Bartlett Acupuncture & Herbal Medicine

Yes. I do all consultations by telehealth (phone or zoom), including initial visits and pre-visit health screens. I only do acupuncture treatments in office. To comply with best practice guidelines, I limit face to face contact by doing pre-treatment consultations by telehealth prior to your visit. I can mail your herbs, or you can pick up from the office.

Because drugs are strong, powerful medicine, they have a tendency to negatively interact with each other and with other substances, such as food or herbs. In the majority of cases patients can take drugs and Chinese herbs without negative interaction problems. In over 20 years of practice with Chinese herbs, I have only had one instance of an issue. However, we need to take particular care with drugs with narrow therapeutic margins, such as Cumadin or Plavix (Warfarin). These drugs have a small dosing range that can easily be affected by changes in body chemistry. In this case, the introduction of Chinese herbs will affect the dosing of the drug. Actually, most herbs combine successfully with Warfarin, but herbs that invigorate blood with cause bleeding issues. When drugs have a narrow therapeutic margin, the prescribing physicians (conventional and Chinese medical doctors) should work together to insure patient safety.

Patients usually come weekly for treatment in the beginning. With more severe or bothersome symptoms, such as pain, patients see faster results when they come twice a week for the first two to three weeks. As conditions improve you can come less frequently: 10 days, then biweekly, and later every three weeks or monthly. On average, patients come weekly for about eight visits, then reducing the frequency of visits as symptom decrease to intermittent and later stop occurring. After the condition resolves, many patients like to continue treatment for maintenance and preventative care. These maintenance visits can be monthly, quarterly, or semi-annually, depending on the patient’s goals.

There are four main reasons patients consider Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) treatment: Commonly, patients have a condition that does not respond to conventional care. They seek a treatment option to provide an effective solution to their health problem. Conventional treatment often requires drugs with undesirable side effects or an unwanted surgery to treat the condition; therefore they seek an alternative option. Patients take many expensive drugs with side effects or that interfere with one another. Often Chinese medicine can treat the conditions so patients can stop taking the drugs. Patients seek a natural, holistic approach to healthcare that fits their lifestyle choices and values.

“For a medical procedure, you almost cannot get anything that is more benign,” says Executive Administrator of the American Academy of Medical Acupuncture. “About the worst thing that can happen is you won’t get better.” In it's landmark,1997 Consensus Statement on Acupuncture, the NIH reported, “One of the advantages of acupuncture is the incidence of adverse effects is substantially lower than that of many drugs or other accepted medical procedures used for the same conditions.” (Acupuncture. NIH Consens Statement 1997 Nov 3-5; 15 (5): 9.) In 2001, the British Medical Journal (vol. 323, no.7311) published results of two large-scale studies showing acupuncture benefits far outweigh any negative side effects. Minor and short-lived complaints ranged from bruising to needle pain lasting less than a week, with no serious adverse events noted. In an accompanying editorial, the journal concluded that complications from from acupuncture are “remarkably rare and transient".

Yes. Hours are by appointment. I will work with your schedule to find a time that works for you.

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Yes. Chinese medicine successfully treats most conditions treated by western drugs, often with superior results. Examples include: headaches and pain conditions, allergies and sinus infections, insomnia, anxiety and depression, acid reflux disease, bowel problems, rashes and skin conditions, menstrual cramping, Perimenopausal syndrome, hypertension, Parkinson’s disease and chronic illness. Patients don't like the undesirable drug side effects nor the necessity of remaining on these drugs long term. When beginning TCM treatments, patients on western drugs may continue taking their medications. As the condition improves, they can begin titrating (weaning) off the drug under their prescribing doctor’s supervision. Once they are completely off the drug and symptom free, we begin lowering the herb dose and frequency to see if we can stop the herbs without symptoms recurring. In most cases patients can stop Chinese medicine treatment as well.

Chinese herbal formulas offer high clinical efficacy with minimal side effects. Patients occasionally notice gas, indigestion or bowel functional changes. When herbs cause side effects, the unwanted symptom stops when patients discontinue taking the herbs. To prevent future recurrence, the herbalist can modify the formula by adding herbs that improve digestive function to counteract the irritating property of the herbs.

In Chinese Medicine, we talk about courses of treatments. One course is considered ten to twelve acupuncture treatments or weeks of herbal therapy. As we all have different bodies everyone responds differently; however, acupuncturists do see general patterns in response time. Many notice improvements after a single treatment. In fact, Dr. Bartlett expects pain to improve on the first visit. Others take longer to respond as acupuncture requires a cumulative effect. Most patients begin noticing changes within one to three treatments. Within five to seven visits symptoms begin improving and patients feel better. At this point you likely will see resolution in acute conditions. Chronic conditions take longer. Excepting continual, longstanding problems (such as allergies) and chronic illnesses , most patients finish treatment within a course to fifteen visits.

You will find acupuncture and Chinese herbs highly effective for treating colds, flu, stomach viruses and headaches. Patients report immediate improvement in symptoms after their acupuncture treatment or with Chinese herbal therapy. Happy patients frequently say, “as soon as I started taking the herbs I felt better!” Due to transmission risk, of course you cannot come to the office for treatment when experiencing fever, shortness of breath, cough, sore throat, headaches and body aches indicating a contagious disease. To avoid transmitting to others, change your appointment to a telehealth (phone or zoom) herbal consultation. Especially patients who are chronically ill and can not risk serious illness. Dr. Bartlett will compound a custom herbal formula to address your symptoms, along with appropriate diet and lifestyle modifications to speed recovery. Most patients notice symptoms pass through their system mildly and for shorter duration so severe illness fails to develop.

Some insurance companies offer acupuncture benefits. Use the green “Verify Insurance” button at the top of the home page of www.BartlettAcupuncture.com to enter your insurance information. We will let you know your acupuncture benefits within 2 business days. If you have benefits, we can bill your insurance company for your acupuncture treatments. Insurance companies do not pay for Chinese herbs. We can charge your flex or health savings account for herbs.