Acupuncture in Philadelphia
Acupuncture is an evidence-based FDA approved treatment used to treat pain and other ailments. Acupuncture involves inserting very thin sterile needles into specific areas of the body such as nerves, muscles, fascia, skin, and bone. The needles are used to trigger a controlled minute injury that stimulates nerve activity, blood flow, muscle firing, and the release of healing biochemicals like endorphins, cytokines, stem cells, hormones and neurotransmitters.
Starting at $900 for 12 treatments
What You Can Treat With Medical Acupuncture
We will often use acupuncture as a first line therapy to treat any type of pain such as:
- Arthritis
- Any type of joint pain - shoulder pain, knee pain, hip pain, elbow pain, foot and ankle pain
- Spine - SI Joint Pain, Low Back Pain, Thoracic Pain, Neck Pain
- Facial Pain, Dental Pain, TMJ
- Headache and Migraine
- Sinus Pain
- GI Discomfort including nausea, bloating, and constipation
We also use it for relief of other types of symptoms related to:
- Anxiety
- Depression
- High blood pressure
- PTSD
- Concussion
Benefits
One of the greatest benefits of regular medical acupuncture is a reduction of stress and anxiety. It lowers stress hormones, boosts endorphins and helps to moderate anxiety. Another notable benefit is a reduction of joint and muscle pain where the treatment is received. Additionally, our acupuncture services can help improve blood flow and treat painful headaches.
How To Get Started
Schedule a consultation with us and we will be happy to answer any questions you may have and get you started.
What to Expect Before Your Appointment
It is designed to be relaxing and enjoyable. Your first appointment will involve an initial evaluation as well as your first treatment. It should take about 45 – 60 minutes and the treatment itself involves needle insertion, manipulation and removal.
After treatments, patients report feeling rejuvenated and energized. Generally, your practitioner will recommend 10 sessions, but may suggest more depending on your condition and how receptive you are to therapy.
What acupuncture means to Dr. Matta
“I thought I’d do some writing about acupuncture, and more specifically what acupuncture means to me.
I think my initial real understanding of acupuncture was through my discussions with a friend of mine who’s father learned it in Korea and actually used acupuncture in Africa as a missionary there for many years. I learned first hand all the benefits of acupuncture and how effective it was at treating so many things, most importantly to me, musculoskeletal conditions. At the time, I was suffering from some pretty rough plantar fasciitis which failed 2 cortisone injections and was getting worse, not better. I decided to go for it and made an appointment at a local community acupuncture clinic. I had the absolute great fortune of getting treated by Megan Rogers, who is a fantastic acupuncturist and overall great practitioner. I remember telling her about my heel pain and telling her to do whatever she needed to do to get this pain to go away. The next thing I can remember is just laying down in this chair and just feeling this…well it’s hard to describe if you’ve never felt it, but it kinda felt like a wave that moved from my head into my leg while at the same time feeling like the pain was slowly dissipating from my heel. Although I wasn’t totally cured after that first treatment, I knew that this was gonna get rid of my heel pain. And it did. It took about 6 sessions altogether, but after we completed those 6 sessions, I was finally able to start running again and my heel pain was gone.
That experience of using acupuncture to resolve a pain I had dealt with for years totally opened up my mind in my approach as a doctor. I had gone through all the regular treatment methods we recommend in orthopedics including physical therapy, injections, and anti-inflammatories, and all failed. On the other hand, after just 3 sessions, I had more relief then I had got from any previous therapy from conventional medicine.
After me, my wife started getting acupuncture for some of what she was dealing with. After she also got better, we started talking about her perhaps pursuing a second career as an acupuncturist. Before we had children, she was a very accomplished project manager with a Masters in Statistics from the University of Pennsylvania and several publications in journals including the American Heart Journal, American Journal of Cardiology, Journal of Interventional Cardiology, etc, etc, etc. She chose to stay at home to raise our 2 children, and now that they were in school, she decided it was time to go back to work. Acupuncture became a perfect fit for her. She applied, enrolled, busted her butt for 3 years, and was valedictorian of her class.
While she was in school, she regularly encouraged me to pursue my own training and eventually I received my own certification in Neurofunctional Acupuncture from McMaster University.
Why Acupuncture?
In case you don’t know, it has been around for centuries as it was previously the medicine of ancient China. It is a proven medicine and science and allows us to evaluate and treat the body by tapping into the bodies own healing mechanisms by restoring the body to a balanced state. I’m convinced that the root of Osteopathic Medicine must have come from China because so many of our principles are the same. Know that I’ve been practicing Acupuncture myself, I am absolutely amazed by it and do not believe there is a more effective solution to healing the body than Acupuncture.
Why?
When I first heard about acupuncture, I thought that it would be a great solution to my heel pain because I felt like I needed someone to stick a needle in my degenerative tendon to break up the scar tissue and allow the thing to heel. At the time I really had no idea how complex acupuncture really is. My wife’s 3 years of rigorous academics studying academics gave me an additional level of appreciation as well. I also gained an understanding of how the body is evaluated and treated from the perspective of an acupuncturist, with the core principle of balancing the systems of the body. I think restoring balance to the body is probably the best way to understand why acupuncture works. If all the systems of the body are functioning in complete balance and harmony, then likely, all will be well. Unfortunately, that’s not the way life really turns out and things get out of whack quite easily it seems. As an osteopathic doctor, I use my hands to try to correct asymmetries in the spine and tissue of the body which can help to allow to body to restore some balance. I believe acupuncture goes much deeper and engages the bodies healing mechanisms even better than I had been able to with my hands alone. And it’s not just the needles. Therapies such as cupping and gua-sha (pronounced Gwa-Shah) are very powerful tools to change tissue, decrease inflammation, and even decrease stress.
I do really feel quite thankful that my wife and I both now practice this very effective medicine. She approaches her treatments so elegantly and brilliantly and you can see her creative and artistic mind at play whether treating an anxious teenanger, or a mother who has been struggling with headaches for several years.
For me, I like to using acupuncture to access the body’s nervous system to reactivate pathways that have been been asleep for awhile. At the end of the day you could say that the two of us “balance” one another. At least I think so.”
FAQs About Acupuncture
Yes, it works. We would not use it if it didn’t! The treatment effect is exponential and cumulative as you continue with Acupuncture. You will see improvement in your pain levels, range of motion, and athletic performance, as well as sleep, mood, nerve response and digestion. It is the most cost-effective drug-free natural modality for any kind of pain or dysfunction.
The pain you are currently in is exponentially more agonizing than the hair-thin dry needles we use. The needles we use are very fine, about the width of a single strand of hair. In fact, you can fit 14-20 acupuncture needles inside the shaft of your typical hypodermic needle!
You should feel a tingling or spreading sensation or sense of heaviness when the needle goes into deep tissues. But you should never feel stinging, burning, or pain.
Yes, we will often use a combination of therapies in your session including cupping therapy, gua sha, essential oils, and osteopathic manipulation in your session.
In addition, our physicians often use electro-acupuncture to harness the power of electricity to modulate organ functioning, inhibit muscles, calm nerves, and improve signaling in your body.
We will often combine acupuncture with electrical stimulation to connect spinal segments with the nerve pathways they innervate. This is most effective in orthopedic conditions.
After inserting needles, your physician performs electro-acupuncture by sending mild, frequency-specific currents through the needles.These electro-currents (which will feel like a gentle pulse or buzzing) boost healing changes in your nerves, muscles, blood, lymphatics and fascia. The current also influences your central nervous system, improving connectivity in your brain and triggering the release of neurotransmitters, hormones, and stem cells into your bloodstream.
Acupuncture FAST FACTS
- TREATMENT TIME
30-60 minutes
- FREQUENCY
weekly for 10 sessions
- NUMBER OF NEEDLES USED
A beginner treatment typically involves 10 needles placed on the abdomen, forearm, and knee area. More seasoned acupuncture patients or severe conditions can have approximately 20-30 placed just about anywhere on the body
- RECOVERY
No down time
Our Orthopedic Services
Common Conditions We Treat
Reserve Your Appointment Today
For more information on acupuncture in Philadelphia, or to reserve an appointment, contact Meeting Point Health today!