Acupuncture at Yellow Sulphur Springs Please scroll down this page to view this FAQ, or click on any question in the list immediately below to go directly to the answer. To make an appointment, please phone Victoria Taylor at 540-953-2977. For soaks, scrubs, massages, and other healing modalities, please see our healing arts page.

General

Location

Your Treatment

More Information

General

What is acupuncture?

Acupuncture is part of a complete system of medicine developed in Asia over the last 3,000 years. It primarily uses needles inserted into energy points in the body to assist the body's healing. Acupuncture employs customized treatment strategies using different energy points for each condition and patient.

Who is the acupuncturist?

Victoria Taylor. Victoria has been praciticing acupuncture since 1990. She graduated from a three-year professional training program at the Mandarin School of Chinese Medicine in Jacksonville, Florida. She also earned a Bachelor's degree from Harvard University. Victoria and her husband Bernard Ross are the owners of Yellow Sulphur Springs.

What style of acupuncture is this?

Primarily (Chinese) Five Element constitutional acupuncture, combined with several other treatment strategies, which include massage, moxibustion, herbal remedies, diet modification, and exercise.

What kinds of ailments does acupuncture treat?

Most physical, emotional, energetic, and spiritual conditions may respond to acupuncture treatment. Victoria particularly recommends her treatments for: muskulo-skeletal pain, numbness, or weakness, fatigue, headache, digestive disturbances, allergies and asthma, disorders of the reproductive system, and mild depression or anxiety. Dental pain is often reduced through acupuncture, but the underlying conditions are not cured.

Location

Where is Yellow Sulphur Springs?

Yellow Sulphur Springs is located in a magical hollow between Blacksburg and Christiansburg, Virginia, just seven minutes from Virginia Tech. See directions page for directions.

Where do Victoria's clients travel from?

Victoria's clients primarily come from surrounding towns and cities in Southwest Virginia, including Christiansburg, Blacksburg, Roanoke, and Radford, as well as smaller towns and villages such as Riner and Floyd. Some come from further afield, combining an acupuncture and/or healing spa retreat with accommodations at the Yellow Sulphur Springs guest villa.

Where at Yellow Sulphur Springs are acupuncture treatments given?

At the Healing Arts Studio, which is a free-standing ten-sided building nestled by a pond in the woods of Yellow Sulphur Springs, built for acupuncture and healing arts treatments in 2001.

Your Treatment

How long does a treatment take?

Your initial appointment will last about ninety minutes, and involves an extensive interview and a physical exam as well as a treatment. Subsequent appointments last approximately 50 minutes.

How much does a treatment cost?

Your initial visit will cost $95 (90 minute evaluation). Subsequent visits (standard treatment-50 minutes) are $65.

How often will I be treated? How many treatments will I need?

While you and Victoria are working on a particular condition, you will probably choose to be treated weekly. Most conditions show significant improvement in three to ten sessions.

Many patients like to have five maintenance sessions per year in January, April, July, September, and November, one for each of the five Chinese elements.

What should I wear?

We recommend that you wear comfortable, loose clothing.

What will a treatment be like? Does it hurt?

You will normally be treated lying prone on a table similar to a massage table. Victoria will interview you and take your pulses at the beginning of the session. The normal number of needles inserted in the course of a treatment varies from 4 to 20. Sometimes these are removed immediately; sometimes left in for as long as the entire treatment period.

For most people receiving treatment is quite relaxing. There may be a sensation when the needle connects with the body energy (Ch'i) which has been described as a pinch, numbness, spark, or tingling. Occasionally this is experienced as painful. Rarely is there any bleeding from the needle insertion point.

While most patients remain clothed during acupuncture, occasionally an article of clothing must be removed, to reach an otherwise inaccessible acupuncture point.

Do I need to do something to prepare for a treatment? How will I feel afterwards? Can I go right back to work?

Patients are encouraged to leave plenty of time both before and after their treatment. When possible, Victoria recommends avoiding rigorous exercise and stressful situations for 24 hours before and after treatment.

How you'll feel afterwards varies greatly from patient to patient and from session to session. Some treatments may leave you upbeat and energized; others may leave you with a desire to rest.

Victoria recommends you not plan to go back to work immediately after your first treatment, and evaluate your own response. You may want to relax after your treatment in our outdoor hot tub, or sit in the waiting room with tea and a snack. These services are included.

How do I make an appointment?

Please phone Victoria Taylor at 540-953-2977.

More Information

What are Victoria's qualifications and experience?

Victoria has been practicing acupuncture for 17 years, since she graduated from a three-year program at Mandarin School of Chinese Medicine (Jacksonville, Florida) in 1990.

She is licensed as an acupuncturist by the Commonwealth of Virginia and is certified by the National Commission for the Certification of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine.

Prior to moving to Montgomery County, Virginia in 1997 Victoria served on the faculty and Board of Directors for the Mandarin School of Chinese Medicine in Jacksonville, Florida.

In addition to her private practice, Victoria teaches at the Blue Ridge School of Massage and acts as a supervisor for the Acu-Detox programs at both Carillion St. Albans and New River Valley Community Services.

What is an acupuncture needle?

Acupuncture filaments are very fine steel needles which are placed in strategic locations to affect a change in the energetic flow of the body. The needles Victoria uses are pre-sterilized and single use.

How many acupuncture points are there?

There are 359 commonly used body points. 52 are on the midline, and 307 are bilateral--a point on each side of the body. Some patients add this up to 666 rather than 359. There are additional points on the ear.

What is moxibustion?

Moxibustion is a heat treatment using the Chinese herb Artemesia vulgaris, commonly known as moxa. Moxa is burned near the skin at the same energy points that are used with needles. Some conditions for some patients are more responsive to treatment with moxa than to needles.

What kind of pulses are taken in acupuncture?

Acupuncture pulses are a qualitative reflection of the six major energy systems of the body. They are taken on both wrists in three locations. The information obtained goes far beyond the heart rate information obtained by conventional Western medicine pulsetaking.

Is acupuncture always successful?

No. Not all conditions are appropriate to acupuncture (see below). Not all conditions respond immediately. Almost all patients do receive benefit from an appropriate course of acupuncture used to treat appropriate conditions.

What conditions are not appropriate for treatment?

Some conditions which are not appropriate for treatment in an outpatient setting include seizure disorders, acute infection, traumatic injury, hemorrhage, malignant tumors, psychosis, myocardial infarction, and insulin-dependent diabetes. It is a general recommendation that all patients visit their family physician for a diagnosis prior to treatment.

Do all acupuncturists have the same qualifications?

Licensed acupuncturists are certified by the the National Commission for the Certification of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine. This requires 3-4 years of specialized postgraduate study. Other licensed medical practitioners, such as doctors and chiropractors, may include acupuncture in their practice, if they have received training, usually 300 hours.

Where can I learn more about acupuncture?

For more information about acupuncture, please visit:
acupuncturetoday.com
acupuncture.edu
aworldofacupuncture.com
bluepoppy.com
pulsemed.org