Ask Dr. Michael: Maintenance Treatment

After my main complaint is resolved with acupuncture treatment, how does maintenance treatment on a continuing basis benefit me?

Dr. Michael Kowalski, A.P., Dipl.Ac.
@ Acupuncture & Holistic Health Center
Jacksonville, FL

Patients often wonder how maintenance treatment can help them, once they are better from their original health issue that brought them to acupuncture. Some people feel that, once they have achieved their health goal, it is time to stop treatment.

The ancient Chinese understood that illness is a manifestation of imbalanced energy within one or more of the 12 meridians of Qi energy. All chronic and acute disease is caused by an energy imbalance (with the exception of acute trauma related to an accident or other mechanical cause).

When you receive Worsley 5 Element Acupuncture, which is the style of acupuncture we specialize in at the Acupuncture & Holistic Health Center, your Acupuncture Physician diagnoses and treats the Causative Factor of your Qi energy imbalance. That is why your specific health issues can resolve once your body, mind, and emotions are restored to balance.

Normal life stress can cause our Qi energy to go back out of balance, and ongoing chronic stress can lead to greater imbalance. Even if the primary complaint does not return when life’s stresses imbalance our Qi, these imbalances can manifest in your body to cause other symptoms. Most people deal with some level of chronic stress in their lives, and its effects on their health and well-being. So, without maintenance acupuncture treatment, your life’s normal stress can take a larger toll on your health.

Once you have become balanced with 5 Element Acupuncture, it is usually easy to maintain your energy balance with continued maintenance treatment. The good news is that this maintenance treatment is usually only necessary on a monthly, bi-monthly, or even seasonal basis. In fact, in ancient China, every person above 7 years of age received a seasonal acupuncture treatment five times per year (one for each of the Five Element seasons). This was the custom in order to prevent disease and stay healthy throughout all the seasons of the year.