Okemos - Megan Long rested flat on her back as a series of small needles were placed into her feet, hands, head and ears.
Acupuncture is a traditional Oriental medicine that dates back 4,000 years. The treatment focuses on movement of energy through the body to alleviate pain and stress.
“Every now and again you feel one,” the Okemos resident said.
A standard session of acupuncture starts with the analysis of the pulse and tongue color. Then the “four gates” of the body - the head, feet, hands and ears - are opened by placing the thin needles into the skin. After this the client relaxes for about 20-25 minutes.
Depending on the severity of the problem, acupuncture treatment lasts for different lengths of time.
“They usually kind of just drift and fall asleep,” Renee Hubbs, a California board-certified acupuncturist for Integrated Health, 4111 Okemos Road in Okemos.
Since middle school, Long said she has been fascinated by the practice of acupuncture.
“I started to notice correlation between how I was feeling and my health,” she said.
After reading articles on the subject and consulting her doctor for side effects such as headaches, Long said acupuncture answered questions she had that the doctor could not.
Long, a board-certified acupuncturist for Meridian Health & Wellness Center, 2501 Jolly Road in Okemos, receives the treatment as a preventative measure for illness during the change of seasons and for relieving everyday stress.
“When you get really stressed, it’s really nice to go see your acupuncturist,” she said.
Long also seeks acupuncture treatments to help heal pain she has from a hernia disk a year and a half ago.
As an acupuncturist, Long said she deals with many people seeking treatment for different cases, such as those recovering lost functions due to stroke.
Hubbs said acupuncture can be used to treat a variety of illnesses.
“When people are in pain, they are looking to get rid of the pain,” she said.
But acupuncture is often a last-ditch method of treatment, Hubbs said.
A problem arising with acupuncture is the out-of-pocket costs many clients face because most insurance companies do not cover the treatment, she said.
But acupuncturists are collaborating together in an effort to promote legislation that will change how insurance companies cover acupuncture medicine.
Despite the cost, clients still readily participate in the treatment.
Long says she would like to have the treatment done once a week, but because of her busy schedule she usually fits it in every couple of weeks.
“You get very relaxed,” she said.
