Who Comes In For This
Pain that has not responded to anything else. A nervous system stuck in overdrive — wound up, sleeping badly, running hot. Hormones that are not behaving. Headaches that arrive on a schedule. A body that is not recovering from training the way it used to.
Acupuncture is a reasonable thing to try for all of these. Here is what actually happens, before you book.
Does It Hurt?
This is the first question almost everyone asks, so it gets answered first.
Acupuncture needles are roughly the width of a human hair — far finer than a needle used for injections or blood draws. They are solid rather than hollow, and nothing is injected.
Most people feel a brief sensation on insertion and then a heavy, warm or spreading feeling around the point. That second feeling is the one that matters, and it is not painful. Many patients fall asleep during treatment.
Every needle is sterile, single-use, and disposed of immediately. Needles are never reused.
What to Expect
A thorough intake first. What brought you in, how long it has been going on, what you have already tried, and the rest of your health history. This is a conversation, not a form.
Tongue and pulse diagnosis. Two of the oldest assessment tools in Chinese medicine, and still two of the most informative. Tim will explain what he is reading and why.
Treatment the same visit. You are not sent away to come back another day. Needles are placed, and then you rest with them in place.
Herbal recommendations and home care where appropriate. Sometimes what you do between sessions matters as much as the session.
An honest answer about how many visits. After the first treatment, not before it. Acute problems often respond faster than long-standing ones, and Tim would rather tell you that plainly than sell you a package he has not earned yet.
Meet Tim Monaco, AP, LMT
Tim is a licensed Acupuncture Physician and a Diplomate of the National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine. He earned a Master of Science in Acupuncture and Herbal Medicine, graduating Cum Laude, and a Bachelor of Science in Professional Health Sciences — both completed here in Orlando.
That matters locally for a simple reason: he trained in this community, under this state’s standards, in the same city his patients live in.
Before any of that, he spent more than thirty years as a licensed massage therapist working on the body’s fascial systems, including a decade teaching at a school of massage. He knows tissue by hand before he ever picks up a needle.
For Athletes and Active People
Tim did not arrive at this work from a textbook.
He competed at the Ironman World Championship, finishing fifth American. He was a US National Team member at the Powerman Duathlon World Championship. He won twelve ultramarathons between 2002 and 2011, and took overall wins at the Vineman Ironman and Buffalo Springs Lake 70.3. He coached endurance athletes and worked with high-level performers before he ever became an Acupuncture Physician.
His training since then has gone the same direction: Sports Acupuncture and Dry Needling certified, NeuroKinetic Therapy, Neuromuscular Reprogramming, CHEK Corrective Exercise and Performance, USA Cycling Level II coach, and Titleist Performance Institute golf fitness.
If you are training for something, rehabbing something, or simply not bouncing back the way you used to, you are describing a problem he has had himself.
More on that: Athletes.
Why It Sits Inside a Chiropractic Practice
Most Acupuncture clinics do Acupuncture. That is the whole offer.
Here, Acupuncture sits alongside chiropractic, Applied Kinesiology, hyperbaric oxygen therapy, red light therapy, fire cupping and Chinese herbal therapy — under one roof, coordinated by one team that talks to each other about you.
A shoulder that is not settling might need an adjustment, needles, cupping, or some combination. You do not have to go to three buildings to find out.
What Acupuncture Actually Is
Acupuncture is rooted in Traditional Chinese Medicine and has been practised for thousands of years. At the heart of it is qi (pronounced “chee”) — a vital energy understood to circulate through the body along pathways called meridians.
When qi flows freely, the body tends toward health. When it becomes blocked, deficient or excessive, imbalance follows — as pain, illness, emotional distress or physical dysfunction. Fine needles placed at specific points along the meridians are used to correct those disturbances.
Three terms worth knowing:
Meridians — networks of channels in which qi flows. Each corresponds to specific organs and governs distinct functions.
Yin and Yang — complementary forces. Good health depends on a dynamic balance between them.
Acupuncture Points — particular locations along the meridians where qi runs closer to the surface and is more accessible to stimulation.
What People Come In For
- Pain and musculoskeletal problems — back, neck, knee, joint pain, chronic or acute
- Stress, anxiety and emotional wellbeing — encouraging the nervous system toward rest-and-digest rather than fight-or-flight
- Sleep and insomnia
- Hormonal balance and women’s health — Acupuncture can support regulation of estrogen, progesterone, cortisol and thyroid function. It may help with irregular or painful menstrual cycles, menopausal symptoms, and reproductive health
- Headaches and migraines
- Nausea, digestion and immune support
- Seasonal and environmental allergies
- Athletic recovery and performance
Acupuncture is used alongside the rest of your care, not instead of it. We will tell you when something is outside what we should be treating.
Add Red Light Therapy to Your Session
Red light therapy can be added to an Acupuncture visit for $40, rather than the $60 it costs booked on its own. Acupuncture and red light together is $100.
It is a sensible pairing for practical reasons more than theoretical ones. You are already here, already lying still, and already relaxed — so the 30 minutes under the lights follows naturally rather than meaning a second trip. Our beds use four PlatinumLED BioMax Pro panels each, so your whole body is covered at once.
If you come regularly, the add-on drops further: $180 for 5 sessions ($36 each) or $340 for 10 ($34 each).
Ask Tim whether he thinks it is worth adding for what you came in for. He will tell you if he does not think it adds anything.
Acupuncture Facials
Cosmetic Acupuncture for fine lines, skin texture and tone is offered here too, and now has its own page: Acupuncture Facials.
Serving the wider Orlando area? See Acupuncture in Orlando with Tim Monaco, AP, LMT.