JMU student Allie Taylor began receiving treatment from Harrisonburg Acupuncture Medical Center in the spring of 2023 to treat her chronic genetic disease Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS). For her, it started as a painful migraine in her high school days and evolved to affect more parts of her body.
The junior exercise science major was diagnosed with EDS in August 2022 after beginning surgery to treat the disease in March 2022. She believes one of the reasons it took Taylor so long to diagnose EDS was because test results were inconclusive.
“I felt something was wrong with my body, but when I was getting tested, [the doctors] “ah, [the lab work is] It’s okay, nothing’s wrong,” Taylor said. “I felt like I was gaslighting myself, telling myself there was nothing wrong with me.”
Taylor feels it was difficult to diagnose the root cause of her illness, EDS, because specialists focused on treating one symptom rather than her pain as a whole.
“The health care system can be a little bit overloaded, so it’s been difficult for each specialist to see the big picture,” Taylor said. “It was more like, ‘These are all things that you have, so let’s treat each one individually.'”
Taylor started her freshman year in fall 2021, but later withdrew for medical reasons because “dorm life was not a good fit for my condition,” she said. She added that the amount of time she spent in the hospital with “bright lights and beeping machines” had a negative impact on her mental health.
While talking to a friend on spring break, she would playfully say, “Oh, I’m just at the hospital, guys.”
Taylor was considering taking a step back from school again in the spring of 2023, as complications from the surgery made it “difficult for her to attend school alongside her daily life.” Her paperwork hadn’t been filled out yet, but her mother and she discussed whether it was a good idea.
“At this point I was like, ‘I can’t balance my school schedule with my health,'” Taylor said.
As a last resort, Taylor and her mother looked into alternative treatments and found an acupuncture medical center.
Acupuncture Medical Center is owned by two acupuncturist sisters, Amara Franco Heller and Berry Franco. A female acupuncturist is always on staff.
Berry said her and her sister’s goal was to “help the types of people who wouldn’t necessarily seek out acupuncture.” Berry said some people may benefit from acupuncture, even if she already practices yoga or other health habits.
According to the center’s website, the center is “passionate about holistic medicine and its outcomes,” and the clinic “offers innovative medical solutions for chronic pain, infertility, and other complex conditions.” “I’m doing it.”
Berry said she enjoys working at the center with her sister. Being able to collaborate in the treatment of each patient led Berry to come up with the phrase, “We have her four hands and her two brains to each person’s case.”
Berry handled Taylor’s case, and Taylor said that from the first appointment to now, Berry has proven that he cares about his clients and genuinely wants to help them. Taylor said her first appointment with Berry lasted an hour, during which Berry listened to Taylor explain her medical history.
“I really realized how different it was from my previous experiences. [with medical professionals]Because I felt like she really cared about my well-being,” Taylor said.
Berry said her patients describe her as caring because she is sincere in helping them feel better.
Within three months of receiving acupuncture, Taylor said the negative side effects she was dealing with from her previous treatments were gone and she saw significant changes in her health.
“I’ve seen a really big change in my quality of life,” Taylor said. “I never expected it to work out this well for me.”
She said acupuncture not only improved Taylor’s physical health, but also her mental state. She feels it has alleviated some of the stress she faces at school and helped her think more positively.
“People don’t often think about acupuncture to help their health or mental health,” Taylor says. “In my opinion, it helps both.”
Taylor said she feels she would have had a better experience at the hospital if she had had access to acupuncture. She said combining holistic medicine and Western medicine would improve patient health.
Debunking the myth that acupuncture hurts, Taylor said the needles feel like being pinched between your fingers. Berry also said the body doesn’t realize that “acupuncture is a single-use, sterile needle that doesn’t have anything on it that could cause an infection.” This tricks the brain into thinking that a pathogen is invading, triggering a series of events that boost the immune system. ”
Taylor’s positive results with acupuncture led her to pursue acupuncture as a career. She will begin working at the Acupuncture Medical Center in the spring to fulfill practicum credits for her kinesiology program and will complete internship credits at the center.
“If I hadn’t reached the end of my rope and tried it myself, I never would have done acupuncture,” Taylor said. “We want people to know how helpful it is.”
