FAQ

I am no longer in network with any insurance providers. I am pleased to offer services on a sliding scale.

At your first appointment, you and Dr. Vasco will discuss in detail your chief complaint, medical history and goals for treatment. She will examine your tongue and pulse and devise a treatment strategy involving acupuncture, bodywork and/or herbal medicine. Please wear loose-fitting clothing and plan to bundle up after receiving bodywork, especially in the cold and rainy months.

Yes.

Based on the nature and severity of your complaints, I will make recommendations on the frequency and duration of treatment. On average, clients are seen weekly for 1-3 months (4-12 treatments). Once their condition stabilizes, some clients choose to incorporate Chinese medicine into their preventative healthcare routine, coming for treatment monthly or seasonally as needed.

Acupuncture does not hurt. Firstly, acupuncture pins are very different from the hypodermic needles most of us are used to. They are solid, as opposed to hollow, and very thin, about the width of a cat’s whisker. Secondly, there’s a lot of variation when it comes to how acupuncture is practiced. I use gentle manipulation techniques with only a few pins. Sensations one may experience during acupuncture include warmth, tingling, heaviness or a brief muscle twitch.

With people that are particularly sensitive like children or elders (or if you’re just not that into needles), I might instead stimulate a point with light pressure, vibration from a tuning fork, or the transdermal application of herbal medicine or ear seeds.

You might have heard the term Traditional Chinese medicine or TCM. TCM is the systematization of acupuncture and related therapies by the Chinese government following the cultural revolution of 1949. TCM established a framework, making it possible for acupuncture to be practiced in hospitals, for textbooks to be translated into different languages, and for the establishment of schools and licensing boards abroad. In Classical Chinese medicine, the focus is on the original pre-revolution source texts which discuss the esoteric or spiritual roots of the medicine.

Microbleeding is the release of small amounts of blood from the capillaries in the skin. Microbleeding is usually performed at specific locations along the long muscle groups of the back. A lancet or plum blossom needle is used followed by the application of a single-use cup to draw out deoxygenated blood, urea, heavy metals, and other metabolic waste products that congest the tissue and cause pain and fatigue. While microbleeding is common practice in China, Japan and the Middle East, many clinicians here in the United States shy away from the therapy due to lack of training. Dr. Vasco views microbleeding as an important tool in the acupuncturist’s toolkit, so much so that she chose it as the topic of her research capstone. (See About)

Microbleeding does not hurt. The single-use, spring-loaded lancets I use are safe and painless. Most people find that microbleeding has a calming effect on the nervous system.

Yes. Sterile, single-use, medical-grade devices are used and PPE is worn at all times.

While I do assist with issues related to uterine health (irregular cycles, dysmenorrhea, PMS) and pregnancy (nausea, acid reflux, carpel tunnel), my training is not focused on supporting fertility clients. If you are struggling with fertility, I would be happy to refer you to a specialist.

No.

Yes!

Acupuncture and its related therapies are grouped into what is collectively known as complementary or alternative medicine. Complementary and alternative to what? To the prevailing medical model. Many people find their way to my office because that model has failed them in one way or another. I personally believe in a multimodal, integrative approach. We need the best therapies; some are the product of cutting edge medical research and others evolved from millennia of empirical data. It’s all medicine.