FAQ

What forms of insurance do you accept?

We accept the following types of insurance:

• Blueshield Bluecross
• United Healthcare
• Lifewise
• Pacific Source
• Regence
• Cigna
• Aetna Life Insurance company (PPO, Network access plan)
• American Specialty Health Group, Inc. National Accounts (Choosehealthy Affinity Program)
• American Specialty Health Group, Inc. National Accounts (benefit plan) *Teamsters Miscellaneous Security Trust Fund
• American Specialty Health Group, Inc. Seamless Accounts (benefit plan)
• Anthem Blue Cross (PPO & Medicare Advantage HMO %PPO, network access plan)
• Health Net Health Plan of Oregon, Inc. (Commercial HMO, POS & PPO, Medicare Advantage Benefit Plan)
• Providence Health Plan (EPO, Benefit Plan)
• Providence Health Plan (EPO, Network Access Benefit Plan)
• Providence Health Plan (Medicaid, Network Access Benefit Plan)
• Providence Health Plan (Preferred PPO, Network Access Benefit Plan)
• Providence Health Plan (Traditional option, Network Access Benefit Plan)
• Providence Health Plan — PEBB (Choice (EPO) & Statewide (EPO)), Network Access Benefit Plan)

What is acupuncture?

Acupuncture is an ancient Chinese medicine treatment that has been practiced for at least 3000 years. It is a unique therapy by inserting needles into certain spots of the body (acupuncture points to regulate folow of the energy of the human body to treat diseases. Acupuncture has been proved very effective for many pain conditions, digestive disorders, mental disorders, and infertility.

How can you benefit from Acupuncture treatment?

The human body is composed of qi, acupuncture helps qi in the meridians move normally. Health lies in smooth flow of qi in the buman body. Therefore, acupuncture does not only treat diseases, it is also an important preventative measure to maintain your health.

Does acupuncture hurt?

We use fine needles to do acupuncture. In most cases, the needles withh quickly penetrate the skin and you will not feel so much. It may hurt a little bit when it touches blood vessel or nerve, then you may have a mosquito bite sensation, but it is very tolerable. Acupuncture works by regulating flow of qi. The way to know the qi is responding to the treayment is to stimulate the points with some special manipulations of the needles. When you feel some kinds of heaviness, soreness, numbness or just a strong sensation, we call it “sensation of gaining qi”. This will be much more effective than just inserting needles without any sensation produced.

How should I prepare for acupuncture treatment?

There are four things I would like you to do before you come to my clinic:

How often should I get acupuncture treatment?

Acupuncture does not work wonder all the time. It depends on your conditions and your response for us to decide how many treatments you need. Typically, we can start with the treatment twice a week for 3 weeks. When the conditions are greatly relieved, we can reduce the treatment to once a week until you feel recovered. In some special cases, you should come three times a week for two or three weeks first to have the best therapeutic results. Then depending on the change of your conditions, we may do acupuncture once a week or twice a week. When you feel totally fine, we still suggest that you come once every month for maintenance, to prevent conditions (such as lower back pain) from recurring.

What can I expect after acupuncture treatment?

Some conditions such as sinus congestion, some headaches,or pain conditions, can be quickly relieved, so you can tell the difference immediately after your first treatment. But in most cases, you may not feel so much improvement since acupuncture brings an accumulative effect, you probably notice the difference after several treatments. Some conditions may require long-term treatment to the result.

What conditions can acupuncture treat?

Acupuncture is widely used to treat the following conditions: