As a teen and young adult, Curry Chaudoir traveled, lived and studied throughout the United States and Europe. In 1994, he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Shortly thereafter, he was working in international relations for a nonprofit in Washington, D.C., when he realized that he wanted a more direct way to help people than pecking away at the computer. As he explored new career directions, Chaudoir recalled how beneficial and effective acupuncture had been in treating a digestive disorder from which he had suffered a few years earlier. He decided to pursue a Master of Science degree in Oriental Medicine from Southwest Acupuncture College in Santa Fe, New Mexico. By 1998, he was practicing as a diplomate in acupuncture, and in 1999, he incorporated his company, Acupuncture & Holistic Health Associates.

To date, Acupuncture & Holistic Health Associates has treated more than 40,000 people for maladies including headaches, digestive disorders, premenstrual syndrome, infertility and back, neck and shoulder pain. As the company’s executive director, Chaudoir works alongside two associates: David Fife, who earned Bachelor of Science degrees in Acupuncture, an honours degree, from the London College of Traditional Acupuncture; and Scott Martin, who graduated summa cum laude with a Master of Science degree in Oriental Medicine from Midwest College of Oriental Medicine, in Racine, Wisconsin. Martin is also highly trained in neurological relief centers technique (NRCT), which is helpful in treating chronic pain and fibromyalgia.

Origins and Techniques of Acupuncture

Acupuncture originated in China thousands of years ago as a healing technique. The holistic method uses no Western medicine methods such as drugs or surgery, but instead balances qi, the energy force within the body. Chaudoir explains that the field of acupuncture encompasses many philosophies. “Our basic principle of treatment is to get the body to take care of the symptom, not for us to treat the symptom,” he points out.

The procedure involves placing thin needles, often finer than a cat’s whisker, at precise angles at different points in the body to generate circulation. Chaudoir describes the sensation of the needle, if felt at all, as a slight pinch, similar to a mosquito bite.

“At higher levels of function, the human body naturally tends toward a balanced state,” Chaudoir says, “but various outside factors such as stress— be it mental, emotional, environmental or chemical—can impact the body and cause a breakdown in organ function and/or circulation.”

Chaudoir explains how those breakdowns can cause a person to experience symptoms of illness, even at a much later date. The symptoms often occur in a susceptible region of the body that has been weakened by any number of possible factors, including heredity. “In its simplest form, the disease process is often due to poor circulation; essentially, inadequate blood flow,” explains Chaudoir, “thus depriving the affected area of nutrients, oxygen and hormones. Acupuncture redirects circulation to areas not functioning properly.”

When patients comes in for an initial visit, Chaudoir and the other practitioners make their diagnoses based in part on the classical Chinese pulse evaluation, which looks at the strength of blood flow in the left and right radial arteries to assess the functioning of the major organs, including the lungs, stomach, heart, liver, kidneys, spleen and others. “The pulse diagnosis system we employ spots the minutest of imbalances. When the diagnosis is created, acupuncture, herbs and dietary changes can be utilized to correct the imbalance discovered, thus assisting the body to improve the symptoms.”

Chaudoir shares his extensive understanding of acupuncture in the 2011 book, Oriental Medicine and You: Making a Seemingly Complex, 3,500-yearold Medicine Understandable for the Layperson, and in public workshops and trainings for acupuncturists that he teaches around the country.

Yet Chaudoir finds that the most inspiring part of practicing acupuncture is seeing the positive results in his patients’ lives. He delights in patient success stories, such as from those that thank him for acupuncture treatments that have succeeded in helping them to regain fertility and become pregnant after they had been frustrated by prior costly, failed attempts to do so through Western Medicine fertility treatments.

He cites the example of a patient that could not travel by plane to visit loved ones because her digestive disorders were severely irritated by changes in cabin air pressure. After acupuncture treatments to balance the digestive system, she is able now to travel by airplane to visit family. Chaudoir and his staff are proud to post photos of her trips in the clinic’s waiting area. “There’s nothing in the world like that,” he says cheerfully.

Acupuncture & Holistic Health Associates is located at 500 W. Silver Spring Dr., Ste. K-500 (above Trader Joe’s at Bayshore Town Center), in Milwaukee. For more information, call 414-332-8888 or visit MilwaukeeAcu.com.