Frequently Asked Questions About Acupuncture, Chiropractic & Functional Medicine in Manhattan Beach
Patients throughout Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach, Redondo Beach, El Segundo, Torrance, and the South Bay often ask questions about acupuncture, chiropractic care, fertility support, functional medicine, chronic pain, inflammation, circulation, digestive health, thyroid conditions, and overall wellness.
Dr. Lea Kelley, DC, LAc, MTOM, DiplAHM combines acupuncture, chiropractic care, Chinese medicine, functional medicine, and advanced wellness therapies to help patients address the root cause of symptoms and support long-term health naturally.
Below are answers to some of the most common questions patients ask before scheduling their first appointment.
Acupuncture and Chiropractic on the same visit with the same doctor
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Dr. Lea Kelley, DC, LAc, offers integrated acupuncture and chiropractic services at The Dragon and Phoenix Healer, serving patients throughout the South Bay Area.
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Combining acupuncture with chiropractic care for musculoskeletal pain can offer several enhanced benefits compared to using either approach alone. Here’s how they can complement each other:
1. Enhanced Pain Relief: Acupuncture stimulates the nervous system and releases endorphins, which can help reduce pain. When combined with chiropractic adjustments, which realign the spine and joints, patients often experience more significant pain relief.
2. Improved Muscle Relaxation: Acupuncture can help relax tight muscles, making it easier for a chiropractor to perform adjustments. This synergy can reduce muscle tension and improve joint mobility more effectively than adjustments alone.
3. Reduced Inflammation: Both acupuncture and chiropractic care can help lower inflammation. Chiropractic adjustments relieve pressure on nerves, while acupuncture targets specific points to encourage blood flow and decrease swelling, together enhancing the anti-inflammatory effects.
4. Holistic Healing Approach: Acupuncture is believed to balance energy (or “Qi”) flow throughout the body, promoting overall wellness. This can support the body’s natural healing processes, complementing the structural focus of chiropractic care to enhance recovery.
5. Longer-Lasting Results: The combination often provides more durable pain relief. Acupuncture addresses underlying energetic imbalances, while chiropractic care corrects structural misalignments, which can help maintain musculoskeletal health over the long term.
6. Faster Recovery: Patients may experience quicker improvements because each therapy targets different aspects of the healing process. Chiropractic adjustments work on skeletal alignment, while acupuncture enhances blood flow and reduces muscle stiffness, together facilitating quicker recovery from injury or chronic pain.
This integrated approach is particularly beneficial for patients with chronic pain conditions, sports injuries, and conditions such as sciatica, arthritis, or headaches. Many people report feeling greater overall wellness, improved range of motion, and a sense of balance in both physical and mental health.
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Yes. Many patients choose to combine acupuncture and chiropractic care during the same visit because the therapies work well together. Acupuncture may help relax muscles, support circulation, reduce inflammation, calm the nervous system, and relieve pain. Chiropractic adjustments help restore proper joint motion, spinal alignment, and mobility. Beginning with a relaxing acupuncture treatment followed by a chiropractic adjustment often provides a powerful whole-body approach to pain relief, recovery, stress reduction, and overall wellness. Patients frequently leave feeling more relaxed, balanced, mobile, and comfortable.
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Dr. Lea Kelley/The Dragon and Phoenix Healer has multiple pain-free, relaxing modalities/therapies. Take a look at our other modalities such as
Scalar Wave Laser therapy with or without the mat,
LED color therapy (including RED light therapy,
Support your natural Stem-cell production using X-39 (phototherapy).
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People mostly know about acupuncture for acute and chronic pain. Both respond well to acupuncture, sometimes very quickly. With acute pain, you may feel 80% relief after one treatment, and some people feel 100% better. Getting to the bottom of chronic pain is an ongoing process over multiple sessions. And some people come in for one thing, such as sleep problems, and discover another benefit that keeps them coming back, like relief from anxiety.
Acupuncture pairs nicely with other forms of medicine. A Chiropractic session immediately after your acupuncture with Dr. Kelley takes total body care to a whole new level. It’s often used during cancer treatment to help with nausea. As stated in another question, Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine is highly recommended and used routinely before, during and after fertility care with your Reproductive Specialist. And it’s good for complex conditions like autoimmune conditions, post-surgical care to enhance healing and more.
What Sets Our Clinic Apart?
Dr. Lea Kelley is a California State Board, nationally certified (NCBAHM) licensed acupuncturist and California State Board Licensed Chiropractor with a combined 29+ years experience with various conditions and modalities. If you need another set of eyes looking at your medical tests with holistic therapy options, Dr. Lea Kelley is who you need to talk to.
Acupuncture
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In the hands of a licensed and trained practitioner such as Dr. Lea Kelley, acupuncture and TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) is very safe. It is a pain-free, effective, treatment for many acute and chronic conditions that has been used for thousands of years.
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Acupuncture treatments are not painful. Acupuncture is performed with hair-thin needles that are sometimes even hard to feel and that do not resemble the pain felt from a hypodermic needle. Patients often fall asleep and are in deep relaxation on the table.
People report a sensation sometime after the insertion of the needle, but this is a pressure-like sensation rather than a pain.
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One of the great advantages of acupuncture is that it is very safe. Other than an occasional bruise, there are no side effects.
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Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) views the human being very differently from western medicine. It does not separate the body from the mind, or the inside from the outside, but takes a comprehensively holistic view of the person, the complaint and the context it is happening in. TCM can often diagnose and treat ‘odd complaints’, problems that western medicine can’t put a label on.
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o go to your “regular doctor/GP”, you generally need to be ill. Not so with TCM – you can use acupuncture and TCM even when you are not ill, just ‘not feeling 100%’, or you don’t want to wait until you get ill.
TCM has always been used to improve health, to be so well that you don’t get unwell, and be able to live your life to the fullest.
In olden times in China, the patient used to see their practitioner regularly in the understanding that it was the practitioner’s job to help them stay well. If they did fall ill, they wouldn’t pay for the treatment.
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No, you don’t. The effectiveness of acupuncture is not based on faith. Acupuncture can even be done on unconscious persons and animals such as your pets, racehorses, livestock, etc.
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INeedles are sterile, generally cause no bleeding upon entry or removal, with little or no pain being felt; however, slight bruising may be experienced on a rare occasion. The number of treatments necessary will depend upon your condition, if your symptoms are chronic or acute and your health in general. The needles may vary in size, depending upon your condition and the course of treatment prescribed. In addition to needling your treatment may also include a variety of non-needling techniques such as moxibustion (heat), herbal formulas, etc. One advantage of acupuncture treatment is the absence of serious side effects which may result from the use of prescription drugs.tem description
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People mostly know about acupuncture for acute and chronic pain. Both respond well to acupuncture, sometimes very quickly. With acute pain, you may feel 80% relief after one treatment, and some people feel 100% better. Getting to the bottom of chronic pain is an ongoing process over multiple sessions. And some people come in for one thing, such as sleep problems, and discover another benefit that keeps them coming back, like relief from anxiety.
Acupuncture pairs nicely with other forms of medicine. A Chiropractic session immediately after your acupuncture with Dr. Kelley takes total body care to a whole new level. It’s often used during cancer treatment to help with nausea. As stated in another question, Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine is highly recommended and used routinely before, during and after fertility care with your Reproductive Specialist. And it’s good for complex conditions like autoimmune conditions, post-surgical care to enhance healing and more.
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Acupuncture seeks to release the flow of the body's vital energy or "chi" (or Qi) by stimulating points along 14 energy pathways. Some scientists believe that acupuncture needles cause the body to release endorphins -- natural painkillers -- and may boost blood flow and change brain activity. See Dr. Kelley’s Acupuncture page to learn more.
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Yes. Fertility acupuncture can be very helpful for those having trouble conceiving or having the family they would wish.
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Yes! Pregnant mothers-to-be seek acupuncture for Sciatic pain, lower back pain, nausea (morning sickness), anxiety, depression, and constipation to name a few. Ask Dr. Kelley for more information.
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Some studies have suggested that acupuncture performed before and after embryo transfer can increase the pregnancy rates of IVF patients. This may be due to acupuncture’s ability to improve blood flow to the uterus, relax the uterine muscles, and reduce stress and anxiety. Acupuncture can also help reduce some side effects of IVF medications, such as bloating, nausea, headaches, and mood swings.
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Acupuncture helps manage autoimmune disorders by restoring immune homeostasis, calming systemic inflammation, and downregulating the overactive neuro-endocrine-immune axis. Instead of suppressing the immune system, clinical evidence shows that acupuncture has a bidirectional regulatory effect that helps the body regain internal balance.
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The number of acupuncture treatments needed varies depending on your health concerns, how long you have had the condition, your overall health, and your treatment goals. Some patients experience improvement after just a few sessions, while chronic or complex conditions may require a series of treatments over several weeks or months.
Acute issues such as recent muscle strains, headaches, or stress-related symptoms often respond more quickly than long-standing conditions. Patients seeking support for fertility, hormone balance, digestive health, autoimmune concerns, or chronic pain may benefit from a more comprehensive treatment plan.
During your initial consultation, Dr. Lea Kelley will review your health history, discuss your goals, and recommend a personalized treatment schedule designed to help you achieve the best possible results.
Chiropractic
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Yes. Chiropractic care is widely recognized as one of the safest, drug-free, non-invasive treatments for back pain, neck pain, headaches, sciatica, joint pain, and other musculoskeletal conditions. Millions of people safely receive chiropractic adjustments each year.
Some patients experience little to no discomfort during treatment. Some may notice mild soreness, stiffness, or aching after an adjustment, similar to what can occur after exercise. These effects are typically temporary and often resolve within 24 hours.
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When performed by a licensed and experienced chiropractor, cervical (neck) adjustments are considered very safe. Neck adjustments are commonly used to improve mobility, reduce muscle tension, relieve neck pain, and help certain types of headaches.
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Research shows that serious complications associated with chiropractic neck adjustments are extremely rare. Some patients who experience a vertebral artery dissection may initially develop neck pain or headaches and seek care before the condition is diagnosed. Current evidence suggests that these rare arterial events often occur spontaneously and are not caused by chiropractic treatment itself.
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Many people choose chiropractic care because it addresses the underlying causes of pain and movement dysfunction without drugs or surgery. Compared with long-term use of pain medications, including NSAIDs and opioids, chiropractic care has a strong safety record and may help patients reduce reliance on medication while improving mobility and function.
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Chiropractic care may help relieve:
Back pain
Neck pain
Headaches and migraines
Sciatica
Herniated discs
Joint pain
Muscle tension
Sports injuries
Postural problems
Pregnancy-related discomfort
Repetitive stress injuries
During your examination, Dr. Lea Kelley will determine whether chiropractic care is appropriate for your condition and will refer you to another healthcare provider if additional evaluation or treatment is needed.
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IDoctors of chiropractic are educated as primary-contact healthcare providers, with an emphasis on diagnosis and treatment of conditions related to the musculoskeletal system (the muscles, ligaments and joints of the spine and extremities) and the nerves that supply them. Educational requirements for doctors of chiropractic are among the most stringent of any of the healthcare professions. The typical applicant for chiropractic college has already acquired nearly four years of pre-medical undergraduate college education, including courses in biology, inorganic and organic chemistry, physics, psychology and related lab work.
Once accepted into an accredited chiropractic college, the requirements become even more demanding — four to five academic years of professional study are the standard. Doctors of chiropractic are educated in orthopedics, neurology, physiology, human anatomy, clinical diagnosis including laboratory procedures, diagnostic imaging, exercise, nutrition rehabilitation and more. Because chiropractic care includes highly skilled manipulation and adjusting techniques, a significant portion of time is spent in clinical technique training to master these important manipulative procedures. In total, the chiropractic college curriculum includes a minimum of 4,200 hours of classroom, laboratory and clinical experience. The course of study is approved by the Council on Chiropractic Education, an accrediting agency that is recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.tem description
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Yes! In fact, routine chiropractic care is considered safe and can offer significant benefits for your changing body.
Expecting mothers visit chiropractors such as Dr. Lea Kelley for.
Pain relief as your body changes for lower back pain or Sciatica.
Pelvic alignment for better mobility & flexibility.
Easier labor: Many expectant mothers find that an aligned pelvis and reduced joint tension lead to a faster and more comfortable labor.
Functional Medicine
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Yes! Dr. Lea Kelley is a Functional Medicine, Board-Certified Practitioner. Order your lab test(s) with Dr. Kelley during your appointment. Results will be sent to our office. A customized report can also be done to indicate nutritional deficiencies or your itemized health risk(s). Once they are ready, Dr. Kelley will notify you to schedule an office visit for review, interpretation and next steps such as which therapy to do next. Lab test kits for various labs and panels can be sent to you for your sample collection.
Click HERE to see our Functional Medicine page.
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Functional medicine is a systems‑biology approach that looks for the root causes of disease rather than just treating symptoms . Practitioners use a personalized framework to investigate how genetics, environment and lifestyle factors interact to influence health . Instead of asking “What are your symptoms?”, functional medicine asks “Why are you ill?” and then designs targeted interventions.
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A common misconception is that functional medicine isn’t scientific. In reality, functional medicine draws on research from nutrition, endocrinology and genetics, and there is a growing volume of scientific evidence supporting its approach . Many interventions—such as personalized diets, stress‑reduction, and targeted supplementation—are supported by peer‑reviewed studies . Major health institutions like the Cleveland Clinic have developed functional medicine programs that combine conventional medicine with lifestyle and behavioral interventions.
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Functional medicine uses conventional and specialty labs but interprets results differently. Practitioners focus on “optimal” ranges rather than broad normal ranges
to detect dysfunction before disease develops
. Functional Blood Chemistry Analysis is a method that uses tighter reference ranges to identify early biochemical imbalances and guide preventive care
. This patient‑focused approach can reveal nutrient deficiencies, hormone imbalances, or metabolic dysfunction even when standard tests appear “normal.”
Alternatives to Acupuncture and Chiropractic
What if I am afraid of Acupuncture and Chiropractic ?
Dr. Lea Kelley at The Dragon and Phoenix Healer has multiple pain-free, relaxing modalities/therapies. Take a look at our other modalities such as:
Still Have Questions?
Schedule a consultation with Dr. Lea Kelley to discuss your health concerns and discover which therapies may be right for you.