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Hi my name is Linda Novak I am a licensed acupuncture physician here in the state of Florida. I am also a nationally certified acupuncturist.

I would like to start out by informing you that there are many different types of acupuncture; there is scalp, anesthesia and ear acupuncture. There are also different styles of acupuncture such as Korean, Japanese and Chinese.

I practice Classical Chinese acupuncture. This form of medicine does not solely treat symptoms. Systems are a distress signal from the body, mind or spirit. When I speak of spirit I am referring to our vitality and zest for life. The aim of this form of acupuncture is not solely to treat symptoms but to increase both the quality of our life and our ability to function. This system of medicine has been around for over 5000 years. More than a quarter of the world population has been treated by this form of medicine and if it went were not valid it would have died out thousands of years ago.

Let's take a look at the various ways I evaluates a patient. The initial session lasts roughly two hours. During this session I take your complete history and also do a complete physical. During this initial visit and every subsequent visit I will take your pulses. There are 12 pulses in total, six on each wrist. Each pulse can have one of 28 qualities.

Let's talk a little bit about how acupuncture works. In this system it is stated that there are 10 organs and two functions. The 10 organs are the heart, small intestines, bladder, kidneys, gallbladder, liver, lungs, large intestines, stomach and spleen. The two functions are circulation/sex and the triple heater. If these 10 organs and two functions are working in balance then you will not be sick in body, mind or spirit. Every disease is based on one of these twelve officials not being in balance. If we have an imbalance in us it is influenced by the time day and by the season of the year. That is why at certain times of the year we may feel differently than at other times.

One way an acupuncturist diagnosis a patient is by breaking the body up into five elements; fire, earth, metal, water and wood. Within these elements we can see a relationship between the 10 organs and two functions of the body (the twelve officials). When an element is imbalanced outside it is likely to cause an imbalance inside. We can easily relate to this in wintertime, which is known as the flu season.

As an acupuncturist I always look at a patient as a whole person. I do not separate the person into parts. If three different people were to come in for treatment with symptoms of bronchitis they would all be treated differently. How each person became susceptible to bronchitis would differ and so must be treated differently. We are all individuals and must be looked at that way. Two individuals could have the same disease and it could cripple one person and yet the other person can still carry on and work. This has a lot to do with the person's state of mind and spirit. Most people can tolerate a fair amount of pain but when it comes to the mind one may see depression, worry, or anxiety and this can be worse then physical pain. If someone were to feel like they wanted to give up, then this is spiritual pain.

A lot of disease is caused by internal factors like; hatred, anger or fear. These can convert to aggressive energy in the body and can cause disease. So the main focus in this form of medicine is to diagnose the cause of the disease, then through treatment, acupuncture can stimulate your immune system and improve your constitutional health. This approach will help you feel better and be physically, mentally and spiritually stronger and healthier.

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