Andrea Izquierdo was an MD student in Western Medicine at the University of Florida until 2007.
“I was on Prilosec for bilateral gastritis. I visited my cousin’s doctor in California,” Dr. Izquierdo said. “Two days before I was scheduled to return home, I had a fever and chills. I witnessed a different type of medicine. I had acupuncture treatment for the first time, and I woke up the next day feeling much better.”
After returning home, she researched Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and self-medicated to reduce acid reflux, calm her mind, and eliminate pills.
“Chinese medicine became my passion,” Izquierdo said.
She earned her master’s degree from Florida University of Integrative Medicine and interned in China. She became a certified acupuncturist and opened her Bodhi Traditional Chinese Medicine facility at 304 S. Harbor City Boulevard in Melbourne.
Izquierdo blends Eastern and Western medicine and relies on pre-medical biology and genetics, as well as acupuncture, which inserts small flexible needles through the skin into specific tissues to improve their function.
“It’s non-invasive and painless. Most patients find it so soothing that they fall asleep during the treatment.” She offers low-level resonance biotherapy with dry needling and electrical current.
Acupuncture has been used in China for over 2,000 years to treat many illnesses.
“I have patients who say, ‘I tried acupuncture and it didn’t work,’ but when I ask them, they admit, ‘Oh, I tried it once and I didn’t see a difference,'” she says.
Izquierdo said the treatment is not a quick fix, as many patients live with pain for years and undergo multiple surgeries. “They told me there was no hope.” At her first consultation, she takes a patient’s medical history.
“I’ll ask you how you feel at that moment.” She then suggests a series of treatments. “I don’t use magic, and I know my limits.”
Ms. Izquierdo’s practice focuses on chronic and acute pain, autoimmune diseases, and women’s health. She has helped infertile women conceive. Reduces chronic neck and back pain in whiplash patients. Improves allergic reactions and gastrointestinal disorders.
Joy McGreevey of Satellite Beach suffered a neck injury in a car accident in 2011, but the injury relapsed two years ago.
“I thought I had cut my neck because I sneezed.” She visited a traditional doctor who said, “Your neck is terrible.” Her sister had successfully treated her neck pain with acupuncture, so McGreevy searched and found Izquierdo, she said.
“It took me a while to relax, but once I got back on track, the results were good and I am now living a normal life without taking medication,” she said.
For many years, Chinese medicine has been the red-haired stepchild of medicine. The American Medical Association despised doctors. However, according to a 2015 study by the American TCM Association, there are 70,000 licensed acupuncturists in the United States.
“In recent decades, acupuncture has become more widespread and widely used in the United States,” study author Arthur Ying Huang said in the report. ATCMA sets industry and professional standards for Chinese medicine, and its work includes public education, political policy, professional certification, and clinical research.
In 1997, the National Institutes of Health recognized acupuncture as mainstream medicine. Many hospitals are now incorporating Chinese medicine. Mayo Clinic has a comprehensive medical health center in Jacksonville.
