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Making Her Remedies Stick

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By ELAINE MARKOWITZ

Tribune correspondent

Published: July 30, 2008

TAMPA - The waiting room in the office of Xiao Zhang is not like that of most physicians.

The walls are dotted with peaceful scenes in nature, and soft music fills the air. A small waterfall gurgles gently on a ledge. Orchids stretch colorfully from pots. Those waiting can nestle into tranquillity.

Zhang, a native of China, is trained in traditional Chinese medicine, including acupuncture and herbs. She arrived in the United States in the mid-'80s, already a licensed medical physician and acupuncturist in China. Zhang soon got her Florida certification and opened the Tampa Bay Acupuncture Clinic in Tampa in 1994.

Subsequently, she received her license in Western medicine as well.

"I am the only one in Florida who is authentically trained in Chinese medicine and also a licensed physician in the state," she said recently in her office.

Zhang, a Westchase resident, has long practiced the healing arts of East and West and said each has its place.

She credited Western medicine with greater efficiency in treating acute medical problems, such as infections and traumas, as well as surgical emergencies, such as gall bladder attacks. Eastern medicine, she said, is more suitable for chronic conditions or for people who are allergic to medications.

"Eastern medicine is more focused on prevention and overall well-being," Zhang added. "If your immune system is up and running you may not get sick, even if exposed to strong germs."

Her goal is to integrate fully the two systems in fostering the health of a patient.

First, though, Zhang had to help Americans warm up to the concept of acupuncture. Since opening her practice she has made believers out of her patients, particularly those suffering from chronic pain.

Acupuncture, slowly gaining acceptance throughout the United States, is an ancient medical art with roots in China some 2000 years old. The system includes the belief that a series of meridians, or channels, run through the body. Internal organs are paired along the meridians. Throughout the body flows the qi (pronounced "Chee"), a life force or energy.

In acupuncture, a series of fine, sterilized disposable needles are gently and shallowly inserted into the body along meridians affecting the pained areas. The patient lies quietly on a table, either face up or down as needed, for twenty minutes, standard treatment time.

The success rate appears to be high.

"I believe over 90 percent of pain-related treatments get positive results," Zhang said. "Only a small number of people don't respond to acupuncture."

People come to her with all sorts of pain, including tendonitis, migraine headaches, arthritis, lower back pain, assorted sports injuries and neck and shoulder pain. Six treatments is the norm, but the number can vary.

The clientele has changed over the years, Zhang said. When she began practicing in Florida most of her patients were older, retired people with arthritis and assorted aches and pains.

"Today, I treat teenagers, college students and a wide variety of people of both genders," she said. "Many people find me on the Internet."

"She's a wonderful physician," said longtime patient Dale Morphew, 59. "She's very helpful with my allergies and other problems."

Morphew said he considers acupuncture a wellness treatment and receives periodic treatments to maintain overall good health.

Jane Ryan of Town 'N Country came to the clinic several months ago with pain in her jaw, which at times, she said, took over her life.

Following a car accident several years ago, Ryan had her jaw rebuilt.

"I had been in terrible pain," she said, "excruciating at times."

Now she goes for weekly acupuncture treatments and plans to continue until she reaches a satisfactory level of comfort.

"The pain is nowhere near as bad as it was," she said. "My jaw still hurts, but it's not excruciating any more."

Ryan, like many of Zhang's patients, turned to alternative treatments after Western pharmaceuticals failed to do the trick.

Zhang said Americans today are more knowledgeable and thus more receptive to alternative therapies.

"Patients today do their own research," she said. "An asthma patient, for example, might seek alternatives to steroids."

Recently Zhang has begun using acupuncture to treat infertility.

"This has become trendy," she said. "People are starting to realize that acupuncture is a great alternative to regular treatments."

She treats women with infertility problems with eight weekly acupuncture sessions.

"We are finding that the success rate of a delivering a healthy baby doubles when acupuncture is added to regular treatments," Zhang said.

"I want to see alternative medicine totally integrated into the medical community," she said. "I believe they can complement each other."

Zhang said she makes every effort to help patients get well and finds gratification in their improvement.

"If someone calls me in the morning and says his headache has gone away," she said, "that keeps me going all day."

IF YOU GO

WHAT: The Tampa Bay Acupuncture Clinic
WHERE: 2514 Virginia Ave. in Tampa

INFORMATION AND HOURS OF OPERATION: 877-9626, or visit tbac.net.

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