Juncture in Acupuncture

[dropcap class=”kp-dropcap”]A[/dropcap]cupuncture is a traditional Chinese medicine that supports total wellness. And for hopeful Denver families in particular, Acupuncture Denver offers services to support and aid the journey into parenthood.

“The business is focused on integrated care instead of separating what’s going on,” said Acupuncture Denver Founder and Clinic Director Jane Gregorie. “Chinese medicine is inherently integral.”

Gregorie studied acupuncture and traditional Chinese medicine before moving to Denver and opening her practice. She originally chose nursing as her vocation, but after working on a farm with an owner who was trained in acupuncture, she changed course.

“I would have never fit into the western paradigm,” said Gregorie, who performs acupuncture, acupressure and dispenses custom formulated Chinese herbal formulas through the clinic. The clinic often works alongside traditional western medicine to support patient wellness with acupuncture, dietary therapy, massage and herbal Chinese medicine to “create a place where people can come and be treated on all levels—body, mind and spirit.” First-time patients at Acupuncture Denver can expect their first appointment to be about 90 minutes to accommodate preliminary intake questions.

Gregorie, who has two adopted children, began specializing in fertility after meeting Dr. Randine Lewis, founder of The Fertile Soul program in early 2004 and interning for her. The acupuncture clinic focuses on integrative fertility and pregnancy wellness, serving patients both before and during pregnancy, fertility treatments, post-delivery recovery, post-partum depression, anxiety and lactation issues.

The clinic also accepts patients for more general concerns such as sleep issues, anxiety and other health conditions, serving clients from the inside out to promote wellness.

Gregorie considered the idea of selling cannabidiol (CBD) to complement non-maternal clients but wishes there was better research to see if the non-psychoactive cannabinoids would benefit those patients for issues like morning sickness.

“It would be great to have a safe alternative . . . it looks very promising as a general and miraculous health aid,” she said. “I do wish there was more research.”

“We can’t specifically integrate that without knowing all of the info,” she said, though she feels the product has future promise with pregnant patients. “I am considering CBD for people with sleep and pain [issues] . . . to integrate that into our practice. We’re also working with clients in particular who are spending a ton of money in many cases trying to conceive—we can’t say ‘take this CBD’ if you don’t really know it could potentially, negatively impact their egg quality or their embryos.”

Clients coming to Acupuncture Denver are looking for holistic treatments to complement their experiences with western medicine, often for fertility intervention.

“We are open to western medical interventions,” Gregorie said, stating an example treating a patient with acupuncture while they underwent an in vitro fertilization embryo transfer. “We have to bridge both worlds. We have to create a much more Earth-based . . . feminine nurturing experience for our clients that are dealing with this stuff.”

Clients are often professional women looking to have families at an older maternal age.

“The business is focused on integrated care instead of separating what’s going on. Chinese medicine is inherently integral.”

“We try to create a really nice atmosphere here of healing and safety for the clients especially because most of the women . . . that we are seeing here are going through western fertility treatments, which can be traumatic to some degree, “she said, mentioning the testing, bloodwork, ultrasounds and other procedures that coincide with fertility treatment. “There’s a lot of disempowerment that is happening to our clients at some level in terms of not being in control of their fertility. They’re harsh, these treatments, so we give them a different experience in terms of being a place where they can heal and regenerate.”

The clinic recommends acupuncture and acupressure during pregnancy to assist conditions such as morning sickness and pelvic, hip and back pain. The clinic also uses moxibustion therapy to turn breech babies late in pregnancy. Regular wellness treatments vary during the pregnancy with weekly birth prep treatments the last month to help the mother prepare for labor and possibly reduce labor time and risk of cesarean section.

acudenver.com