Chico Community Acupuncture

Infertility

You still have to answer emails. Go to work.
Make dinner.
Text people back.
Function normally.

Meanwhile your nervous system is quietly tracking:
every cycle,
every symptom,
every temperature shift,
every lab result,
every pregnancy announcement.
It can become all-consuming.

And over time many people stop feeling connected to their bodies entirely.

Chinese medicine has always approached fertility as more than a reproductive issue alone.

Because fertility is connected to the whole ecosystem:

sleep,
circulation,
stress physiology,
inflammation, recovery,
hormones, emotional wellbeing,
and how safe the body feels overall.

And no — the last thing you need is to think you’re “doing it wrong”. FULL STOP.

One of the things I care deeply about in fertility treatment is helping people feel supported as whole human beings during the process — not just as a protocol. Not another one size fits all system you have to adhere to.

You deserve care that helps hold both the physiology AND the humanity of what you’re experiencing.

If you’re navigating infertility and looking for thoughtful whole-body support, I’d be honored to work with you.

To make an appointment, call (530)345-5300 or book online www.chicocommunityacupuncture.com

In 16 years of practice as a licensed acupuncturist I estimate I’ve given over 48,000 treatments. That’s f-ing wild. I don’t think I’ve ever penciled that out before.

Compared to treatment one, I can say I am more confident and better at needling! To say the least. That amount of clinical experience really gives me such an amazing view of humanity and how I can help one person at a time, one needle at a time. And also wild, just the information I gain about the individual who I am treating WHEN I am actually placing the needle….it’s almost a diagnostic in and of itself as much as it is the treatment. Like, what am I feeling in their tissues, what does their energy do with this, how does they viscerally respond, emotionally respond. It’s all such a powerful feedback for how I can help them even more. And it’s their words, what each person shares with me that has taught me and brought me this far. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your sharing.

I am so honored to get to bring that experience to each person who comes in the door. It actually blows my mind, just, that I can help people, really help them feel better, with pretty much whatever is going on. I feel so fortunate.

(PIC: flashback to acupuncture school, 2007, making valentines day cookies for our classmates)

Acid Reflux

Your acid reflux might have more to do with your nervous system than your tomato sauce.

A lot of people notice reflux gets dramatically worse during:

stress,
burnout,
overeating late at night,
travel,
anxiety,
poor sleep,
periods of emotional overload.

That’s not random.
Because digestion works best in parasympathetic state: rest and digest.

Which is hard to access when your body is running on cortisol, caffeine, adrenaline, multitasking, and shallow breathing.

A lot of reflux patients end up trapped in this loop:
stress → reflux → poor sleep → more inflammation → more stress → worse digestion.
And eventually people become afraid of food itself.

Chinese medicine looks at reflux as part of a larger functional pattern — not just isolated stomach acid.

We’re looking at:
stress physiology,
sleep,
eating patterns,
circulation,
inflammation,
digestive regulation,
and how safe the body actually feels while digesting.

Because symptoms usually make more sense when you zoom out.

If your reflux keeps returning no matter how “careful” you are, your body may be asking for a more whole-picture approach.

To make an appointment, call (530)345-5300 or book online www.chicocommunityacupuncture.com

Happy Father's Day to all the amazing dads out there. You work so hard taking care of all the things. I love it when I have a whole lot of you resting in chairs here. It's powerful when these men, these dada's come and take care of themselves so they can show up in wellness for their family, for their job, for themselves. Well done.

One of my favorite patient stories comes from the very start of my acupuncture career. A woman came in, older, who had such bad arthritis all over her body. Back pain was certainly a bog piece of what she needed help with. I treated her. One year later she came back in and I was like, “oh, I haven’t seen you in a year, how are you doing today? How was that treatment?”

And she says “I was pain free for a year, I could touch my toes when I left your clinic, so I just didn’t need to come back, but I could use some help again today”

I’m paraphrasing of course. But, it was a miracle! To be honest, this is not a typical response to treatment. Most people get the most benefit from 12 treatments. But we do help them! Their pain goes away, they have better energy, better functionality, their mood swings aren’t wreaking havoc in their life! It feels miraculous…it just still needs more than one treatment! But I’m always open to the one treatment miracle. And, sometimes one treatment is all we’ve got! So, I give it my all, every time. And Acupuncture works.

Mama’s who need a rest are my favorite people to treat.

I just want to be this little moment where someone is taking care of YOU. You rest, let me make you comfy, stick some needles in, and give you a deep, nourishing reset. Neck pain? I got you. Sprained your ankle? Lets take care of that. Totally anxious and burnt out on everything? Please cry and let me get teary with you, because I get it, and I can help.

Please pass this on to a mama who needs it. If it’s you, call us, or make an appointment online, I promise we’ve got good systems to get you in and get you out feeling recharged, no big deal, easy peasy.

(530) 345-5300, www.chicocommunityacupuncture.com

It’s all connected

You are an entire unique ecosystem.

One of the things I love most about Chinese medicine is that we don’t separate people into tiny disconnected parts.

Your digestion affects your mood.
Your sleep affects your pain.
Your stress affects your hormones.
Your inflammation affects your anxiety.
Your relationships affect your nervous system. Your emotional life affects your physiology.
Everything talks to everything.

Which means treatment is rarely just about chasing the loudest symptom.

We’re asking:
Why is this happening?
Why now?
What pattern is underneath this?
What is the body adapting to?
What systems are overloaded?
What has stopped recovering well?

A lot of patients feel emotional in acupuncture because someone is finally looking at the whole picture instead of reducing them to a diagnosis code.

This medicine works at the physical, emotional, nervous system, and relationship level simultaneously.

Not because symptoms are “all in your head.”
Because human beings are ecosystems.

That’s the lens we bring into treatment every single day.

If you’re tired of feeling like your symptoms are being treated separately while your body keeps struggling as a whole, this is exactly the kind of care we offer.

To make an appointment, call (530)345-5300 or book online www.chicocommunityacupuncture.com

Fire season

In Chinese medicine, summer is associated with the Fire element — connected to the Heart and Small Intestine systems. A different kind of fire season.

When Fire becomes excessive or dysregulated, you can feel emotionally and physically overheated.

Too “on.”
Too open.
Too activated.
Too stimulated to fully rest.

Summer energy is meant to feel expansive and joyful.
But many modern nervous systems tip from enlivened into overloaded really quickly.

One of the things Chinese medicine does beautifully is help regulate the body seasonally before symptoms spiral into full burnout.

Because symptoms are often early signals. Not random inconveniences.

This time of year, I’m especially paying attention to:
sleep quality,
hydration,
quiet,
recovery, downtime,
circulation,
joy,
play,
and how much stimulation my system is actually absorbing.

And in the clinic, we often focus on helping patients feel:

more settled,
more rested,
more emotionally steady,
and more resilient to heat and stress.

If summer tends to leave you feeling frazzled instead of restored, your body may be asking for more support than you realize. Link in bio to keep the fire fun not intense or burnout-y.

To make an appointment, call (530)345-5300 or book online www.chicocommunityacupuncture.com

Happy Juneteenth! We're open today.

For your first visit you will fill out your initial patient paperwork online, or come about 15 min. early to your appointment to fill it out here.

You’ll let us know what your primary concern is, and information about your health history and any other goals you have for treatment. Acupuncture is a wholistic medicine, so, we very well may be able to address your insomnia while we work on your back pain (as an example).

When you’re done with your paperwork, you can pay ($45-80 sliding scale and an initial $20 new patient fee), use the bathroom, and get ready to be comfy with your treatment.

Welcome back to the main treatment room! Choose any chair you like, grab a blanket or pillows to cover yourself up or to be supported and comfortable while you rest.

Your acupuncturist will come over to you and review your primary concern and your health history. Once we’re chatted, and answered any questions you may have we’ll get your needles in.

It shouldn’t hurt! Something powerful about getting treated in a community clinic is that if you are feeling nervous, you can look around and see other folks resting deeply. Acupuncture puts you into your rest and digest system, so most people find it very relaxing and may even fall asleep. But don’t worry if you’re sitting there NOT asleep, or restless, the treatment still works.

We recommend that you rest for about 20 min, some people zonk out for up to an hour. Whenever you come out of your deep relaxation, make eye contact with your acupuncturist and we’ll come and get you up.

Most people benefit from coming once per week for 12 weeks…that’s the time it takes to get symptom relief and deeper patterns to shift so that you get better and stay better. That’s the goal!

Sarah can get you scheduled for your follow up visits, or you can do it online.

Most people see some benefit with their first treatment. Sometimes it’s immediate, and sometimes over the next few days you’ll notice, “oh hey, my neck pain really isn’t so bad today.” Or you come in the next week and tell me that you slept SO WELL that night, and the back is hurting a little less. Things like that. You are the judge, and you’re feedback and insights helps me to choose the best points for you THAT day, and go from there, building on the previous treatment and working towards your health goal.

If that all sounds good and you’re ready to get started, please schedule online or call us today! We have appointments available this week and would love to get you started towards feeling your very best.

(530) 345-5300
www.chicocommunityacupuncture.com