Acupuncture has been practised for about 5,000 years in China and surrounding areas; some reports state that today there are over 300,000 acupuncturists practising around the globe.

On the Island, there are a handful, and South Korean Dr. Alex Kim is one.

He practises at Chinese Healing Arts Ltd., which owns both The Private Natural Cleaning Centre and The Little Herbal Shop, on Middle Road, Warwick.

Dr. Kim's background is mainly in sports medicine. He treated team members of the Pittsburgh Pirates and also professional athletes in Japan.

In Bermuda, he is treating a host of patients, many of whom have circulatory problems, onset diabetes, hypertension, asthma, sports injuries, stroke victims and those with a host of other ailments.

Acupuncture is essentially about increasing the body's circulation and with the movement of the blood — the body is then enabled to heal itself.

Along with Dr. Kim, owners of The Little Herbal Shop, Regina Thompson and Troy Tweed spoke to The Royal Gazette about their aims for a healthier Bermuda.

Although Dr. Kim trusts Western medicine to a degree, he was somewhat sceptical about what he classed as giving patients the "wrong information."

He stated that when individuals were put on medicines for high blood pressure, it was soon followed by diabetes' prescriptions, but he has seen many clients with the above diseases eventually come off their prescriptions through a combination of acupuncture, diet, Chinese and Korean teas and exercise.

"These are very important things, because you start the pills for high blood pressure and automatically it comes to diabetes — it is automatic," he said.

"But everybody says, 'Trust doctors.' But there is only one thing and it is natural, it is a way of combatting circulation.

"People need to exercise and keep to a nice schedule, because people is too much eat and never exercise, but it is a health problem."

His belief is that Western medicine says take a pill for this and one for that, but they quickly lose their intensity.

"People say take a pill everyday, one time a small pill is working good, the second time you take the pill, it's so, so, the third time you take it — it is no working," he said.

"It is very important, but natural is okay."

He says that communication with his patients is of vital importance and he has found that sometime people have stomach, skin and other problems, and most of them come back to the ebb and flow of the body's circulatory system.

Though Ms Thompson explained that they are not excluding the medical profession.

"But what we are finding that is so miraculous is that when they don't get any answers from their physicians, they come through us and their results become natural," she said.

"They get success and they may not understand how it works, but they feel good and they become healthier. People that have come in with blood infections (a host of ailments) and in two or three visits they are healed.

"He is an absolute natural. Our treatments are natural and people are becoming more at ease, and they have to be responsible in that state of transition.

"In the past we have lost our limbs — so we mature enough to say, I want to learn and that is amazing, you don't have to remain in the dark."

While Mr. Tweed explained that they now have entire families attending the clinic.

"One family, the father comes, the grandmother comes, the whole family comes from grandmother to grandson," he said.

"And it was grandson who brought the whole family."

One of their patients is a 67-year-old woman with diabetes, said Dr. Kim.

"When she first came she was on 11 different pills and she couldn't sleep," he said.

"I treated her for nine hours and now she is cured."

Prior to Christmas, getting an appointment at the clinic was almost impossible, but Ms Thompson explained that they have alleviated the problem by adding three additional treatment beds.

But his acupuncture also helps people who have weight problems.

Dr. Kim said of one of his patients: "She tried a diet, I take it two to three weeks and she lost 15 to 20 pounds.

"Okay I check 100 percent natural diet acupuncture as well and now she has had to change her pants."

He also realigns the bodies of women who are postpartum.

"Women don't know how traumatic giving birth is," explained Ms Thompson, who is the mother of two.

"He helps to eliminate future problems by helping to realign their bodies."

When they hired Dr. Kim, they had no idea of what he was capable of, said Mr. Tweed.

Asked how he diagnosed problems, Dr. Kim said: "I trust my hand, my hand has never lied.

"I am not God. I just did the treatment."

After taking your blood pressure, he essentially places his hand on pressure points across the body, and he is able to diagnose your ailment, depending on your reaction to his touch.

He said that one of their patients, was coming every Tuesday, for his treatment, although he doesn't come anymore.

Dr. Kim said the patient now says: "I am happy, I never before sleep, now I sleep beautifully, working two jobs.

"He had high blood pressure, now it is low, no problems."

One of their patients suffered with fibromyalgia, a debilitating disease that causes severe pain, explained Mr. Tweed.

"After being off work for several years, the patient has had two treatments with Alex and is now returning to work.

"If you are interested in helping yourself, Dr. Kim will put you on a schedule and all you have to do is follow it,

"It is for people who want to be serious and make a positive change."

Dr. Kim, 44, had retired and was vacationing on the Island when he met Mr. Tweed.

"He came to the store and I had twisted my ankle," Mr. Tweed explained.

"It was swollen and he told me that he could help me. He asked if I had any acupuncture needles and I always kept them because I had been studying it under Dr. Lee, so I gave him the needles and he performed acupuncture on me.

"The next day my ankle was sorted and two days later and I was doing tai chi like nothing had happened. After that, he had my utmost respect."

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