Downtown Calgary
Acupuncture

If you are looking for a drug-free and natural way to promote healing, acupuncture might be right for you. CoLAB Health and Body is pleased to offer the benefits and principles of Traditional and Contemporary medical acupuncture, so you can achieve better overall health and wellness.

Traditional Acupuncture

Acupuncture is a traditional Chinese technique of encouraging the body to improve functioning and promote natural healing, by inserting very tiny sterile needles into very precise acupuncture points throughout the body. It may also involve enhancing the treatment by following up with the application of heat or electrical stimulation at those precise acupuncture points. The traditional Chinese explanation of acupuncture is that particular channels of energy run in regular patterns throughout the body and over its entire surface. These energy channels, called meridians, are similar to rivers flowing through the body. Our overall health and well-being depend on the smooth and balanced flow of energy throughout these meridians. An obstruction in the movement of these energy rivers is like a dam that blocks things up. Blockage, imbalances or deficiencies in blood, energy or nervous impulses may eventually lead to a decline in overall well-being or a variety of illnesses. By inserting acupuncture needles into very specific areas along the meridians, the belief is that acupuncture can rebalance your energy flow.

Contemporary Medical Acupuncture

While traditional Chinese acupuncture is based on the idea that it can restore the proper flow of Qi, the body’s energy flow, contemporary medical acupuncture instead uses physiology and anatomy, and is based largely on relieving muscle tension and pain. While it looks similar to traditional acupuncture, it modifies it slightly using modern scientific applications. Traditional acupuncture inserts needles along the meridians of the body to promote proper flow. Contemporary medical acupuncture is a technique in which fine solid needles are inserted into anatomically defined neuro- reactive sites and stimulated with electricity or manually in order to modulate pain and other dysfunctions.

While acupuncture is often used to treat pain, it can be used for broader applications as well. It can help treat anxiety, depression, insomnia, PTSD, chronic pain, migraine, muscle and joint pain, digestive disorders, sciatic pain, cold and flu symptoms, fertility issues, respiratory disease, weight loss, back or neck pain, neurological and muscle disorders including facial tics, headaches, frozen shoulder, tennis elbow, knee pain associated with osteoarthritis and postoperative pain. Acupuncture can be effectively combined with other treatments, and can act as a support to other medical treatment forms for many surgical and medical disorders.