Ithaca & Acupuncture

Acupuncture in Ithaca
by Rachel Stokes

Sterilized stainless steel needles repeatedly puncture skin at the hands of an experienced practitioner. Those under the needle tend to be nervous, excited or a mixture of both emotions, their brows furrowing or eyes wide, taking everything in. This isn’t body modification, piercing or tattooing; this is medicine.

Acupuncture, which has been practiced in Chinese culture for more than 5,000 years, is used to treat various complaints. Acupuncturists can address pain, fatigue, stress and illness with their treatments. In fact, there are few issues that cannot be aided by this alternative treatment.

Even cases of bipolar disorder can be relieved by a single acupuncture treatment. Anthony Fazio, of Peaceful Spirit Acupuncture, successfully calmed one patient’s disorder for an extended amount of time.

“He had never had acupuncture before, and I treated him and then I didn’t see him for a while,” says Fazio. According to Fazio, the patient reported feeling markedly worse for two hours after treatment, but his mood improved by the end of the day.

“I said ‘How long did that better feeling last, did it last a few days, a week?’ and he said ‘It lasted until a few days ago,’ and it had been almost a month since I had seen him” says Fazio. “To get an improvement after one treatment that lasted over three weeks is very impressive.”

Despite impressive results, acupuncture is not the solution to every problem. There are certain issues that Fazio says he would not attempt to treat. Along with patients presenting serious signs of cardiac arrest or stroke, Fazio says he would not treat those who refuse traditional medical treatment for serious issues.

“If someone were refusing to even entertain the idea of Western treatment and they came in and said they had cancer I would absolutely say ‘No, I can’t do anything, you have to see an MD also,’” Fazio says.

Fazio says that he knows the limits of acupuncture, and will suggest that patients go to an emergency room for more serious complaints. For example, he says that on two occasions he has had patients come to him with extremely tender abdomens. According to Fazio, he refused to treat this pain because he recognized the signs of appendicitis.

“I know the limitations of what I can do,” Fazio says. “But I also know the advantages.” Unlike traditional medicine, acupuncture works by trying to bring balance to a person’s system, and can also treat many symptoms at once.

“While the practitioner will focus on a chief complaint, the diagnosis takes into account a variety of accompanying symptoms, and the treatment aims to address the entire system,” says Sadie Hays, clinic coordinator at the Ithaca Free Clinic.

This offers each patient with a unique course of treatment, individualized care and a practitioner who will work closely with him or her to solve any additional issues that may arise.

“In Chinese medicine,” says Fazio, “you don’t regard the disease as a problem, you’re looking at the person and how the disease is presenting through that person. You have to tailor your approach every single time you meet somebody.”

This is very appealing to patients, as they are able to create a connection with their acupuncturist and receive individualized care. Fazio says that he sits with patients before treatment, listening to their concerns in order to better understand the situation. Leigh Cunius, an Ithaca College student, says that when she first went in to try acupuncture, her acupuncturist spent quality time with her before the treatment actually started. “She talked to me for about an hour asking all different questions that she thought could help me diagnose the pattern.”

Acupuncturists work to balance their patients’ “qi.” Qi is, according to Peaceful Spirit Acupuncture’s web site, a “vital energy” that courses through the body. Acupuncture manipulates these energy patterns to help relieve the patients’ symptoms.

Side effects from treatment are extremely rare, according to Fazio. He says that patients may feel slightly light-headed or experience a tingling sensation, but these feelings dissipate very rapidly.

“On rare occasions I may hit a small capillary and cause a bruise,” says Fazio. These bruises tend to fade quickly, just as a bruise caused from any other event would. According to Fazio, another rare outcome is a “healing crisis.” This occurs when symptoms briefly become worse before tapering off.

“It’s kind of cliché but it really happens. In rare occasions it’ll get worse before it gets better” says Fazio.

These side effects and risks do not seem to hinder patients from seeking treatment. “In 2009, The Ithaca Free Clinic provided 180 acupuncture visits to 96 individual patients,” says Hays. “In the first quarter of 2010, IFC has provided 55 acupuncture visits to 31 individual patients.” According to Fazio, Peaceful Spirit sees about 20-25 patients a week. He also says that interest in acupuncture can be sparked by medical referrals, word of mouth or Internet research.

Leigh Cunius, says she had some skepticism before trying acupuncture, but kept an open mind about the experience. “I was surprised that the needles did not hurt and by how shallow the needles entered the skin,” Cunius said. She first became interested in the treatment when an acupuncturist visited her Cultural Wellness class at Ithaca College.

Since those living in the Ithaca area are typically open to alternative ideas, acupuncture treatments are very popular with the population. The Ithaca Free Clinic offers acupuncture services, and according to Sadie Hays, there are approximately 30 other acupuncturists practicing in the area, including Fazio at Peaceful Spirit.

“I think it’s great to have more [acupuncturists] in the area,” Fazio says. “I think it informs the population, and more people are apt to come in because of that.”

“Ithacans, if one were to grossly generalize the population, tend to be health-conscious, open-minded when it comes to medical options, and liberal when it comes to politics,” Hays says. Open-minded individuals are more likely to seek alternative treatment when a problem arises. Also, according to Fazio, it is common for a health-conscious individual to use acupuncture treatments in order to maintain his health.

According to both Fazio and Hays, acupuncturists set up practices in the Ithaca area not only because of a large number of available patients, but due to the close proximity to local acupuncture schools. Finger Lakes School of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine is a program of the New York Chiropractic College, located in Seneca Falls. Hays says that this school “funnels graduates into our area.”

“They pull in a lot of students from Ithaca, Syracuse, Buffalo and Rochester,” Fazio says. “They’re saturating the area, which is fine, some people can wait it out until they develop a good enough practice to stay above water, but a lot of people start and leave because it is so congested.”

This congestion seems to be beneficial to Ithacans, however, as they have many options to fulfill their treatment needs. As with any other medicine, acupuncture is constantly changing in order to aid new complaints and keep up with patients’ needs, according to Fazio.

“It’s the medicine of the future,” Fazio says.
“I think everyone should try it at least once in their lifetime. It put me in the best mood I have been in for a long time,” says Cunius.