Success Stories
Health Condition: AIDS
A 40 something year old male was one of the first people to get diagnosed in the early 1980’s with AIDS. When he first came in, he brought with him a list of at least 20 medications that he was on.
Besides the lack of energy that he suffered from for which he needed to take 2-3 hour naps on a daily basis, he also wanted help to balance the side effects that all of these medications had given him.
Solution: Acupuncture & Chinese Herbs
Results: Not only did Acupuncture help to manage the profuse sweating that he suffered from, but he was consistently able to cut down on the amount of time that his body needed to rest during napping.
Additionally, the “stuck in the craw” of his throat/windpipe feeling that he got from taking so much medication was minimized or eliminated.
Finally, not only did he attribute returning back to college to his weekly Acupuncture treatments and Chinese Herbal Medicines, but he was also able to go away on vacation for the first time in years!
Health Condition: Allergies & Low back Pain
A 28-year-old martial artist complained of having low back pain for a long period of time. He felt that although he was so young it was all due to the fighting on the ground for so many years with opponents that were taller and heavier than him.
But, what was instigating the pain was his allergies. Since his nose was broken so many times, he felt especially clogged up because he couldn’t get his nose to drain and this aggravated the pain in his low back. He previously had tried homeopathy for the allergies.
Solution: Acupuncture & Chinese herbal Formulas
Results: 7 days after his first Acupuncture treatment and taking 2 Chinese Herbal Formulas, he felt “70% better” overall! He took his herbs for 3 more weeks and his allergies were “100% gone”, and his sinuses were “100% better”.
After his 4th Acupuncture treatment, his back feels “90% better” and he felt like he was ready to resume hard martial arts training once again.
Health Condition: Arthritis
A 60-something year old male complained of arthritis in his right shoulder. It was painful to lift his arm up level with his shoulder, and it was difficult to sleep on that side because of the pain he felt.
He was an active person, and using his shoulder prevented him from doing activities like even putting on deodorant. Other than his shoulder he was healthy, had no complaints, and recently passed his physical exam “with flying colors”.
His Doctor had his shoulder X-rayed and blamed arthritis on the pain. Upon careful examination of the patient, it was clear that the cause of his shoulder pain and limited range of motion was not arthritis.
The problem was a knot in the front part of the muscle in his shoulder. This knot was tender to the touch, and had to be “un-knotted” in order to feel more comfortable, less painful, and more usable.
Solution: Acupuncture, Asian bodywork therapy, self-massage
Results: After just four acupuncture treatments, he was able to go away on a four-day golf outing during which he not only spent all that time on the golf course with his friends, but he golfed 100% pain free during the entire trip.
Had he been treated only for his “arthritis,” he would never have been able to play more than just a few holes.
Health Condition: Back Went Out
A female patient in her mid-30s came hobbling into the office complaining that her back went our after her Reebok spin class. She has a history of having a weak lower back and had never tried acupuncture immediately after having one of her episodes.
Solution: Acupuncture and Asian bodywork therapy
Results: At the end of the special sports medicine treatment involving acupuncture, heat lamp, Chinese herbal liniment, Asian bodywork therapy, and Chinese medicated herbal patch, she felt that she could stand upright. The pain was at least “50% less”, which she said was a “miracle,” and her walking looked much more normal.
Health Condition: Brain Tumor
A 3o-something female came in for varied health problems. She had been diagnosed seven years earlier with a benign brain tumor, which was inoperable because of its particular location. Since this tumor was enlarged, it placed so much extra pressure on her brain that she endured near-constant headaches, causing her to miss a lot of work.
Solution: Acupuncture
Results: For her first acupuncture treatment, she came to the office with a friend to help calm her nerves since it was something that she had never experienced before. At the end of her first treatment, she was so elated that she nearly ran out of the office.
Her friend explained that this was the first time that she had not had any pain in her head in years. To say the least, she was overjoyed that she felt normal again!
Health Condition: Burning Pain In Testicle
A 30-year-old man hesitantly came in to see if acupuncture could help him. One year prior to his first visit, he did an immense amount of sit ups in one day. The next day after waking up, he felt a burning sensation shoot from the right side of his lower back into his right testicle.
The burning was constant and was aggravated by heavy lifting, which was part of his daily work schedule. He had seen an M.D., as well as a chiropractor, a neurologist, and other specialists for help, but with no success.
Solution: Acupuncture
Results: Although he was afraid of needles, he felt that he had nothing else left to try, so he tried acupuncture as a last resort. His Chinese medical diagnosis was fire in the liver channel, which is the energy channel that wraps around the genital region.
Acupuncture was given to alleviate his pain and put out the fire in the liver channel. After his first treatment, he felt about “10% better”, but this only lasted about a day. After his second treatment, he felt about “30% better”, and this lasted about 2–3 days.
After his third treatment, he felt about “60% better”. This lasted the whole week, even with all of his heavy lifting. After the fourth time he came in, he explained that the last treatment that he received was a “miracle” and he had felt “100% better” the entire week.
He said that he felt like “a new man.” He came in to receive three preventative acupuncture treatments to seal in the results and he has continued to be pain free for the last two months.
Like so many people, had he not been so reluctant to try acupuncture, he could’ve been pain free 11 months earlier!
Health Condition: Bursitis & Hip Pain
A very active 30-year-old female tri-athlete came in for bursitis and pain in her right hip. Her nagging hip pain was preventing her from running and biking. She had gone to another acupuncturist previously, who had helped her, but she did not continue her therapy. Justin Mandel has treated me with both Acupuncture and the prescription of herbs and prescribed a treatment that worked.
Health Condition: Cirrhosis Of The Liver
A young male in his mid-30s came in concerned because a friend of his had cirrhosis of the liver and was experiencing terrible pronounced bloating to the point that it became visible to others. He came in because he also thought that he had cirrhosis, because he felt the way that his friend looked.
Solution: Special exercises & dietary modification suggestions
Results: He was told to modify his diet slightly and was taught special exercises to alleviate the pain that he was experiencing, and to help improve digestion after eating.
After just two days of doing the exercises, he felt considerable improvement in comfort in his belly. After two weeks of doing the exercises, he felt even better because his belly felt flat, and told me he had even lost some weight.
After 6–7 weeks of doing the exercises, he weighed himself and discovered that he’d lost 15 pounds without altering his diet too much or exercising, and had no more complaints since his belly was so flat.
Health Condition: Depressed With Anxiety
A 35-year-old male had suffered depression involving a chain of events that he experienced 3 years before which partially involved getting surgery. After this, the patient went into a deep depression that his wife found difficult to cope with and understand.
Solution: A special Acupuncture protocol used to change brain waves.
Results: After just two treatments using this special protocol, the patient felt as though he had made significant progress and started to resume work that he had put down right around the time of the surgery.
His wife also saw the change and remarked that she “felt more love from him.” The patient was amazed to feel that “the needles went right where I felt like they should go.” Six months after his last treatment, he continues to function at a high level and feels close to how he used to feel before his bout with depression.
Health Condition: Drop Foot
An 80 year old woman came in after being bedridden for 2 months with
hip pain. After spending so much time in bed, she developed drop foot
in her right foot. Since her hip was now feeling better, she was able
to get up and move around, but she still had almost zero control over
movement of her right foot. However, without the use of a walker getting
around was impossible due to not being able to lift her foot up to move
forward.
Solution: Acupuncture and Manual Therapy.
Results: After just three treatments she regained
85% over control over her right foot. According to a Pain Management
and Rehabilitation doctor who was consulted for the case, this should
have taken 6 months.
Health Condition: Dysmenorrhea
A 31-year-old woman came in for treatment for her painful periods. For as long as she can remember, since menarche she remembers having intense pain 1 day before her period, along with several other unpleasant symptoms during her period.
Solution: Two Acupuncture Treatments
Results: She was overjoyed to report that this was the first time in her life that she can remember being completely pain free both before and during menstration! This is also the first time since she was a teenager that she has had no other unpleasant symptoms during her period!
Health Condition: Elbow Pain
A 41-year-old martial arts student complained of an elbow injury, which happened in class one day.
Solution: Acupuncture and Asian Bodywork Therapy
Results: Immediately after his first Acupuncture treatment he was both surprised and relieved to feel his elbow move through its full range of motion.
Exhaustion/Adrenal Gland Burn-out
A woman in her early 60s originally came in to “boost the immune” system and to deal with bad complications from a virus she had previously. She had seen many different acupuncturists who mostly used electrical stimulation with their treatments, which she did not like.
She reported that she had low energy and needed to nap on almost a daily basis for 2-3 hours at a time. Additionally, her love for singing proved to be a personal challenge for her because the singing taxed her body to the point where she couldn’t get her body to recover from all of the exerted effort she gave.
Solution: Acupuncture, moxibustion, Chinese herbal medicine, special exercise regimen
Results: She came in for weekly acupuncture treatments for approximately 10 months to tonify her basal source qi and took various herbal formulas to build up her lungs and kidneys.
Chi-Kung exercises were taught to her to tonify her kidneys and Chinese exercises were taught to her to strengthen her lungs. As her condition started to improve, she started to come twice a month to continue to build up her energy.
Recently, she took a trip to Europe, during which she felt great throughout her trip and had no complaints of exhaustion.
She now comes for Acupuncture just once a month and feels that her life has been changed because she can now enjoy herself and can sing again where before she could not do these things without being exhausted.
Health Condition: Fibromyalgia
A 42-year-old woman came in complaining about pain that traveled throughout her body, including her neck, lower back, arm, ribcage, knee, and hip, as well as occasional headaches. She went to several doctors and took thousands of dollars worth of tests. She also underwent treatment with antibiotics, chiropractic care, and took tai chi lessons.
Solution: Acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine
Results: After three weeks of treatment with acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine, she felt “90% better”! She continued to get treatments for another two months and then stopped getting treatments due to her busy schedule. Eight months after she originally came in she continues to feel “98% better” on a consistent daily basis!
Health Condition: Heel Pain
A woman in her early 40’s came in for varied health complaints. She complained of intense pain in her heels which was a particular nuicense for her since her job involved standing for long hours.
The pain had been there for the past year and she bought very expensive shoes to help cope with the intense pain that she experienced.
Solution: Two Acupuncture treatments
Results: A woman in her early 40’s came in for varied health complaints As part of her treatment, her heels were treated. After the first treatment she was shocked that her heels had felt "98% better"! After the second treatment she felt "100% better" which has not returned again!
A woman in her late 30’s complained of having severe pain in her left heel for the past 6 years. She rated her pain as a "9" out of a possible "10" which would indicate that she would need to be hospitalized.
Since she was a hairdresser, she has decided that she could no longer wear fashionable shoes and would have to resort to working with sneakers.
Solution: One Acupressure treatments
Results: After her Acupressure treatment she was both shocked and amazed that the heel pain which she had experienced for the past 6 years felt 100% better!
Health Condition: Irritable Bowel Syndrome
A mother brought her 15-year-old son in to see if acupuncture could help him. The family had a couple of illnesses two years prior, and he had developed intense stomach pains during the summer of 2004 that prevented him from leaving the house and doing many normal summer activities.
Solution: Acupuncture & Chinese herbal medicine
Results: Within 4 weeks of doing acupuncture, his pains started to subside and he remained by and large completely pain free. During the summer of 2005, he was very active, had a full time job, and resumed all of his normal outdoor activities.
Health Condition: Infertility
A 44-year-old woman had been trying to get pregnant for over 3 years. This was the third time she was trying the IVF procedure and had spent one year being treated by another acupuncturist who was also giving her Chinese herbal formulas to take.
Solution: Acupuncture and dietary recommendations
Results: By the time she had decided to give acupuncture one last try, she was three months away from undergoing the IVF transfer. Since her doctor did not want her to take herbs, we modified her diet, which according to her helped to boost her energy by “50%”.
Three weeks after her last treatment, she called back after she had found out the results from her doctor that she was pregnant and proclaimed, ”It’s a miracle"!
Health Condition: Infertility & Migraines
A 34-year-old female came in because of infertility and migraines. She had already tried to conceive once before with in-vitro fertilization (IVF) and had a miscarriage.
She was currently trying to get pregnant again with a second round of IVF, but the drugs that she was given aggravated her migraines that she had been living with for the past 13 years.
The medication brought on horrific migraine episodes where she “gets the shakes and wants to die” because of how much pain she feels. So, she came in to try to conceive and to try to lesson the effects that the medication gave her.
Solution: Acupuncture & dietary modification suggestions
Results: After her only her third treatment, the migraines lessoned in both intensity and frequency. And after her fifth treatment, she stopped getting any migraines or headaches.
For the rest of the duration of her treatments, she had only experienced two headaches, without having another migraine.
Almost 3 months after she started Acupuncture she received the results of this last IVF treatment and to her immense satisfaction, she was indeed pregnant.
Health Condition: Leaking Sweat From All Pores
A 29-year-old male complained about how much sweating he did during kung fu training. This excessive sweating was a great concern because there would be a puddle on the floor at the end of a kung fu workout.
After examining the patient’s tongue and pulse, and hearing about his chief complaint, he was told to go to his medical doctor for testing. He didn’t go.
Two months later, he had to be literally carried on the back of a neighbor to his local hospital emergency room where he was diagnosed with bacterial pericarditis. There he remained for three days, while he was under observation.
In Chinese medicine, sweat is known as the bodily fluid that relates to the heart, and his symptoms surely related to his heart in some way. It just so happens that the area affected was his pericardium, which is a thick, muscular sheath that surrounds the heart to prevent it from injury.
Solution: Suggested that patient go to see his M.D.
Results: If he had indeed gone to see his M.D. as suggested, his visit to the hospital would have surely been curtailed, along with his recovery time.
Health Condition: Migraines
A 55-year-old woman came in for relief from her migraines that she has had for nearly the past 30 years. She had “been to every neurologist in the tri-state area” to seek relief from her condition.
And she had also “taken every medication which just doesn’t help”. About one year ago, she woke up with a new pain located in the bridge of her nose and under her eyes.
When she went to her neurologist “he couldn’t understand why the new pain would travel to that area”. After taking so much medication for so many years all with little or no effect, she was extremely doubtful that Acupuncture treatments would help.
Solution: One Acupuncture treatment
Results: The patient was diagnosed with qi and blood stagnation in the Urinary Bladder and Stomach channels. The Urinary Bladder channel starts at the inside corner of the eye, travels up to the bridge of the nose, past the eyebrows and over the top of the head.
The Stomach channel starts underneath the center of the eyeball and travels downwards past the nose. Acupuncture was done to move the qi and blood through the channels and to alleviate her pain.
The night of her first treatment, the pain that she had suffered from under her eyes and the bridge of her nose for the past year completely went away.
When she woke up in the morning, to her amazement, not only did the pain stay away for the whole night, but her migraine decreased in intensity to the point to where, it also had gone away leaving only a slight headache in her temples.
A woman in her late 40's came in to see if Acupuncture can help with her migraines. She had recently taken a cruise and wanted to try Acupuncture, but the Acupuncturist was all booked up.
She had experienced migraines her entire life, but they had gotten worse with the oncoming of menopause. She has tried every migraine medication under the sun, whcih all typically work for about 1 month and then the effect wears off. She has experienced more migraines in the past year, then ever before in her life.
Solution: Acupuncture treatments
Results: The patient returned for her second visit and was extremely pleased to find that she had not suffered from a migraine or a headache all week long!
When she returned for her third treatment, once again she was relieved to say that she once again had no migraines or headaches! She could not remember the last time that she had gone weeks without any experiencing any headaches or migraines!
She continues to come for treatments saying, "My head is no where near as bad as it used to be"!
Health Condition: Neck And Shoulder Pain
An active 52-year-old man came in for help with his neck and shoulders. He had already tried chiropractic and physical therapy for the past 10 years and had gone twice a week for treatments, but the results were short-lived.
He’d had neck pain for several years, which progressively had gotten worse. He also had a bulging disc in his neck. His pain was made worse from riding a bicycle because the position put more pressure on his neck/upperback/shoulder area.
Solution: Acupuncture & Asian bodywork therapy
Results: After examining the patient, it was clear that part of the reason for his pain was due to knotting of the musculature in his upper body. Acupuncture was done to loosen up the muscles and to bring energy and blood near the area of his disc buldge.
After each of the first few treatments he felt slight improvement in his upper back. When he showed up for his 5th treatment, he was surprised at how comfortable his neck felt and how relaxed his upper back felt, which had changed from being one big knot into very relaxed separate muscles.
He felt that if it was not for his active lifestyle, he would feel “100%” fine. Towards the end of that treatment session he commented, “You’re the only Doctor who didn’t lie to me”.
Health Condition: Pain From Surgery
A 23-year-old female came in for varied health problems and forgot to tell me about her chronic shoulder pain that she had since having neck surgery.
This chronic shoulder problem was particularly burdensome since she was a mother with a new baby and it greatly interfered with her comfort when picking up and holding the baby.
Solution: One single acupuncture treatment
Results: When she came in for her second appointment, she remarked how her shoulder had been in constant pain ever since her surgery, but that in the week since her first appointment, it was the first time in the two years since her operation that she has been completely pain-free.
Thoracic Compression Syndrome
A 29 year old female came in due to thoracic back pain from a motor vehicle accident she had been in 7 years prior. The pain that she experienced was a sharp stabbing pain in her spinal column. Before coming for acupuncture, she had tried exercise, yoga, Pilates, and Tylenol which all helped to temporarily alleviate the pain. She had heard a lot about acupuncture and how I might be able to help her, but had never tried it before.
Solution: Acupuncture
Results: Immediately after finishing acupuncture, she was surprised
to feel instant relief. More than 8 months after her first and only
treatment she has not felt any symptoms of any back pain like she
used to have!
Health Condition: Torn Rotator Cuff
A very active 71 year-old male tore his rotator cuff. He had tried physical therapy under his doctors recomendation and found that he gained no relief.
Solution: Acupuncture and Asian Bodywork Therapy
Results: After starting Acupuncture treatment, he was happy to find something that gave him relief! Since starting his treatment, he returns weekly to maintain his rotator cuff in order to work out several times a week with his personal trainer.
Health Condition: Tail Bone Pain
A 28 year-old martial artist complained of getting injured during a vigorous training session. Apparently, he was kicked in the tailbone and the pain started after he finished training. He complained of feeling “like an old man” who his wife said had to lift himself up to get up from a seated position.
Solution: Acupuncture
Results: After a single 15 minute Acupuncture treatment, he stood up from the floor (without lifting himself up) and instantly felt “50% better”. He was so impressed with the results that he proclaimed that he was ready to train again on the spot!
Health Condition: TMJ & Back Pain
A 54-year-old woman complained of disc herniations and bulges from T12 to L1 and from L4 to S1. She also suffered from TMJ, which caused throbbing headaches and numbness. She came in because she wanted to see if acupuncture could help her.
She had already tried physical therapy, chiropractic, and trigger point injections from her orthopedist for her back, and tried injections from her dentist for her TMJ. All therapies for both problems did not elicit the kind of success that she had wanted or hoped for.
Solution: Electro-Acupuncture
Results: As she came in week after week, she had seen nearly constant improvement through acupuncture treatments. After 3½ months of acupuncture treatments for her back and acupuncture plus electro-stimulation for her jaw, she has now felt “90%” better on a consistent basis.
Health Condition: Upset Stomach
A 27-year-old female came in complaining of poor appetite, bloating, diarrhea, and stomach pain. By the time she came in, she had been experiencing diarrhea for the previous two months. She did not want to visit a doctor or hospital because she had no health insurance .
Solution: Acupuncture
Results: She came in for an initial treatment and felt 100% better by the next day, free of stomach pain and diarrhea. In addition, she felt “euphoric” for almost the entire next day.
Since she was feeling all better, she ended up eating some very spicy food three days after her first treatment and again came down with stomach pain and diarrhea. She came in for one more treatment after eating the spicy food and has been pain free and symptom free for nearly the past 16 months.
Health Condition: Chronic Neck Pain, Chronic Arm Pain, Chronic Shoulder Pain, Trapezius Technique
To Whom It May Concern:
"My severe pain has lasted for 14 years. To begin with, if affected only my left arm so I consulted an orthopedic doctor. Over time my pain gradually became worse despite his treatment. My P.C.P. then referred me to a neurologist, but i experienced no significant improvement. The pain spread to my left shoulder and the left side of my neck. After several MRI's and my nrurologist I was correctly diagnosed.
Due to an abnormality in a section of my spinal column, I suffer muscle spasm attacks which in turn causes severe pain. After suffering for so long I gave up a pain-free life. The my neurologost convinced me to try Justin Mandel's acupuncture.
Undergoing this treatment is the best gift that I could give myself. Hopelessness was restored to hope and impossible became possible.
Thanks to Justin I got my life back whie my treatment is continuing on a much reduced level."
M.M.
Health Condition: Chronic Back Pain, Trapezius Technique
""I am a 49 year old woman who has had back problems for my entire adult life. Because I do office work, I am constantly on the phone while working on a keyboard. I have also had several severe car accidents and falls.
I have been going to a chiropractor since my early 20's. Chiropractic adjustments have helped to make the pain somewhat bearable, but at times the flare-ups are so bad that I can't even sit for more than a few minutes at a time. In the past 5 years I have been treated by a minimum of 6 different acupuncturists with no success…until now.
After losing 3 jobs in 4 years due to excessive absenteeism relating to back, shoulder, and neck pain, I found myself relocated to a job in Rye Nrook, NY. I was despearte to find yet another acupuncturist who had a convenient location and offic ehours that would suit my schedule. I searched the internet and found that there was an acupuncturist right across the street from my office. What more could I ask for and what did I have to lose after trying so many with no success?
During my initial consultation Justin told me that I could expect to experience almost 100% pain relief within 5 visits. I was skeptical to say the least, but thought to myself, "I'd be happy with 5% improvement at this point". Besides, no other doctor or alternative health provider has ever given me any prognosis as to how long it would take to get the pain releif I needed to live my life in a normal manner.
Justin began treating me with a combination of acupuncture, cupping, and the Trap-Eaze Technique in August 2007. After the first visit my pain was about 80% better. Six visits later, I found myself 95% pain free. True, it took one extra visit than he had anticipated, but that was only because the pain radiated across the left side of my back and into my shoulder so it was difficult to pinpoint the origin of the pain and I couldn't reach far aenough behind me to point to the area. Afterall, health care providers are not miracle workers. They can only work with what they have. So I've always been a firm believer that the patient needs top be specific as possible by whatever means possible.
Then, while skimming through a magazine, I came across an ad that had a picture of a woman's back. It ocurred to me that the best way to show Justin where my pain was the worst to point to it in a picture. I tore the page out of the magazine, put an "X" on the spot in the ad and showed it to Justin. Once that areas was treated the pain was almost completely gone.
Because of the type of work I do it is unrealistic to think that I will ever be 100% pain free, but in the skillful hands of Justin Mandel, Dipl.O.M. L.Ac I'm hopeful. I haven't felt that way regarding my health in 30 years."
success stories
