By: Alisyn Don

These photos show a day in the life of an acupuncturist in Eugene, Oregon.

Mary Smith welcomes the first patient of her day to her practice, Yen Wellness. Mary has run her acupuncture practice since 2010 and she has some patients that she has been treating since 2002.

 

Mary Smith starts every appointment by having a conversation with her patient. She takes the information they give her and she uses it to give the most effective treatment.

 

Mary chats with a patient while inserting a needle into her calf. They casually laugh about the patients love for tennis and how she loses sleep to watch games.

 

Mary’s patient, Lauren, lays on the acupuncture table while Mary inserts needles into her abdomen. Mary remarks that she’s glad she didn’t have to put any needles in Laurens big toe and the two laugh while Lauren strongly agrees.

 

To loosen her patient’s muscles before starting the acupuncture treatment Mary starts with a massage. She tries to incorporate her massage training into her current practice and still enjoys treating patients with massage as well as acupuncture.