Using data from the 2007 National Survey of Substance Abuse Treatment Services (N-SSATS), the primary objective of this report is to examine general characteristics of the 587 facilities (4 percent of all facilities nationwide) that offered acupuncture as a part of substance abuse treatment. Selected comparisons are made between facilities that offered acupuncture and all substance abuse treatment facilities in general.

Many people in recovery experience a tremendous amount of physical pain. At times it’s the pain of past trauma, or the pains of withdrawal. Many people that come to us for “detoxing” and getting clean/sober are addicted to pain meds. The question then becomes how we manage somebody’s pain without putting more addictive narcotics back into the body. We have devised an amazingly strong analgesic formula that is non addictive, natural, and non habit forming.

I am always asked a daily question in my private practice “Can acupuncture help with weight loss?” I always answer jokingly, “yes, with one needle! right through the lips so we can’t eat!” I obviously mean that in jest, but ultimately acupuncture cannot help weight loss.

In medicine we seek to find balance within the body, but balance shouldn’t nor peace should end there.

We need to find peace within ourselves so that the problems that plague (any culture and any population) won’t intrude and bother us. It’s the inner peace, no matter where or how you find it, is the goal of all human kind. Ask any ones desire, no matter what it is and ultimately at the base of their desire, will be peace. I want money, I want fame, I want women, I want a man, I want a marriage, I want security, or whatever. All that is a desire to give us what we think is inner peace. Very interesting I thought.

For years people have asked me, “Can acupuncture help you lose weight?” I have always responded with my comedic answer, “YES! It only takes one needle, between your lips so you can’t eat”. I have always meant that jokingly but it does illustrate a great point. Ultimately, no matter WHAT we do, we need to BURN more calories than we TAKE IN. There are no short cuts; there is no magic pill or magic herb.

Hot flashes? Night sweats? Emotional mood swings? For so long menopause has been a “way of discomfort” for many women. Women have been told to “endure and put up with it”. They have routinely been prescribed anti-depressants when that hasn’t even been the problem to begin with. They have been given Hormone replacement therapy which has shown to increase risks in many types of cancers. They have been told to take vitamins or horse urine, yet nothing has helped. Western medicine, in its patriarchal mindset, has long abandoned any goal of actually helping women with this transition in life called Menopause.

Kudzu (Ge Gen) has been reported to help people in recovery with alcohol cravings! Kudzu or Ge Gen (Chinese pinyin name) is of the most studied herbs in the Chinese pharmacopeia. It is also one of the oldest and most used herbs as well. Kudzu has many medicinal properties and actions that are used today. Kudzu can help with diahrrea or general digestive complaints, especially when the digestive compliant is due to stress. Kudzu helps with relieving muscular tension in the upper body region and it helps increase blood flow rates. It is effective in helping with the common cold and new research shows that it is effective in curbing alcoholic cravings.

Acupuncture is the gentle insertion of very fine needles into specific points on the body. This process stimulates movement of blood and the release of chemicals within the body, allowing natural healing to take place. These points are selected based on years of training acupuncturists receive based on over 3,000 years of experience in China.

Acupuncture helps to prevent illness by improving the overall functioning of the body’s immune and organ systems. Acupuncture is helpful for:

Recovery can be challenging, we grasp onto what we knew, we hold on to our old beliefs, we become afraid to accept the new, and keep the old. To stand tall once again, you have to lose your fear of falling. My boxing coach Jess Sandoval taught me the best. It is on those days, when I become afraid, that I become lost, that I embrace his memory. I hold strong those phrases that to this day stick in my brain.

“Do you think people would show up?” I asked my friend. We had been talking about going to India to treat people in rural villages for free. We both just thought about that for a minute and then I said, “I think people would like free acupuncture and herbs”. I thought more and stated, “Why can’t we just go over to India, tell people we are there, and start treating in the rural villages?” I continued and answered the next question before it was asked, “India? Well, why not?……”