John Ross, M.
Sc., L. Ac.
Acupuncture & Oriental Medicine
21
Years of Experience
Beginning on Tuesday, Jan. 31, I will be moving to a new
clinic at:
2905 N. West Street
Flagstaff, AZ
86004
(928) 522-4007
The power to heal is within each and every one of
us, but sometimes when we get stuck we need help to regain our balance and
energy. The goal of my treatments is to
restore balance and remove blockages so that you can heal yourself. In addition to acupuncture and herbal
medicine, I may also suggest dietary and lifestyle therapies suited to the
needs of each patient.
Training
My academic training at the American College of
Traditional Chinese Medicine in San Francisco was a four year program based on the
curriculum at the medical schools in mainland China, which covers both
traditional Chinese medicine and a basic grounding in contemporary scientific
medicine. After graduating in 1991, I
did post-graduate training at a hospital in Fujian in southeastern China. Since then I have continued to study with
master acupuncturists and herbalists here in the U.S. and have also studied
Tibetan herbal medicine with traditional Tibetan physicians in India and Nepal.
Credentials
I was accredited
by the NCCAOM in 1992 and have been a licensed acupuncturist in California
since 1992 and in Arizona since 2010.
Philosophy
I practice classical oriental medicine. That means
I start by trusting the life energy and healing power within each of us, and I
diagnose and treat according to the principles and techniques of the ancient
Chinese medical classics.
In modern China traditional medicine is closely
integrated with conventional allopathic medicine. There has been a great deal of systematic
research. However, the political turmoil
of the last two centuries in China has also caused many of the ancient
classical traditions of acupuncture and herbal medicine to be ignored or
suppressed. For the last two decades I
have sought out teachers from classical traditions of Chinese medicine. As I have used what I have learned in my
practice, I have discovered it to be a lot more effective than the modern
techniques I learned in school.
I have also been influenced by traditional Tibetan
medicine and Ayurveda and have studied meditation, qi gong and yoga for more
than 20 years. Depending on the needs of
my patients, I may suggest dietary and lifestyle therapies in addition to
acupuncture and herbal remedies. I try
to empower and educate my patients to take responsibility for their own healing
process and to learn how to maintain their own health and vitality.
There is an old Chinese proverb: “The inferior
doctor treats patients when they are already sick. The mediocre doctor treats patients just as
their illness is beginning. The superior
doctor treats patients before they become ill.”
Classical Chinese Medicine has a deep theoretical framework that
encompasses both health and disease and that integrates the physical,
psychological and spiritual aspects of human life. It is a truly holistic system.
Acupuncture
The main therapy I use
is acupuncture. Because acupuncture
restores balance to support your own healing process, almost any illness or
disharmony of body or mind can be benefitted by
acupuncture treatments. Pain,
stress-related problems, allergies and chronic diseases that don’t respond well
to conventional medical therapies, can often be treated effectively with
acupuncture.
Many of the patients I
see are already taking pharmaceutical medications or pursuing other health care
modalities. One of the advantages of
acupuncture is that there is no danger of drug interactions or other side
effects. In fact, acupuncture is
synergistic with most other health care interventions.
What
conditions can be treated by acupuncture?
The National Institutes of Health and the World Health
Organization recognize acupuncture as effective in treating the following
conditions: addiction (alcohol, drug, smoking), anxiety, arthritis, asthma,
bronchitis, carpal tunnel syndrome, chronic fatigue, colitis, common cold,
constipation, dental pain, depression, diarrhea, dizziness, dysentery,
emotional problems, eye problems, facial paralysis, fatigue, fibromyalgia,
gingivitis, headache, hiccough, incontinence, indigestion, infertility,
irritable bowel syndrome, low back pain, menopause, menstrual irregularities,
migraine headaches, morning sickness, nausea, osteoarthritis, pain, PMS,
pneumonia, reproductive problems, rhinitis, sciatica, seasonal affective
disorder, shoulder pain, sinusitis, sleep disturbances, smoking cessation, sore
throat, stress, tennis elbow, tonsillitis, tooth pain, trigeminal neuralgia,
urinary tract infection, vomiting, wrist pain.
How long does an acupuncture treatment last?
A treatment can last anywhere from ten minutes to more
than an hour. It depends on your
condition. It only takes a few minutes
to insert the needles. Depending on your
condition and how you respond to the treatment, I may leave the needles in for
just a few minutes or for more than an hour.
During that time I may manipulate the needles from time to time to give
a stronger stimulation, or I may just leave them as they are. Again, it depends on what is best for
you.
How long does a course of treatment last?
Some conditions can be resolved with just a few
acupuncture treatments, others require a course of
treatment over a period of weeks or months.
After their initial problem is resolved, many of my patients come back
to see me from time to time to help maintain their health and vitality.
Does acupuncture
hurt?
Acupuncture should not be a painful experience. The needles are extremely thin. You may notice a sharp pinch when a needle is
inserted. You may also feel strong sensations
during an acupuncture treatment, but those feelings are related to the energy
rebalancing in your body, which is a healing response. Most patients get a strong relaxation
response from acupuncture and feel very comfortable, or even fall asleep!
“Yi” is the ancient Chinese pictogram for change. It shows the sun on the left and the moon on
the right. As we move through life, and
as the life force moves through us, the one constant is change. When we get stuck, we suffer. When we can dance, change is an opportunity
for healing, growth and transformation.