Treatment gets to the point

Having sharp needles stuck in your body and left there for a long period of time may sound scary, but according to Dr. Ngoc Tot Chau, acupuncturist it is completely painless.

This procedure can work tor severe chronic pain, stress, or make one stop smoking.

Chau says acupuncture is based on a circulation system where there are two types of energies, positive and negative, which travel through different meridians in the body. He said that when someone is feeling pain it means that the energies are blocked up and not balanced throughout the body. Acupuncture, said Chau, makes the energy return to the blocked part, so it is once again balanced.

As a treatment for smoking, Chau places three very short and wide silver needles in right ear. The patient wears the needles for a week. By then they should have stopped smoking, and can take the needles out themselves. All of the needle enters the body, so there aren’t big pieces sticking out. Chau said when acupuncture is given to quit smoking it is very successful, his front wall is covered with testimonies from patients he cured from smoking.

Chau also helps people to lose weight and he cures allergies through acupuncture.

The cost for acupuncture to stop smoking is $60, whereas everything else is $30 per session. OHIF does not cover acupuncture procedures.

For body pains, Chau uses needles that are thinner and longer, but they only stay in the patient for 15 minutes. During that time the patient lays on a cushioned doctor's table beside two boxes that looks like they have tiny booster cables growing out of it. The box emits a very light electrical current to the body when the ‘cables’, which are attached to the box via wire, are placed on the individual needles.

The needles are placed in special points on the body where it is believed the blocked up energy meridian is. "No one complains of pain because the needles are very small," said Chau. He said patients rarely bleed from the needles, which are always sterile, and if they do it is only a tiny amount.

Chau   graduated   from University of Saigon with a degree in biology. He then completed a four-year study of acupuncture, before immigrating to Canada from Vietnam.

Chau's office is located at 137 George Street Belleville and he can be contacted at 962-9429.   back to Main Page