Snapdragon Acupuncture

Christen M. _{on Yelp}

Feb 6th, 2007

This clinic is actually a one-person practice, as far as I can tell, owned by licensed acupuncturist Sabine Pater. About a year and a half ago I was struggling with severe abdominal pain that had yet (and actually, has yet) to net a definitive diagnosis from the doctors at the HMO I then belonged to. And in the absence of a definitive diagnosis, the only treatment I received for many months was, well, loads and loads of Vicodin.While prescription painkillers are all good and well and can be lots of fun, at the time I had a job that required me to operate heavy machinery. And in general, I resented that I had to choose between being in pain all the time and being doped up all the time. So once I realized that my conventional docs weren't going to magically call me up one day with a real diagnosis and its real solution, I started researching ways to treat chronic pain. I'd had acupuncture once before, while researching an article about it (and dealing with carpal tunnels' syndrome), and I decided it was time to look into it again. I found Sabine while searching for acupuncturists in the Northeast quadrant, and started getting treatments from her regularly over the next few months -- with both acupuncture and traditional Chinese herbs.Sabine is a very easygoing and approachable person, someone I could easily talk to about the physical and emotional difficulties I was having at the time. She does a good job creating a relaxing environment, checking in with patients frequently and adjusting herb formulas when they don't seem to be doing the trick. I immediately saw an increase in my energy levels and reduced pain. Over time, I became unable financially to continue to get treatments on a regular basis. (My treatments were about $50 a pop, plus roughly $15-20 for herbs.) Sabine does volunteer at a sliding-scale clinic in Southeast, but as the pain decreased I became able to manage the pain (caused apparently by a digestive disorder) better on my own, with diet and exercise. Still, I don't think I would have gotten to that point if I had not had these treatments on a regular basis.