FAQ | llindamingleeacupunc

What are your hours, rates and locations?

PRIVATE HOME OFFICE

Come to Lee Acupuncture, conveniently located in Princeville for a treatment. Please schedule your appointment online or call with any questions. Initial consultation and sessions are $220, subsequent visits are $200, and frequent visitor packages are available upon request. To schedule, click on the tab on the top right of this page.

COMMUNITY ACUPUNCTURE

Another way to experience acupuncture is to visit our community acupuncture healing circles. The purpose of community acupuncture is to make Chinese medicine accessible by providing affordable community-centered health care. All acupuncture treatments are individualized to meet your needs, and are performed in a quiet community space. We charge on a sliding scale: $40-$100. You decide what you can afford. We want you to come often enough to really get better, and the sliding scale is our way of helping you make that commitment. For more information, click on the 'community acupuncture' tab on the top right of the page.

PRIVATE HOUSE-CALL SESSIONS

These sessions are done in the comfort of your home or hotel room. Please call to schedule an appointment. Single visit: $250

What is Acupuncture?

Select acupuncture points are stimulated with sterile, single-use, disposable acupuncture needles to balance internal functions and expedite the healing power within our most delicate system-our body.

What will acupuncture feel like?

The acupuncture needles are as fine as a human hair. Everybody experiences acupuncture differently. Most people find acupuncture comfortable and experience no pain. The sensations felt when the acupuncture needles reaches the desired depth, is often described as tingling, local numbness or a dull distending sensation. These sensations indicate the body’s processing of the acupuncture’s directive.

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

Not at all – animals get good results from acupuncture just like people, and we're pretty sure that they don't believe in it.

You just need to have enough of an open mind to want to find out if acupuncture will work for you, and you will only know that for sure by experience. We suggest you try it and see what you think.

What about herbal medicine?

Herbal medicine has been used for centuries to treat disease and promote health. An immense body of knowledge is available today after thousands of years of observation. Chinese herbal medicine enhances body’s resistance and strengthens vitality through Chinese herbs. After making your Chinese medical diagnosis, herbs may be selected to fit your specific body’s needs. In China, my father was an herbalist so my first exposure to Chinese Medicine was from my parents who would make medicinal soups with bupin herbs almost on a daily basis for us. Examples of bupin herbs are ginger, goji berries, scallions, cinnamon bark, ginseng, figs, red and black dates and wild yam. The translation for bupin is 'building substance' which consists of about 70 herbs in the form of roots, seeds, fruit. Normally anywhere between 4-6 herbs are used in a soup which is then combined with meat, rice or vegetables to tonify or adjust a person's physiological imbalance. I feel that taking these nourishing tonics are the ultimate way to keep our bodies from imbalance. This is very compelling to me, preventative medicine at its best, and I love to share this information. I also believe that this kept our immune systems strong and our bodies, all ten of ours, healthy and disease-free. When I was a little girl growing up in San Francisco, the only other medicine we owned were a little bottle of Bayer aspirin, rubbing alcohol and band-aids. This was compared to an entire pantry full of twigs, seeds, grasses and liniments.

How much time should I allocate?

Your appointment will take about 75 minutes and involves an initial consultation in which we go over detailed medical information and family medical history. After the initial consultation we generally move right into a first treatment during the same visit. The subsequent appointments will last roughly 60 minutes. Bring your medical exam and test reports to your first appointment.

What should I expect?

I am a very attentive classically trained medical practitioner who diagnoses and treats serious problems. During the initial consultation, I will use all that I have learned to ascertain what the body needs to be balanced and healthy and I will explain these concepts so that on a basic level the patient will understand what I am up to. When I am providing the care I will use very fine single-use sterile needles, cups, moxa, and/or electrical stimulation and the patient will often rest deeply. Many patients fall asleep, which is ideal because this rest is deeply rejuvenating. In this time we allow the treatment to sink in. This might take 20-40 minutes. When my patients leave, they will always feel better. Each time that patient comes in I apply the same diagnostic principles used previously. This is important check-in time because it is here that we are witnessing the changes and the fluctuations in the body. This allows my patient to discuss the results since the last treatment and for me to adjust the next treatment as needed. With this fine-tuned Classical approach we can eradicate pressing issues so that the patient feels better quickly and so that we can tackle either new or less urgent ones if there are any.

Do I need to make an appointment for community acupuncture?

Many of our patients appreciate being able to make same-day appointments. I totally understand the appeal – you don't always know ahead of time when you will want acupuncture, and if you suddenly get a free hour, you might want to fill it with a treatment! But we also really hate to turn anybody away. So while we will try to accommodate walk-ins whenever possible, we ask that you please make an appointment online. Calling is not the best option during clinic hours because normally I am not picking up calls and checking texts. If you show up without an appointment, you are taking the chance that we might be 100% booked – it doesn't happen often, but it does happen. If you walk in without an appointment, we need to treat the people who have appointments before we treat you, so you might have to wait a lot longer than we'd like. We really want to make getting acupuncture as convenient as possible for you.

How should I prepare?

Eat a small snack before your appointment.
No overexertion, exercising, recreational drug use or alcohol at least 2 hours before and after the visit.
Wear comfortable clothing for easy access to acupuncture points.
Come with any questions you may have since I am here to help.

I'm a patient and I love what you do! How can I help?

Beautiful! Please leave a review and spread the word. Mahalo nui.