Each new client to the Tao Center gets their own needles, to insure the maximum sanitation. Also, the needles themselves are painless. Frequently, clients don't even know the needles have been inserted!
Click on these thumbs to see larger pictures of Michel Matsuda at work.

 

Michel Matsuda, founder and chief practitioner at the Tao Acupuncture Center in Charlotte, NC.
 
Japanese Acupuncture (1 2 )

Diagnosis and process are critical to effective Meridian Therapy. The classical "Four Examinations" are used to determine the patterns of Yin and Yang imbalance in the body. The therapist looks at, listens to, and questions the patient in an attempt to assess the patient's overall health. Then the therapist uses a process of pulse checking, called "palpitation," to determine pulse-quality and to arrive at what is known as the "six-position comparative pulse diagnosis." This can help the therapist determine where to insert the needles, while it provides an overall assessment of the treatment's effectiveness.

Next, based upon a complex diagnosis of the Yin and Yang imbalances, point selections are made and extremely thin needles (#00 - #2 gauge) are inserted. They are left in for a short period of time-- one to five minutes on the average -- and then removed and stored in each individual's sealed container for later use. The pulses are checked before and after each treatment.

Combined with Japanese Meridian Therapy, Michel Matsuda will frequently recommend dietary changes and Chinese herbal supplements to patients at the Tao center. Indeed, the Macrobiotic diet (represented elsewhere on this site) forms a large part of Matsuda's therapeutic style. The effectiveness of his treatments cannot be disputed.

 

 

 

 

 

Michel Matsuda has been practicing acupuncture and the healing arts for over twenty-five years. His real interest in the power to heal, though, started almost forty years ago when he used a combination of a macrobiotic diet and acupuncture to cure his own debilitating lower back pain. As a young adult, he was very passionate about promoting the macrobiotic way, and this passion led him to study Oriental Medicine on a grander scale.

In 1977, he graduated from the Meiji School of Oriental Medicine in Osaka, Japan. Here, he learned the "Electric Chi" treatment, which served as the basis for his first office, opened in Kyoto, Japan. Soon, he studied other methods of traditional Japanese acupuncture, including "Ishizaka Ryu," or the Way of Ishizaka. This is the technique he uses, with great effectiveness, to this day, combining his own skills as a healer with his great sense of perception and understanding.

After maintaining an office in Boston for ten years, he moved his practice to Charlotte, NC. He has had opportunity to work with many different patients from around the globe, including NFL stars, Major League Baseball players, and Madonna. He believes that learning about Macrobiotics and Japanese Meridian Therapy never ends, because there is an unlimited wealth of knowledge to the discipline.