Vonalee Gilroy, R.Ac. Registered Acupuncturist

11/29/2025

Keep checking our schedules!!

Vonalee has a few spots left before the holidays.
Bonnie will be accepting new patients in January!

11/29/2025

Winter is moxa season. (Well, we do use it year round, but its especially nice in the cold winter months.)

This treatment:

🌱 expels cold

🌱 nourishes and warms organs (cold & tired? It could be your kidneys that need support)

🌱 breaks up stagnation (think old injuries)

11/28/2025

Its true! When you come for a treatment, it may include many things, such as cupping, massage, estim, etc. Needles are just one of the tools in our toolbox.

11/26/2025

Microneedling and LED help repair the columns, green tea the rubber bands, and animal fats, protein and water help replenish the fluid.

11/24/2025

I said what I said.

11/22/2025

This sums it up!

We see posts and articles about this topic all the time. Most of the time these posts are coming from the point of view of physiotherapists and chiropractors. It is time to hear about it from an Acupuncturist.

Bonnie is a Registered Acupuncturist with 15 years of experience. Acupuncture is defined as the use of a sterile needle, inserted through the skin for a therapeutic effect. Therefore, these 2 therapies are coming from the same place. They are 2 different techniques that can be used with needles.

Bonnie thinks that some of the misperception around this question could be because a lot of people, including other health professionals, do not understand the scope of practice of Traditional Chinese Medicine Acupuncture.(TCM)

It is true that most of the time, TCM acupuncturists work on balancing the entire body by choosing points to support the person's organs, and release blockages in their meridians or balance their nervous system. We usually insert several needles and have the patient rest for 20 to 30 minutes. We may incorporate massage, cupping therapy, gua sha, or acupressure as well. With the balanced nervous system (we call it the smooth flow of qi), and relaxed muscles, circulation and lymphatic flow is improved and most of the pain and tightness simply eases away.

IMS or Dry Needling is used to release muscular tension. The needles are inserted, manipulated and then removed. The manipulation basically breaks up the knots and overstimulates the muscle until it stops resisting and relaxes.

Acupuncturists also use needles to release muscular restrictions, in much the same way as IMS or Dry Needling. We just refer to it differently. We might call it “manual stimulation,” or “Sedation,” “Tonification” or “Reduction” of the point we are working on.

We are still releasing muscular restrictions with manipulation of the needle. We work on acupuncture points, but we can also needle wherever there is a tight spot. Like a trigger point. We call these points “Ashi” points.

Acupuncturists don’t use manual stimulation or manipulation of needles as often because our therapy tends to relax the bod

11/22/2025

Not only are the needles we use super fine, but they're coated with a medical grade silicone, which makes them even more comfortable.

Just a tiny pinch when they go in...and then the bliss of endorphins and serotonin.

11/21/2025

Take it easy on the peels, guys!

11/18/2025

Microneedling softens the texture and improves the color of stretchmarks, bringing it close with healthy skin color.

This treatment, aling with weeks, can greatly improve this condition.

11/11/2025

We're into November, guys! Remember to use your benefits.

11/04/2025

It's common to get a dry cough in the fall when our Lungs aren't quite up to speed. Acupuncture can help.

10/31/2025

Happy Halloween 🎃