witness someone experience a shift in their being, be that their level of pain, in their thoughts or emotions, or in their spirit, is truly remarkable. To see someone get up off the treatment table feeling different, however that shows up, is amazing. It is a gift that I feel honored and grateful to be a part of. For me, that's what this work is all about--helping people. Working with another from a place of trust and respect is uplifting and inspiring to me.

One of my teachers talked often about taking in what we learned and then making sure we give it away. Thanks, Bob, for the lesson.

Intention (and how it relates to acupuncture)

Greetings.

I hope this finds you well.

My name is Austin Homrighaus, and I practice acupuncture.

I opened my clinical practice, Lake Erie Acupuncture, in Willoughby in May 2011, and I am a consultant for Enlightened Health Management, a pain management clinic with offices in Willoughby and Youngstown, and Great Lakes Health Institute, an integrative, holistic, patient-centered medical office in Lyndhurst.

Today I want to write a bit about intention, as I believe it is an important aspect of acupuncture (at least how I practice it).

Intention is the thought, aim, or purpose behind words or deeds, a guiding of one's doings with an underlying principle.

It is the intention of this blog, for example, to offer its readers new perspectives and possibilities in regards to living, being, and feeling well. I will be posting entries several times a week relating to everything from how to source locally-grown food, to ways in which one can live in harmony with the seasons. I will be posting entries that educate the public about what acupuncture is, how it works (or better put, how I think it works), and how it can serve them.

It is my intention as a practitioner of acupuncture to serve my patients needs as best I can at the present moment. What does this mean? By having the intention of being truly present in the moment with another human being, I am able to develop a greater sense of what that best service would be. I have no preconceived notions. I am open to things arising as they do. I experience this sense in many ways that I learned through rigor in school: with my senses, through touch, and other specific diagnostic methods, such as taking pulses or palpitating the abdomen. I can check in on what it is I'm sensing with the patient and engage them in the process. I can offer, through words, through touch, through moxa and needles, what is needed in the moment.

Acupuncture is very personal medicine, unique to each person and our interactions. I'll give you an example. A woman comes to see me because she has migraine headaches. From the moment she enters my office, I am engaged in observation. What do I hear? What do I see? What do I feel in her presence? I ask her questions and make sure that I'm correctly understanding her answers. I get to know her, through our interactions, and get a sense of who she is and how I can help. We may discover that her headaches are tied to her menstrual cycle or how she is handling the stress and responsibility of taking care of her elderly mother during a health crisis. How I help her with her headaches is not necessarily the same way I would help another person with their headaches.

I find myself wanting to write more, but it is also my intention to keep these posts digestible, so I'm going to stop here for now. I'll just offer this--if you have questions, please ask, either as comments to this post or private emails. I'll do my best to answer.