Acupuncture Health Alliance Review - Restoring Balance of Body, Mind and Spirit

(Berkley, MI) - Acupuncture by Susan A. Burke, OMD (Oriental Medicine Doctor), L.Ac (Licensed Acupuncturist) of Acupuncture Health Alliance offers one of the most holistic and comprehensive acupuncture treatments you’re likely to experience. For starters, the session lasts a full 2 hours – usually one hour on the front of the body and one hour on the back (including insertion and removal of the needles) (exceptions are made for extenuating circumstances).

Dr. Burke has been at her location in Berkley for the past 4 plus years, after practicing in California for many years before that. She received her initial training in China, and since then has received continued education and training both in California and at various national workshops and trainings. She has maintained both national and State of California Licensure since 1987.

After discussion of the patient’s health issues and concerns, Susan (according to Chinese medicine) will determine much by analyzing the tongue as well as subtle pulse readings which will clue her into various biological systems and their current level of balance and/or vitality. The information gathered will guide the session. No two patients, and no two sessions for the same patient, will be identical.

Acupuncture is one of the most ancient and current scientifically researched and validated, holistic energetic healing techniques known to man. Based on principles of Chinese medicine and its perspective on the body/mind, health and healing, acupuncture is the trained and precise placement of hair-thin needles at specific points, or meridians, on the body, which correspond to different organs, nerve pathways, and bodily systems (i.e., endocrine, etc). It is understood that chi (pronounced “chee,” Chinese for the vital life force) streams along energetic pathways in the body, but is easily disrupted by physical, mental and emotional stressors (i.e. poor diet, sleep, trauma, medications, and environmental issues). Acupuncture can assist in restoring balance to these pathways, facilitating improved health and optimal functioning on all levels.

Numerous conditions are effectively treated with acupuncture, including back pain, infertility, digestive issues, chronic pain and/or weakness, chronic headaches and migraines, arthritis, carpal tunnel, and tendonitis. It is also effective with many respiratory and gynecological issues, and even addictions. In addition, it effectively addresses many emotional and physiological issues in addition to improving over-all immunity, health, and vitality.

Every person and every situation is different with respect to length and frequency of treatment. Lauren, a patient you’ll read more about in a moment, saw Dr. Burke in the hopes of shifting out of her clinical depression. Her initial 3 sessions were spaced 7-10 days apart; the next few were every 2 weeks; and for a few months after that she went about every 3 weeks.  Before long her sessions were spaced monthly, and by the end of a year she was going on average once every 6-8 weeks. Her “maintenance” plan for the past couple of years has been once every 2-3 months.

Ruth, a woman in her 90’s, also had some past experience with acupuncture which she says pales in comparison with Dr. Burke's work. “It’s an entirely different ballgame!” she raves. She’s been going on average every 6-18 weeks for the past couple of years. She has enjoyed much relief from her arthritic knees, and an overall greater sense of balance, vitality, and wellbeing.

One patient, a 44 year old woman, had been trying to conceive for 6 years before coming to Dr. Burke (many studies show the efficacy of acupuncture in improving fertility). Within 3 weeks of her first treatment, she was pregnant!

I recently saw Dr. Burke for a 'tune up,' and to address what was probably tendonitis or a carpal tunnel flare-up in my right hand (my 'mouse' hand). I was experiencing terrible, sharp pains, and had almost no mobility at all in that wrist and hand. Being right-handed and working at a computer much of the day - obviously the main reason I was in such shape to start with - not to mention being a mom, having that pain and limitation put a serious crimp in my style. After my session with Susan, I had renewed mobility and the pain was down from a 9 ½ to about a 2 – which by the next day was at 0. In fact, I felt so good the next day that I’d forget that, just the day before, I could barely use my right hand!

In addition to her skills as an acupuncturist, Dr. Burke is an OMD, and can advise patients who desire guidance and advice with respect to Chinese herbal medicinal as well as with vitamin, mineral and nutritional supplementation. In fact, I sent someone to Dr. Burke who was visiting me from out of state. Since the birth of her daughter, who she regularly carried around with that arm/hand, Amy was experiencing severe pain and increasing lack of mobility in her right thumb. She had been to doctor after doctor, and was finally told that surgery was the only option available to relive her pain and restore mobility – assuming the surgery was successful. Amy didn’t even have time for a standard session, but I sent her anyway, hoping that Dr. Burke might do a brief, localized treatment.

Instead, she took a look, got some information from Amy, and told her that specific mega-doses of vitamin E for 4-6 months was what was called for in this instance. It seemed too good to be true, and with the popular scare about possible dangers of 'too much' vitamin E, Amy was a little concerned. But it was that or surgery, so she decided to try. Within 3 months of the regimen Susan had suggested, her thumb hand was back to normal! Talk about non-invasive ‘surgery!’

One Patient’s Experience

 “I came to Susan (Dr. Burke) after seeing another practitioner,” says one long-time client, Lauren.* “I was suffering from a severe bout of clinical depression. I’d seen a couple of doctors, and tried natural means, but nothing had helped much. I really wanted to avoid pharmaceuticals. While certainly there are situations that require meds, from my experience they are often more of a band-aid than a cure. I wanted a cure, and an inner voice just told me that acupuncture was what I needed. So, I saw a practitioner who worked out of my Dr’s office, feeling confident that she would be well trained and competent. Honestly, I was disappointed. She basically just stuck some needles in each of the main chakra points, between and around my clothing, turned out the lights, and came back about 25 minutes later. Though it was relaxing and soothing, it felt very incomplete, and I felt she wasn’t really addressing my individual issues and needs.”

So Lauren looked for another practitioner. She found Dr. Burke’s business- card ad in a local “Natural Awakenings” circular, and gave her a call. “She encouraged me to give it a try, saying if I didn’t like it I didn’t have to come back! What she explained about her technique and training was compelling, and I figured it couldn’t hurt to try. I only had $100 to lose…which of course, especially for me was quite a lot, but when I considered that it was for a 2- hour treatment, was really a very reasonable fee. After all, I’d paid $85 for a 45 minute session with someone I wasn’t so pleased with! And I knew that if really helped, it’d be priceless.”

Lauren wasn’t disappointed. Dr. Burke was warm and caring, and put her at ease. She explained more about how acupuncture worked, and what Lauren could expect during the session, like the sensation of the needles 'talking to each other' as energy would begin to open up and flow between them. “It was so unlike the acupuncture session at the Dr’s office!” Lauren exclaims. “It was more like a spa experience: I kept on my undergarments and got comfortable on a covered massage table under a blanket. Then Susan came in and chatted with me while she placed the needles. She totally customized the session to my needs, and the quantity and placement of needles was so much more comprehensive.”

“As Susan was placing the needles in my upper back, she said, “These are your wings. You need to learn to fly again.” Obviously she was speaking figuratively, but it was so on target, and I just started crying.”

After the needles are placed, Dr. Burke will often light a moxa stick (a sort of 'candle' made from a Chinese herb called moxa which, when lit and held over the needles, stimulates and enhances their action). “That’s one of my favorite parts of the treatment!” Lauren says, “It’s very warm and soothing.” Sometimes a heat lamp is also placed in a particular area to enhance the effect and comfort.

Once Dr. Burke was finished placing the needles on 'side one,' she turned on some soothing music, turned out the lights, and left the room. “The rest of that first hour was  really nothing short of cathartic. I cried and cried. Good crying, though - tears of healing, of release, not of stagnation. It’s hard to describe.”  Lauren then drifted into what Dr. Burke calls 'the zone,' a very deep level of relaxation much like sleep.

“Susan would come in quietly to check on me to see that I was okay and that the temperature was good. When it got around the end of the first hour, she didn’t “flip” me until I had completed this healing 'cycle.' Dr. Burke explains that a patient will go through a cycle or two of this deeply relaxed state, followed by a state of alertness or even restlessness, which indicates that this level or healing is complete and it’s a good time to remove the needles and do the other side.

Lauren continues, “It was so much nicer than that other session I’d had with other practitioner, who had ended the session so abruptly; it was like she set an egg timer, and when it rang, came in and  just turned on the lights - with no regard to the fact that I was still very much in that zone. What a difference it was with Susan.”

After her first session, Lauren felt emotionally, mentally, and even physically lighter. She also felt – temporarily - worse, insofar as she “ felt like all this emotional ‘junk’ was just pouring out of me.” But less than 24 hours after her first session, she experienced another dramatic shift, what she now sees as ‘the’ turning point.

After 2 more sessions (in as many weeks), she felt better than she had in months. She found her smile more readily, felt lighter and more vital, and over the course of the following weeks and months she continued to improve such that she eventually not only back to herself, but ‘new and improved!’ And she never needed to resort to prescription drugs.

That’s all fine and good, but, what about those needles?? “Well, I think that’s the reason I stayed away from this modality for so long!” laughed Lauren. “But the truth is, half of the needles I don’t even feel go it at all!  Others feel like a little pinch, but of course that’s only the instant of insertion, then you don’t feel it anymore. Sometimes they’ll be one or two that sting or burn for just a second, but I can tell it’s good – there’s a lot of heat or stagnation there and that’s really where the needle needs to be. And again, any discomfort is very brief. Once they’re in you can even forget they're there.”

Lauren comments that one thing her work with Dr. Burke has done for her is to reinforce the need for self-nurturing and self-care. “In one of my earlier sessions, it sort of hit me that I couldn’t think of the last time I’d done something just for me, to just nurture, care for, and replenish my own body and soul. I began to realize how critical it was, and how not selfish it was – the truth is, in truly caring for and nurturing myself and my overall health and balance, I am a better friend, a better wife, a better sister and mother, a better person. To call that selfish is just twisted. It was really a revelation. So those 2 hours, whenever I need them, are just for me, and I cherish them. Everyone in my life benefits – I’m less needy, I'm more content, and more pleasant to be around. And that realization has helped me to find other ways to self-nurture. This was an unexpected gift borne of my work with Susan!”

For further information or to make an appointment, call Susan A. Burke, OMD, L.Ac at 248-582-8888.

*name has been changed to protect privacy