Affordable acupuncture for all

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This article was published 21/11/2016 (3325 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Getting a needle might not sound relaxing, yet that’s exactly the mood in Paul Kohlmeier’s Straight to the Point Community Acupuncture clinic (201-83 Sherbrook St.).

Patients sit together in one room reclined on sofas and chairs under blankets while quiet music plays in the background. Kohlmeier said the togetherness of the practice is one element of what he calls community acupuncture.

“It’s a whole business model,” he said. “An acupuncturist was sitting around with friends and said I can’t treat any of my friends because the going rate is too high… she came upon the idea, well, in my living room, I’ve got a sofa, two recliners. If I put four people in them and I treat them at the same time, I only need to charge them a quarter.”

Kohlmeier said his clinic prices are up to a quarter less than the standard rate for acupuncture, which is what most patients come in for. The clinic also offers Chinese medicine and massage therapy. Before opening Straight to the Point five years ago, Kohlmeier co-owned a massage therapy clinic for 15 years.

He said one of the benefits of having everyone in the same room is that patients can see each other being treated and Kohlmeier is accessible to everyone.

“Everyone comes in nervous because they think needles, like the ones you get at the doctor,” he said. “I can fit about eight of my needles in the holes of those needles… if you have animals and you stepped on a cat’s whisker, they’re smaller than that.”

Kohlmeier treats patients for a huge variety of conditions, including pain, headaches, arthritis, insomnia, anxiety, depression, PTSD, intestinal issues and those who are pregnant.

“Chinese people have been using some form of acupuncture… for 2,000 or 3,000 years,” he said. “It was their primary medicine, so if that’s the case, if you practice anything for that long, you’ll figure some stuff out… they figured out the physiology by watching and observing the body.”  

Kohlmeier said he’s happy to charge patients a low price if it means they can get the care that they need.

“I do need to have a level of income, a low level I’m happy with so I can be of service in practising medicine,” he said. “I love doing these treatments for people, it’s lots of fun… when I tell them they need to come in three times a week because they have a drastic problem, they’re not stressed about it because the three times is what they’ll pay once at some other place.”

For more information, visit sttpca.com