Asheville's First Doctor of Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine
Dr. Nancy Hyton, DACM
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Practicing Since 2007, Private Sessions, Comprehensive Care
My mission is to put the care back in healthcare, with a focus is on providing you with quality, comprehensive treatments so that you can get better faster. For example, I exclusively offer private, one-on-one acupuncture sessions vs. treating multiple patients in the same room. This approach allows full access to all of the acupuncture points on both sides of the body and provides privacy for disrobing and complementary therapies like cupping. It also gives you space for deeper rest and relaxation, something I believe is an absolutely essential component of healing, and provides plenty of dedicated, focused time for things like case history, examination, and treatment. Furthermore, I am the only acupuncturist in Asheville to include such a wide variety of complimentary therapies at no extra charge. As Asheville's first Doctor of Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine, I am trained in acupuncture as well as herbal medicine, tui na (massage), zhi ya (acupressure), ba guan (fire cupping), gua sha (jade and horn massage tools), and 5 element nutrition. I find that these additional therapies can all help enhance the effects of acupuncture, giving me the ability to address a wider range of diverse conditions, so I utilize them whenever they would be beneficial for you and your condition. Please click here for more information about my combination treatments.
11 Best of WNC Awards, Over 200 5-Star Reviews
I am honored to have received 11 "Best of Western North Carolina" awards and over 200 5-star reviews, and am thankful to my community for entrusting me with the health of their family and friends. I have experienced the healing power of acupuncture and Chinese medicine as both a patient and practitioner and feel truly blessed that I am able to help others achieve higher levels of wellness in a way that is both natural and gentle. It is a deep honor to practice this wise and ancient medicine, and I consider it to be both my vocation and my life's work. Please click here to read some reviews.
What Acupuncture Treats
Along with herbal medicine, 5 element nutrition, and topical therapies like cupping and gua sha, acupuncture is one of the foundational therapies of Chinese Medicine. This is a complete medical system that has existed for thousands of years, developing theories and treatments for just about every common human condition along the way. Like a family physician, I consider myself to be a general practitioner so I work on all sorts of things including auto-immune disorders, complex and chronic conditions, digestive disorders, emotional imbalances, exhaustion and fatigue, internal organ issues, nervous system issues, pain of all types, reproductive issues, and respiratory issues. Another important part of my practice is wellness, focusing on longevity and the prevention of illness and imbalance. Please click here for more information about what I treat.
How Acupuncture Works
Acupuncture has both general and specific actions. In general, acupuncture stimulates your body's natural healing response system-wide. For example, acupuncture activates the parasympathetic nervous system, the compliment to the sympathetic fight-or-flight nervous system that is triggered by stress and anxiety. In the parasympathetic state we become deeply relaxed, heart rate and respiration slow way down, the mind quiets, and the body focuses on healing, repair, and replenishing energy reserves. The specific actions of acupuncture include localized effects on pain and, by tapping points on the channels that pass through them, the regulation and normalization of internal organ function. Acupuncture points have dozens and dozens of other specialized actions as well so they can be used to treat a wide variety of diverse conditions. Please click here for more information about how acupuncture works.
A Holistic Approach to Health and Healing
Acupuncture and Chinese medicine are holistic in nature, indicating an approach that looks at your health as a whole, as one interconnected and unified system. In practice this means treating multiple systems simultaneously instead of focusing on single, isolated symptoms, defining the physical and the emotional as inseparable instead of treating only one or the other, and addressing your outward symptoms as well as the underlying imbalances that are causing them. Holistic medicine also seeks to tap your innate healing power, promoting and assisting it with gentle therapies that restore normal function and replenish what has been depleted. Please click here for more information about the holistic approach.
What to Expect Your First Acupuncture Appointment
Preparing for an acupuncture appointment is simple. My main recommendations are to wear loose clothing, make sure you are neither hungry nor thirsty, and generally plan to take it easy on the day of your treatment. The appointment itself is about an hour long and begins with a case history, aiming to understand your chief complaint within the framework of your overall health. The acupuncture treatment itself takes place on a standard massage table in a private room. I usually choose about fifteen points and the needles stay in for about 30 minutes. Please click here for more information about a typical session.
About the Acupuncture Needles
Acupuncture needles are quite unlike the medical syringes that most of us are familiar with. They are as short and flexible as whiskers, more like a small wire or pointer, and are never used to inject or withdraw anything. In fact, they are so thin that it is difficult to simply put them in without bending. Because of this, they come with what is called a "guide tube," a small plastic sleeve that stabilizes them. The acupuncture needles I use are made of surgical grade stainless steel, come prepackaged in sterile packets, and are used only once and then disposed of in a medical sharps container. In general, they really don't feel like much, though occasionally some people with have a reflexive twitch or feel a tiny pinch. Please click here for more information about the needles.
Making a Diagnosis in Chinese Medicine
The main goal of diagnosis in Chinese medicine is to identify what we call patterns or clusters of symptoms. This is done by framing your chief complaint within the context of your overall health, looking at the different ways in which other organ systems may be affected. This not only points to any deeper imbalances that may be the common root of multiple symptoms, it also helps identify what version you have of the pattern, helping me to craft a more targeted and individualized treatment for you. The main tools of diagnosis that we use in Chinese medicine include the case history interview, observation, palpation, and tongue and pulse diagnosis. Please click here for more information about making a diagnosis.
Treatment Principles of Chinese Medicine
The main goals of Chinese medicine are energy flow (as seen in the theory of chi), balance (yin and yang), and the optimal functioning of all internal organ systems (the 5 elements). In practice, this means keeping the channels open, eliminating excesses of things like toxins and inflammation, replenishing deficiencies of things like energy, and ensuring that all of the internal organ systems are functioning optimally, supporting each other and working together in harmony. Please click here for more information about the treatment principles.
Patterns of Healing
Besides the nature of your chief complaint and how long you have had it, there are many other factors that can influence how you will respond to your treatment including age, overall health, genetics, and compliance with taking herbs and making dietary and lifestyle changes. In general, however, the sooner you seek treatment, the more mild your condition, the better your overall health, and the more compliant you are with the treatment plan, the faster you will recover. Just as most conditions usually advance in phases or steps, most people improve in phases or steps as well, with the most recent symptoms usually resolving first. Please click here for more information about patterns of healing.
Unexpected Benefits
Acupuncture and Chinese medicine have many unexpected benefits. Since it requires you to do nothing, it is an excellent way to get some rest, pause for a moment, and empty your head. For those of us who care for others, either in our work or in our family life, it is a lovely way balance this out by receiving care from others. As a holistic medicine, with the aim of replenishing depletion and restoring function, it can help us learn to trust the transformational nature of the healing process. Please click here for more information about the benefits of acupuncture.
The Flow of Chi and the Channel System
One of the fundamental concepts of acupuncture and Chinese medicine is chi, the primary force in the universe that flows through everything, including us. In our bodies it travels along regular pathways called channels or meridians, nourishing all of our tissues and passing through all of our internal organs. The acupuncture points are spots on these channels where the chi comes closest to the surface and can be tapped with specialized tools called acupuncture needles. The smooth flow of chi all over the body is absolutely essential for health and healing. Please click here for more information about chi.
Chi and the Emotions
The flow of chi is essential not only for our physical health, but for our emotional health as well. In Chinese medicine, these two things are completely intertwined and an imbalance in one can cause symptoms in the other. All emotions are seen as valid and appropriate; it is only when they are out of proportion to the circumstances that they may become an issue. Chi is supposed to flow in a specific pattern along regular pathways called channels but different emotional imbalances can negatively affect this flow in different ways. Please click here for more information about chi and the emotions.
The Theory of Yin and Yang
Yin and yang are ancient daoist philosophical concepts that describe the universe and everything in it as being divisible into two principle categories that balance and compliment each other. In nature, examples of this include night and day, moon and sun, winter and summer, valley and mountain, ocean and desert. Within our bodies, yin and yang are reflected in things like the balance of cold and heat, dryness and moisture, activity and rest, and in the interdependent relationship between our physical body and our emotions. At its core, the theory of yin and yang expresses the true nature of all phenomena as it continually shifts and cycles in and out of phase. Please click here for more information about yin and yang.
Five Organ Systems
In Chinese medicine there are only five systems in the body, also known as the five elements or the five transformations. Every system is connected to all of the others, interdependent, functioning as an essential part of the bigger whole. Because there are only five systems, everything in the body is divided up quite differently than it is in western medicine. For example, for each system there is a corresponding pair of internal organs, as well as a tissue and a sensory function. However, there are also other correspondences within this system for which there is seen to be no relationship in western medicine, such as emotional qualities. Please click here for more information about the five systems.
Causes of Disease
Acupuncture and Chinese medicine recognize multiple causes of disease. Some arise before we are born, including hereditary genetic conditions, and conditions that may develop while we are in utero if our mothers experiences major shock, illness, or trauma. Some have tangible sources, like physical trauma, poor diet, or environmental toxin exposure. Others arise from emotional imbalances, especially if they are long-standing. Please click here for more information about the causes of disease.
The Ancient Medical Ethics of Sun Simiao
Sun Simiao is an ancient Chinese physician who lived from 581 to 682 AD. His code of ethics is found in the thirty-volume encyclopedia he authored entitled "Prescriptions Worth a Thousand Pieces of Gold." This was the first comprehensive record of the practice of Chinese medicine ever written and is still studied in modern times. Sun Simiao was so highly regarded that two different emperors offered him a position as the imperial physician. He declined these posts, however, in order to devote his life as a physician who served the common people. Sun Simiao is remembered as the "King of Medicine" and is honored in his home town with a school of Chinese medicine that bears his name and yearly celebrations that commemorate his life. Please click here for more information about Sun Simiao.