Please read the following before coming to your first appointment.
Responsibility
Our Community Acupuncture Clinics do not provide primary care medicine.
Acupuncture is a wonderful complement to Western medicine, but it is not always a substitute for it. If you think you have
a problem that is not “garden variety” (meaning, you are worried that you might have a serious infection, a malignant
growth, or an injury that won’t heal), you need to see your family doctor. There are many conditions that require
a physician’s attention for which we can provide effective complementary care– for instance, we often treat patients
for the side effects of chemotherapy. But we need you to take responsibility for your own health, and see your doctor if you
have any serious concerns. We do not receive grants, provincial or federal money, or insurance reimbursement. Georgian Bay
Community Acupuncture Clinic and Limestone Community Acuuncture exist because patients pay for their treatments – it
is a sustainable community business model.
Community-Mindedness
The soothing atmosphere in our clinic exists because all of our patients create it by relaxing together. We appreciate
everyone’s presence! This kind of collective stillness is a rare and precious thing in our rushed and busy society.
Maintaining this reservoir of calm requires that no one talk very much in the clinic space. We have time set aside for
a consultation in a private room at the beginning of each treatment. We use this time to touch base, to discuss the
progress you’ve made, and to answer any questions you may have. Once we move into the clinic space, we encourage
talking in lowered voices and as little as possible, to allow for a peaceful and quiet environment for everyone.
Our Commitment To You
Acupuncture is a PROCESS. It is very rare for any acupuncturist
to be able to resolve a problem with one treatment. In China, a typical treatment protocol for a chronic condition could be
acupuncture every other day for three months! Most of our patients don’t need that much acupuncture, but virtually every
patient requires a course of treatment, rather than a single treatment, in order to get what they want from acupuncture.
One big reason that we are able to keep our prices so low is because of the extraordinary amount of marketing our
patients do on our behalf . We cannot express how grateful we are for this. Our patients are such effective marketers because
they have first-hand experience of how well acupuncture works. All of our satisfied patients
basically made a commitment to a course of treatment.
On your first visit, your acupuncturist will suggest
a course of treatment, which can be anything from “we’d like to see you once a week for six weeks” to “we’d
really like to see you every day for the next four days.” This suggestion is based on our experience with treating different
kinds of conditions. If you don’t come in often enough or long enough, acupuncture may
not work for you. The purpose of our sliding scale is to help you make that commitment. If you have questions about
how long it will take to see results, please ask us, or if you think you need to adjust your treatment plan, please let us
know.
We are committed to giving you the best and most appropriate care we can give, and
we need you to commit to the process of treatment in order to get good results.
Please enjoy the space. We do,
and we hope that this Community Acupuncture Clinic can be an important part of your healing and your community.
