High Springs Acupuncture Office Opens, Natural Medicine And Alternative Treatments

HIGH SPRINGS ‒ The High Springs Chamber of Commerce welcomed a new business to the area June 24. On Saturday morning, Harbor Acupuncture and Natural Medicine opened its doors at 23335 N.W. County Road 236 offering acupuncture and natural medicine alternative treatments. In addition, the facility will offer Cupping Therapy, Herbal Formulas and B-12 injections. While acupuncture is mainly used to treat pain, cupping is used for a wide variety of ailments including digestion, blood pressure, nasal issues, anemia and menstrual cramps.

Acupuncture is a technique in which practitioners insert fine needles into the skin to treat health problems. The needles may be manipulated manually or stimulated with small electrical currents (electroacupuncture). Acupuncture has been in use in some form for at least 2,500 years, and according to the World Health Organization, acupuncture is used in 103 of 129 countries that reported data.

Owner of the new business and acupuncturist Aaron Stephan had a history of pain and medical issues, but found little relief or solutions from standard western medical practices. “My doctors and I tried different treatments and diagnosis, but kept reaching dead ends.” Stephan decided to try alternative treatments while attending South West Florida College.

After getting his Associates Degree, Stephan pursued a career to help others with medical issues through the same methods that had worked for him, and he enrolled in Dragon Rises College in Gainesville.

“After graduation, I began thinking of opening my own practice,” said Stephan. “After a lot of work and planning, that dream is now a reality.” Stephan now has a new goal of helping those in the community with the natural medicine treatments.

Research has shown that acupuncture may be helpful for several pain conditions, including back or neck pain, knee pain associated with osteoarthritis, and postoperative pain. It may also help relieve joint pain associated with the use of aromatase inhibitors, which are drugs used in people with breast cancer.

Vitamin B12 is not a naturally occurring nutrient in plant-based foods. Vegans and vegetarians are at an increased risk of developing deficiency disorders if they don’t complement their dietary routine with vitamin B12 supplements. This vitamin is important for synthesizing blood cells and ensuring optimal health of nerve cells and is important for DNA synthesis, creating new red blood cells, protein and fat metabolism and neurological/brain functions

Herbal medicine makes use of medicinal plants for treatment of a wide variety of ailments and chronic medical conditions. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 80 percent of the population of some Asian and African countries presently use herbal medicine for some aspect of primary health care. Although associated with traditional Chinese medicine practices, use of herbal medicine dates much farther back, with written formulas at least 5,000 years and some evidence of use up to 60,000 years.

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