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 Women's Health & Infertility

Meet Kristen Horner

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Women's Health and Infertility

Meet Kristen Horner

Acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine now available in Waco!

Live Oak Acupuncture & Kristen Horner featured on KWTX 10 On Your Side!

Click here to watch the segment!

Welcome to Live Oak Acupuncture & Herbal Medicine!

Did you know that acupuncture is one of the oldest, most extensively used systems of health care in the world? In fact, more people have been treated with acupuncture over the past two thousand years than with all other health care modalities combined!  According to the World Health Organization, acupuncture is utilized by over a third of the world's population.

Now this gentle, effective health care method is available to Waco area residents!

Will acupuncture help with my condition?
Because it stimulates the body's ability to heal itself, acupuncture is a valuable complement to conventional medical treatment of almost any condition. In 2002, the World Health Organization published a review and analysis of nearly 300 controlled clinical trials on acupuncture and concluded that it is useful in the treatment of over 90 diseases, symptoms, and conditions, including:

• Allergies, asthma, and hay fever
• Arthritis
• Low back pain and sciatica
• Neck, shoulder, and elbow pain
• Knee pain
• Shingles and post-herpetic neuralgia
• Depression and insomnia
• Fibromyalgia
• Rheumatoid arthritis
• Headaches and TMJ pain
• Infertility and polycystic ovarian syndrome
• Nausea, vomiting, and morning sickness
• Painful periods and PMS
• Tobacco and alcohol dependence
• Many others
  

What is special about the treatment that you offer?   
I use a unique style of acupuncture referred to as Tung's Points, which is based on the teachings of Master Tung Ching Chang (1916 - 1975).  For hundreds of years, Tung's Points were a treasured family secret handed down and refined over many generations.  Master Tung has been referred to as the greatest acupuncture technician who ever lived.  During his lifetime Dr. Tung treated hundreds of thousands of patients and gained fame for the amazing results he would obtain using just a few needles.  

After fleeing to Taiwan during the Cultural Revolution in China, Master Tung began to teach his secret acupuncture point system to select students.  Even now only a small portion of this priceless knowledge is available in English and is transmitted primarily as an oral tradition from teacher to student.  I have had the good fortune to learn directly from the primary student of Dr. Miriam Lee, who was the first practitioner to bring Tung’s Points to the United States in the early 1980s. 

Tung’s Points are unique in that a smaller number of needles are used and all needles are placed in areas other the site of pain or dysfunction.  For example back pain is treated with needles in the hands and feet.  Advantages of this approach include faster, more thorough resolution of health problems and the fact that the patient can be comfortably positioned in a recliner chair and can generally be treated without removing clothing.  Patients find this type of treatment much less anxiety-provoking because they are not subject to needling in areas that already feel vulnerable because of injury, disease, or pain.     
 
I also offer an on-site pharmacy of over 200 super-premium Chinese herbal formulas.  If appropriate, one of these formulas will be custom-prescribed for your condition.  (Please note that the pharmacy is not open to the public.  Herbs are available by prescription only for existing patients.)

Does it hurt?  I'm scared of needles!
Most first-time patients are pleased and surprised to find that having an acupuncture treatment is a relaxing and pleasant experience.

Acupuncture needles are very thin and flexible - about the diameter of a cat's whisker. Some people feel nothing at all when the needles are inserted while others experience a sensation similar to a mosquito bite, followed by an aching or tingling sensation. Acupuncture does not feel like getting a shot or having blood drawn. 

An average treatment involves the insertion of between six and twelve needles, which are retained in the body for 45-60 minutes.  During this rest time most patients become deeply relaxed and many fall asleep. 

Non-needle treatment is available, including stimulation of acupoints with laser light, mild electrical current, heat, suction, and / or pressure massage. These options are suitable for children and for individuals who are very afraid of needles.