Beyond the Needle: What a Truly Holistic Treatment Looks Like

By Eyal Yona Yamin, LAc.

When you come for a Chinese medicine treatment, you're not just getting a few needles placed at random points. Our focus is to understand you as a whole person, not just the symptom you're experiencing today, but the deeper imbalance that's driving it. That’s why our first step is always a careful and individualized diagnosis.

We utilize tools such as facial diagnosis, pulse reading, blood quality observation, digestive strength assessment, immune function evaluation, and overall energy level assessment. Once we understand your unique constitution and the root of the issue, Chinese medicine offers a rich variety of tools to help you return to balance.

Some of these tools are applied during your treatment in the clinic, and others are for you to take home. These are the small but meaningful steps that strengthen the effects of acupuncture and support long-term healing.

Pulse diagnosis is one of the key tools we use in Chinese medicine to understand what’s happening beneath the surface - physically, emotionally

, and energetically.

The Tools We Use Beyond Acupuncture

Once we know your system deeply, we ca

n recommend targeted tools that complement your acupuncture sessions. These tools are not one-size-fits-all — they are tailored to your current condition and long-term needs.

Here are some examples of what your treatment plan might include:

Each herbal blend is tailored to your unique diagnosis.

• Customized Herbal Formulas We often prepare a personalized herbal prescription to support your body in between acupuncture sessions, addressing internal imbalances in digestion, skin, hormones, or emotions. Dietary Adjustments: Food is medicine. Based on your diagnosis, we may suggest specific foods to include (or avoid) to reduce inflammation, strengthen your digestion, or calm your nervous system.

• Breathing Practices & Qi Gong Exercises. Simple, focused breathing or movement practices can have powerful effects on your nervous system and energy flow. We’ll teach you exercises you can do at home to reinforce the work done during treatment.

• Lifestyle Coaching Sleep habits, exercise routines, emotional stress — all of these affect your healing. Small changes can have a big impact when they’re aligned with your body’s needs.

Together, these elements form a therapeutic container that makes healing faster, deeper, and more sustainable.

Case Example #1: Acne and Skin Conditions

Let’s take acne as an example. From a Western point of view, acne is usually treated with topical creams or medications. But from a Chinese medicine perspective, acne often reflects an internal imbalance related to heat, dampness, digestion, and stress.

In this case, we may combine:

 Cooling the body, calming the mind. Sometimes healing begins with the simplest choices - like light clothing and time in nature.

• Acupuncture to clear internal heat and regulate hormones

• Herbs that reduce inflammation and promote detoxification

• Dietary guidance to reduce damp-producing foods (like sugar and dairy) and add heat-clearing foods like Boiled greens and vegetables, and avoid red meat.

• Lifestyle choices that help cool and purify the system, like wearing white or light-colored clothing to reduce internal heat, walking in nature to support emotional balance, and detox through movement

Together, these tools work not just to suppress the acne, but to transform the internal environment that allowed it to develop in the first place.

Case Example #2: Gastritis and Digestive Discomfort

Another example is chronic stomach discomfort - what some might call gastritis or bloating.

Here, a multi-layered treatment plan might include:

• Acupuncture to regulate stomach qi and calm inflammation

• Warm herbal teas from our in-clinic pharmacy to soothe the lining of the stomach

• Recommendations to eat cooked, easy-to-digest meals

• Breathwork or mindfulness to regulate the stress response, which is often a key trigger for digestive issues

As your digestion becomes stronger, your body gains more healing energy, not only in the stomach, but system-wide.

Wrapping Up: Healing the Whole You

The true power of Chinese medicine lies in its ability to treat the whole person, not just the symptom, and not just for the moment.

Acupuncture is an anchor, but the real shift happens when you’re supported on every level: physically, emotionally, energetically. Healing becomes a partnership - where you’re not just receiving treatment, but also reclaiming agency over your health.

If this kind of holistic care resonates with you, I invite you to come in and experience it for yourself. Let’s explore how your body wants to heal - and give it the support it needs to do so.

With care,

Eyal Yona

Licensed Acupuncturist & Chinese Medicine Practitioner

Call us at 212-753-2442 to find out more.