5718 U.S. 209
Sciota, PA, 18354
(570) 243-9147
ACUPUNCTURE & APOTHECARY
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About Me
Kelly Matthews L.Ac. DAOM blends a lifelong interest in Natural Medicine with a Bachelors Degree in Holistic Health from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and a Five Branches University Masters Degree in Traditional Chinese Medicine followed by a Doctoral Degree in Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine. She currently offers her expertise and services in Pennsylvania, where she works as an Acupuncturist while crafting herbal remedies for patients, friends, family and customers all across the country.
*SCROLL DOWN FOR EDUCATION & CREDENTIALS
Why I love Acupuncture and Herbal Medicine…
My first experience with Chinese Medicine was when I was in my early 20s. While pursuing a self-designed major in holistic health I was hit with a skin condition I knew all too well. As a child I suffered from chronic hives for years, and my parents shuffled me back and forth to doctors who diagnosed me with a new food allergy each week as the hives continued. Nothing seemed to help but I eventually seemed to grow out of them, until one day during my senior year of college, they returned..and persisted. I knew stress was a trigger but each day that the itching and irritation continued my efforts to mitigate my stress response seemed more and more futile. I dreaded the idea of living with this condition again. I had always been interested in Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine so I finally made an appointment at the local Chinese Medicine University (where I would later attend) for a treatment. Lucky for me I happened to schedule with the Dean of the university, a powerfully magical woman descending from a long lineage of healers. She used her infamous ‘flying needle technique’ on me ( how does she do that?!) and prescribed me some herbs which I was instructed to make into a tea at home. I remember that evening sipping the tea at home and feeling the first real bit of relief and peace I had felt in a while. I slept like a lamb and woke up HIVE-FREE*. This experience stayed with me and was a huge reason I found myself enrolling in the Masters program in Traditional Chinese Medicine some years later. (*The nearly immediate resolution of my condition is not always typical of natural medicine, as patience is usually a key component to true healing, but rapid recoveries do happen!)
My second life-changing Chinese medicine experience came during winter break of my second year in TCM grad school. For as long as I could remember winter was a time of bronchial infection for me. Growing up in the northeast I just took it as par for the course, only, as each year progressed the infection in my lungs seemed to go deeper. I would even cough up blood at times. The solution while I was in my teen years was to go to the doctor and get a prescription of amoxacillin, which I took carelessly off and on for years, destroying my gut flora in the process ( but that’s another story). This approach did not serve me well. By my second year in grad school, I had a working knowledge of certain categories of herbs including herbs to treat toxins and pathogenic phlegm in the lungs. So when I was home in NYC that cold and snowy winter break and the usual symptoms escalated, I decided to take action. I took the subway down to China town and managed to impress the Chinese man behind the counter at a small herb shop, while reciting the Chinese names of the herbs I had prescribed myself. I went back to my sisters apartment and boiled up a big pot of what would turn out to be a transformative and deeply healing brew, as well as a smell that would remind my sister of my visit for months to come, haha. (so worth it!) I drank it for days and healed and NEVER got sick like that again!
I bow down to the power of acupuncture and herbs. Over the years I have witnessed all sorts of ailments and conditions improve with correct diagnosis, treatment and formulation. Everything from the common cold to skin conditions to every kind of musculoskeletal ache and pain to digestive issues to insomnia and anxiety and on and on… I am often asked what can Chinese Medicine treat? And while the short answer is' ‘ANYTHING you don’t go to the emergency room for’, the longer answer involves an explanation about the type of medicine I practice.
I do not diagnose or treat disease, I diagnose patterns based on functional concepts of health according to Tradition Chinese Medicine. I am focused on helping you to balance the energy in your body so that your innate healing mechanisms can thrive. This is a paradigm shift for many people, and it requires taking your power and authority back which can be scary as ‘with great power comes great responsibility’. I encourage you to feel empowered through education, a practice of self-love and self-awareness , access to health resources including but not limited to Traditional Chinese Medicine.
“The natural healing force within each of us is the greatest force in getting well.”
