Common Roots Acupuncture

Common Roots Acupuncture Josh Whiteley, RN, L.Ac.

Serving Tucson since 2010.

✨ Traditional Acupuncture
✨Advanced Dry Needling
✨Trigger Point Injections
✨Electro-acupuncture
✨Cupping & Gua Sha

01/26/2026

If you wake up with a stiff or achy low back, this is my favorite stretch to do in the morning. Consistency is key!

01/26/2026

The tibialis anterior muscle is the main muscle that lifts the foot and controls ankle Dorisiflexion. The motor point is where the nerve enters the muscle, stimulating it gives you a strong or muscular response. When you stimulate this point, especially with e-stim, you’re talking directly to the nerve muscle unit not just treating the local pain.. this is a great way to optimize your acupuncture treatment for better results

How Acupuncture Works on the Nervous System 🧠✨Acupuncture works by communicating directly with the nervous system. When ...
01/25/2026

How Acupuncture Works on the Nervous System 🧠✨

Acupuncture works by communicating directly with the nervous system. When a fine needle is placed into specific acupuncture points, it stimulates sensory nerve fibers in the skin, muscles, and connective tissue. These signals travel through the peripheral nervous system to the spinal cord and up to the brain, where they help regulate how the body processes pain, stress, and inflammation.

At the central nervous system level, acupuncture influences key brain regions involved in pain perception, emotional regulation, and hormonal balance. Research shows it can increase the release of natural pain-relieving chemicals like endorphins and enkephalins, while also calming overactive pain pathways. This is one reason acupuncture can reduce pain without numbing the area or suppressing symptoms 🧠⚡

Acupuncture also has a powerful effect on the autonomic nervous system, especially the vagus nerve, which plays a major role in relaxation, digestion, immune function, and heart rate regulation. By activating vagal pathways, acupuncture helps shift the body out of “fight or flight” mode and into a parasympathetic, rest-and-repair state 🌿💓

This vagal stimulation supports improved digestion, deeper breathing, better sleep, and a calmer emotional state. Over time, regular acupuncture can help retrain the nervous system, making it more resilient and less reactive to stress, pain, and inflammation.

Rather than forcing the body to change, acupuncture gently guides the nervous system back toward balance, allowing the body to do what it is designed to do: heal and regulate itself ✨🪡

Sleeping on the "good side" only? Wincing at seatbelts and shirts? You're not being dramatic, your shoulder is asking fo...
01/25/2026

Sleeping on the "good side" only? Wincing at seatbelts and shirts? You're not being dramatic, your shoulder is asking for gentler help.

NHS Scotland reports acupuncture can ease persistent shoulder pain and help you regain movement, with a low risk of side effects (NHS Scotland, 2021).

We love pairing needles with smart rehab. Acupuncture can calm overprotective muscles and pain signals so your physiotherapy exercises land better, less bracing, more "oh wow, that moved."

At Common Roots Acupuncture, we can coordinate with your PT or recommend one we trust. Reach us at 520-276-9555 or learn more at https://commonrootsacupuncture.com

Source: NHS Scotland. "Acupuncture for Musculoskeletal Shoulder Pain." NHS Inform, 2021: https://www.nhsinform.scot/tests-and-treatments/therapies/acupuncture

01/24/2026

Well…. if you went to acupuncture! Here’s a patient testimonial from Amanda who has been coming to us for acupuncture for nearly 15 years now. She began getting acupuncture for neck and shoulder tension but has found it so beneficial for many other things as well.

01/24/2026

When you break a bone, the process of getting back up and going can take longer than you want it to! It’s important to maintain range of motion as best you can through the orocess an it all serves as a means of determining how well recovery is going.

01/23/2026

Typing all day at a computer can overload the forum muscles that move your fingers and wrist. Over time they stay tight, irritated, and don’t fully relax. Dry needling helps calm those trigger points and helps the muscles reset naturally.

01/23/2026

Sneeze, turn around, or try to tie your shoe, You can’t win!!

01/22/2026

Working on a case of shoulder rehab here using functional myofascial decompression. Cupping therapy helps to break up adhesions in the fascia and muscles of the shoulder after an injury that form when we are unable to use a body part such as the shoulder properly for an extended period of time. This patient is making very good progress and almost back to full range of motion.

01/21/2026

We should be getting Acupuncture all the time. Active stress reduction as a critical part of self-care. This means not waiting until things are really bad but before we try to fix them. This is the same reason why we don’t wait until we get cavities to start brushing our teeth or until our engine breaks down before we change the oil. Stress doesn’t go away and it’s not going anywhere anytime soon, as far as I can tell! Acupuncture is an excellent tool to use to modulate the nervous system and the effect that stress has on us both physically and mentally

01/21/2026

And I appreciate every single one of them! 🤓 👍🏼

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Tucson, AZ

Opening Hours

Tuesday 9am - 3pm
Wednesday 1pm - 7pm
Thursday 9am - 3pm
Sunday 9am - 3pm

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About CRA

Common Roots Acupuncture is a nonprofit clinic founded on the principle that acupuncture should be affordable and accessible to the average person. The benefits of acupuncture are numerous and many people have found it to be useful in helping with various ailments, but if it’s not a cost effective means of receiving healthcare then we lose out on it’s true value. Pain is the most common thing people usually seek out acupuncture for whether chronic or acute, but acupuncture also treats many other conditions including; digestive issues, anxiety/depression, stress, menstrual regulation, headaches, allergies, arthritis, autoimmune conditions, sleep support, and ‘’mysterious’’ or undiagnosable conditions quite well.

Common Roots staff are experienced practitioners of acupuncture and herbal medicine. Come see what acupuncture can do for you!