When most people think of needles and medicine, visions of the dreaded “shot” likely flash through their heads, but Karen Adams of Greenfield Community Acupuncture has something different in mind.
Adams has been practicing acupuncture, an ancient eastern medicine, since 2005, after spending five years learning the skill in London, before returning to the United States.
Now, she uses it to provide relief from stress, pain and other ailments for her clients, while working to bring their body’s natural balance back — and with a community-based model, she strives to make it accessible to everyone, regardless of their means.
Acupuncture is an old practice, believed to have first been developed in Asia — mainly China — about 5,000 years ago.
“The oldest existing book is about 2,500 years old,” Adams said. “It’s been in China, Japan, Vietnam. Some think in Egypt, even.”
She became interested in the practice after trying it herself during a stressful period of her life in the 1980s and finding that it worked for her.
“It really kept me on Earth, allowed me to function and take care of my kids,” she said.
She made the decision to become an acupuncturist when a friend was diagnosed with cancer and she hoped to find a way to help her through it.
Adams runs her clinic based on a “working-class acupuncture” model: treatment sessions may see her treating upwards of four patients at a time, arranged on comfy chairs in a circle in her studio.
That keeps the price of sessions down, she said, making her practice more accessible to people with lower incomes. Treatments are $25 each.
“Community-style acupuncture clinics were created to make acupuncture accessible to more people,” she said.
Adams shifted her model to the community acupuncture approach after a trip to New Orleans, La., following Hurricane Katrina, where she helped treat survivors and first responders, she said.
Over time, acupuncture has been refined until reflected in the modern techniques seen these days. Adams said acupuncture is considered a medicine, not a religion.
“Belief is not a requirement for efficacy — except in so far as the mind can block progress or boost it,” she said.
The practice, she said, relies heavily on the idea that the body, mind and spirit can’t be taken separately when attempting to fix someone’s ailments, and acupuncture is based on the idea that triggering various points along the body can balance the three. That’s done by accessing the body’s “energy points” with a fine needle.
Adams said acupuncture is widely regarded as an effective Eastern supplement to modern Western medicine.
She said she has had clients undergoing treatment for chronic back pain, digestive issues and other ailments who’ve used it in conjunction with their primary treatments for various reasons. Many also come for anxiety treatment and stress relief, she said.
The process can hurt a bit, she said, but less than getting a shot, a tattoo, or having your ears pierced. All the needles used are sterile and disposable, and Massachusetts requires acupuncturists to obtain and maintain a license from the state Board of Registration in Medicine.
Each of the more than 360 points in the body serves a specific purpose, Adams said.
“It’s the acupuncturist’s job to know which point is the appropriate one and use the needle to stimulate it. It’s almost like a suggestion to the body, mind and spirit,” she said. “It’s a joint effort — not like a pill that forces compliance, but a series of suggestions to correct imbalances that comes through the point. You follow the ‘suggestion’ as much as you are capable of doing — acupuncturists support your work by giving further suggestions to balance.”
Adams said acupuncture also takes time, and the more often a person receives treatment, the better it generally works, sort of like physical therapy or forms of therapeutic sessions.
She said how often a person will be asked to come depends on how bad their pain or other conditions are bothering them.
Adams said acupuncture has recently been studied for its effectiveness in treating addiction, too, especially in light of a growing national opioid addiction problem.
She said she also hosts a free drop-in clinic for veterans, first responders and their families that has been running continually for almost nine years. She said some find acupuncture effective in treating, managing, or recovering from post-traumatic stress disorder and pain.
Adams’s practice is located at 345 Main St., on the second floor. For more information, call 413-772-0077.
You can reach Tom Relihan at: 413-772-0261 ext 264,
or trelihan@recorder.com.
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