Acupuncturist Brings Her Needles to New Apple Valley Clinic

David Kurud thought he had to get used to living with pain after he was in an accident. The Apple Valley resident visited chiropractors for more than a year, as well as a neurologist, but his back and knee pain persisted.

He was driving down County Road 42 when he saw the sign just east of Pennock Lane for Grace Acupuncture and Herbal Medicine, which recently came to Apple Valley. On a whim, he decided to stop in.

“ ‘Time’ magazine had an article on pain, and they said acupuncture is very effective at fighting pain,” Kurud said. He said his daughter and a friend also had seen results from acupuncture.

Grace Acupuncture owner Shauyu Kuo Vilimpoc, who used to practice at larger clinics in Minneapolis believes her clinic has a unique approach, even when compared to other local acupuncture clinics, she said.

“I spend an hour and a half per patient,” Vilimpoc said. “You can hardly find any clinic that would spend that long with patients.”

Vilimpoc said Apple Valley has a few acupuncturists that work with chiropractors, but her clinic is dedicated solely to traditional Chinese medicine.

Vilimpoc was born in China and raised in Taiwan. She grew up with traditional Chinese medicine and developed an interest in becoming a practitioner herself. She holds a master’s degree in acupuncture and oriental medicine.

Traditional Chinese medicine seeks to balance the chi, or energy, in a person’s body.

“When people think of traditional Chinese medicine, they think of acupuncture,” Vilimpoc said. "Acupuncture is only a branch of traditional Chinese medicine. Eighty percent of it deals with Chinese herbs.”

Many in Western society look down on traditional Chinese medicine—and few insurance companies cover it—Vilimpoc said, but she believes it can effectively treat the cause of illnesses involving chronic pain, or conditions like indigestion or bloating.

While Western medicine focuses on providing immediate relief to symptoms, Vilimpoc said the traditional Chinese medicine healer tries to make the patient fundamentally healthier by restoring the balance to the body. In addition to acupuncture and herbal remedies, Vilimpoc said a healthy lifestyle with good diet and exercise should also be part of the cure.

“Modern medicine treats the symptoms, but it doesn’t really help to address the root problem,” Vilimpoc said.

When patients visit her clinic, Vilimpoc takes their pulse, looks at their tongue and gives them a traditional Chinese diagnosis.

After the diagnosis, Vilimpoc comes up with a treatment schedule. She might see a patient twice the first week, and a quick follow-up visit allows her to see if the herbs are working. She might switch to seeing the patient weekly after that, and scale back to every other week if there is progress.

The herbs Vilimpoc prescribes come in concentrates that patients can brew into teas. Vilimpoc said she has personally used all of the herbs, and most are laboratory tested.

For patients with pain or soreness, Vilimpoc might also incorporate acupuncture, again looking to solve the root of the problem and not just the immediate pain.

For back pain she might apply a few needles where the patient feels the pain and then a few more in the distal parts, such as the legs, hands and meridians.

“The needle is used to open up the channel and let the chi flow naturally,” Vilimpoc said. “It doesn’t hurt. It’s a little prick like a mosquito bite.”

Vilimpoc also incorporates heat lamps to help open the chi and soothe pain, she said.

Vilimpoc advocates a holistic approach to healing, which involves lifestyle changes like a nutritious diet and exercise in combination with medicinal herbs and acupuncture.

“People who come to us really have to be willing to change,” Vilimpoc said. “They can’t just take a pill and solve their problem.”

Kurud has received three acupuncture treatments and said he already is seeing results.

“Right away I had some relief on my knee; the pain was reduced by half,” Kurud said. “I still have some back pain. We’ve got some distance to go.”