Frequently Asked Questions

The most Frequently used companies:

Alberta Blue Cross
Canada Life [Great West Life]
Desjardins Insurance
Equitable Life of Canada
Greenshield
GroupHEALTH
GroupSource
Manulife
Pacific Blue Cross
Sunlife
Telus Adjudicare
The Coooperators

And the far less common:

BPA Benefit Plan Distributors
Beneva Inc.
Canadian Construction Workers Union
Chamber of Commerce Group Insurance Plan
Cinup
ClaimSecure
Coughlin & Associates Ltd.
Cowan
D.A. Townley
First Canadian
GMS Carrier 49
GMS Carrier 50
Industrial Alliance
Johnson Inc.
Johnston Group Inc.
LiUNA Local 183
LiUNA Local 506
Manion
Maximum Benefit
People Corporation
Rwam Insurance Administrators
Simply Benefits
SSQ Insurance
The Public Service Health Care Plan
UV Insurance
Union Benefits

Every Insurance Company and every plan under that company is different. I cannot see what is covered until I bill at your appointment time.

Here are the common differences I see:

1 Some have a 1 time deductable for the first visit e.g. $50

2 Coverage can range from 0 to $1000 [or some special circumstances like RCMP or Nurses can get much more]. The lower tiered plan you have, the less coverage you have. The lowest I have seen is 0, or $100 [very rare], all the way up to $800 per year. MOST insurance companies cover at least $300-$500 a year.

3 Most companies cover a bit more for the Initial Assessment. There is a cap to how much they will cover per session . Often the cap for the Initial Assessment is $125, and the return visit is $100.

4 Some insurance companies cover a percentage. The most common % I see are 70% or 80% per visit.

5 Some companies give you a lump sum for all health care treatments for the year. For e.g. lower PBC or Desjardins plans will only cover $1000 for all health practitioners appointments, offering $1000 for Chiropractic, Councelling, Physio, Osteopath, Naturopath, Massage, and Acupuncture combined. These plans I consider far less ideal, but it’s great for people who only want 1 modality of care.

7. Some companies require you to pay up front and will direct deposit the amount they cover into your account. This is common with Equitable Life, Some Manulife Plans, And Canada Life PSHCP.

8. Some companies require a physicians referral before they will cover a treatment. So far I have only seen this with some Greenshield Plans.

All of these specific details YOU can view in your Insurance Benefits account. Your Insurance company will have a website [and sometimes an App] that you can log in to, or call their customer service line to find out.

Indeed, when performed by a qualified acupuncturist who has at least completed their 3 years of training and passed their licencing exams. If you have come across stories of organ injuries, these are almost exclusively performed by unqualified acupuncturists.

In the west we have a legal obligation to use only single use, sterile, disposable needles. Every practitioner you seek out should follow this standard of practice, and please ensure they do.

PHSYIOTHERAPIST & CHIROPRACTOR
Acupuncture Certificate of 100hr, including 35hr of in class training.
This training does NOT cover Chinese Medicine therapeutics and diagnosis so is best for pain management, and often cannot address underlying causes

NATUROPATH
Acupuncture Certificate of 250hr, including 50hr of supervised clinical training

LISENCED ACUPUNCTURIST - R. Ac
3 year, minimum 1900hr including 450-600hr supervised clinical training.
Regulated in AB, BC, ON, QB, and NL
To keep this title a practitioner must be licenced with their regulatory body, maintain 200 patients and 50hr continuing education every 2 years

PRACTITIONER OF TRADITIONAL CHINESE MEDICINE - R. TCMP.
4 year, minimum 2600hr including 600hr supervised clinical training
Regulated in BC and ON
To keep this title a practitioner must be licenced with their regulatory body, maintain 200 patients and 50hr continuing education every 2 years

DOCTOR OF CHINESE MEDICINE - Dr. TCM.
5 year, minimum 3250hr including 1050 supervised clinical training, 850 of which is supervised practice
Regulated only in BC
Alberta allows this title if a practitioner has completed their 5 year schooling and is licenced as an acupuncturist
In BC and ON, one must complete the licencing exam
This title does not exist in any other province

REGULATION IS IMPORTANT!
If the practitioner you are seeing is not regulated in their province (does not have their licence) they legally cannot practice with the title R. Ac, and they likely do not have the minimum training requirements listed above.
If you are receiving acupuncture, it is wise to see qualified practitioners that have the most training in their field as possible, so you can get the most out of the services your are paying for.

Acupuncture is the use of fine, sterile, single used needles on the body. It is one of many "chinese medicine" tools in our tool box.

Chinese Medicine is the cultural, philosophical, science based paradigm and operating system used to view, assess, and examine the body. It is a frame of reference. A lens. A perspective. With its own unique opinions and theories of how the body works and how all of the parts functionally relate to each other. It is how we understand the functional relationships of the organs and can explain phenomina like a point on the end of the pinky toe can turn a fetus from breach to anterior facing, a point on the shin can boost your white and red blood cell count, and how 5 points on the ear can reduce PTSD symptoms or help someone quit smoking.

CHINESE MEDICINE ACUPUNCTURE

Acupuncture uses Chinese medicine theory to determine point selection.

Acupuncture is used for internal [endocrine, gastrointestinal, renal, neurological, immune etc.], musculoskeletal, gynecological, dermatological conditions etc.

Acupuncture often uses 0.16-0.22-gauge needles, that's 1/5 the size of 1mm.

Acupuncture technique varies from gentle, to regulating, to invigorating, depending on the condition and constitution of a person.

DRY NEEDLING

Dry needling is used primarily for Musculoskeletal issues.

Dry needling uses trigger point and MSK theory to determine point location.

Dry needling often uses 0.30-0.38 gauge needles, that's 1/3 of a mm in diameter.

Dry needling uses strong and fast technique predominantly. It is good for excess stagnant conditions in strong vital persons like young athletes or robust people, but can be draining and leave some depleted and in more discomfort afterwards.

No more than a mosquito bite!

The skin is saturated with nerve endings. A swift effective needle technique or the use of a guid tubes ensures you won’t feel much.

Once the needle is in the tissue, you can feel a variety of sensations, like a fanning out, ache, pressure, poke, contraction, radiation, warmth, coolness, wave, or fullness. This is caused by the needle initiating a biochemical reaction locally which stimulates afferent nerve fibers that communicate with our central nervous system. The central nervous system then sends out a variety of signals that stimulate responses in your body, which are responsible for the change you feel.

Once the point is inserted and left alone, there should never be pain. Occasionally the increase of blood circulation to a blocked area, for e.g. knee pain, can create a throbbing, pulsing, or dull ache sensation locally. This is normal and will dissipate after a few minutes.

Most points will be done bellow the elbows and knees, or at the local areas of concern. I like to begin a session with points on the back, occasionally on the abdomen.

I strive to use fewer needles, between 6-12 per session. I select the points I think will have the greatest influence to help your body regulate.

It's natural science: Chinese science that’s over 2000yr old. This science is called natural because they studied the world around us, how it interacts and relates to our body, and drew many correlations from it.

It's observational science because it based on what they observed around them and how the same theories and ways of the world are reflected in our own physiology. There were no peetree dishes or microscopes or cadavers 2000 yr ago, so they had to pay careful attention to everything a patient was experiencing to effectively treat them. 2000yr ago they didn't have antibiotics or anaestheisa, so they had to learn to treat acute conditions very effectively. It's tried and true! Anytime any theory was developed, the lineage and era of physicians following, would put it to the test. If it didn't work, it got discarded. If it worked, the practice would be passed down to the next apprentice. This was done over and over through the centuries, adapting and changing to meet the current challenges of that era. CM has continued to adapt and evolve, and is continually mined, revisited, and added to by incredibly skilled practitioners.

There is so much mumbo jumbo out there on the website about how it works. Unfortunately, the lingo we learn in school won't make much sense without a thorough explanation too long for this webpage.

Websites often use the word Qi or Yin/Yang and this confuses, loses, or misleads people. If you really want to know more, I suggest you call the clinic or drop me a line. There are textbooks, articles, blogs and websites I can recommend so you don't get lost in what looks like mystical sounding verbiage.

If you want to use it for a condition or symptom, please seek the experience and skills of practitioners that understand Chinese medicine and let them help you.

The proof is in the billions [China’s population over 2000yr X # of treatments] of reports of clinical effectiveness.

There is tons of research on the efficacy of acupuncture out there too! A lot of it is in Chinese and in China, but here are 3 sources I like, that are easy to navigate.

https://www.acunow.org/amos-ziv.html
founded by a practitioner that specializes in cardiology, this website hosts some amazing documentaries and research articles

https://www.e-jar.org/
is the website for Journal of Acupuncture Research

https://www.journalofchinesemedicine.com/the-journal/research-archive.html
is the website for the Journal of Chinese Medicine

Just do search up some testimonials.

Personally, when I was 17, 3 sessions got rid of my hamstring pain that a chiropractor and massage couldn’t help. The inflammation has never returned.

Don't take my word for it. Try it yourself. It won't take long for you to decide if it’s for you. 3-4 sessions are generally enough to decide for yourself.

I didn't when I was 17.
A race horse doesn't when their injury heals.
A child doesn't when they can't comprehend what acupuncture is or how it works.

Acupoints are found in specific recesses, divots, and hollows of the body, between tendons, or bones, or muscle groups found to be especially active. They are areas that are found to have a more profound and specific physiological affects on organ systems, muscles, and skin compared to the adjacent areas.

1 doctor researched the electrical conductivity of the different meridians or what are called distinct areas of physiological integration and movement, where the acupoints lay. He found each was distinctly different.

Another doctor discovered that almost all the meridian channel pathways and acupoints lay exactly on nerve connections and pathways.

They somewhat mirror myofascial trains, and lymphatic circulation, and even the nervous system map.

Not 1 medical system can cure or treat everything.

We are all unique individuals and what works for 1 person will not work for another.

I hope to one day be able to effectively treat everything, but that's my optimism and even the masters who see 100 patients a day for 30 years struggle with 10% of complex cases.

In particular, treating acute organ dysfunction that requires surgery, cancer, and some autoimmune conditions are very difficult to treat.
MSK conditions, acute conditions, or newer internal complaints are easier to treat.

Let's be clear, to "treat" is to help, resolve or reverse a condition or symptom. All we do is give the body very specific cues to regulate and it will do the rest. The body knows how to stay healthy because that is what it was designed to do, it sometimes just gets bogged down, taxed, stressed, injured, or overwhelmed and starts to overreact or deteriorate. We help prevent this unravelling.

Please see What I Offer

It is the only muscle in the body we can see. It mirrors the condition of the other tissue in the body by telling me how the fluid metabolism, circulation, digestion, nutrient absorption, elimination, and inflammation is doing in your body.

In the west, it's common to come once a week until considerable relief is felt, and then every 2 weeks or once a month for a tune-up. For more acute cases like Bell's Palsy, digestive disorders, or insomnia twice a week is recommended.

In China, patients can go daily or every other day until there is relief. A course of treatments is 7-10x. This helps people make rapid consistent progress. This is often not financially feasible in the west, so herbs will often be prescribed.

Acute illness like a sports injury or ear infection, will take less time. A chronic symptom that's bothered you for 10 years can take up to 10 months to completely resolve. This is just a rule of thumb though, because sometimes it can take just 1-4 sessions. That's the goal I have! I want you to be self-sufficient and not rely on my help for long.

Please Get in Touch or Call me.