Acupuncture involves placing needles into the skin at precise points on the body. Traditional Chinese medicine teaches that channels of energy run through the body. Acupuncture accesses these channels to help remove barriers and improve energy flow.

Acupuncture can treat all types of pain, such as:

• Headaches or migraines
• Menstrual cramps
• Pain from injuries or accidents
• Arthritis
• Pain during pregnancy
• Fibromyalgia

Learn more: Acupuncture in Depth, National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health

OHSU Comprehensive Pain Center, South Waterfront

OHSU Comprehensive Pain Center, Beaverton

OHSU Neurology Wellness Clinic, Marquam Hill

OHSU Center for Women’s Health, Marquam Hill

OHSU Primary Care, Gabriel Park

OHSU Knight Cancer Institute (referral required)

OHSU Primary Care Clinic, South Waterfront

Traditional Chinese medicine is a complete medical system, just like Western medicine. For thousands of years, trained doctors have used it to treat and prevent health conditions.

In traditional Chinese medicine, illness is understood as an imbalance of Qi, or vital energy. Practitioners use treatments like Chinese herbs and acupuncture to help Qi flow freely and balance the whole body.

Traditional Chinese medicine can treat:

• Muscle, nerve and pelvic pain
• Headaches or migraines
• Menstrual disorders, endometriosis, menopause symptoms and infertility
• Pain from injuries or accidents
• Stress, anxiety and depression
• Irritable bowel syndrome and digestive symptoms
• Insomnia

Learn more: Traditional Chinese Medicine, National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health

OHSU Comprehensive Pain Center, South Waterfront

OHSU Center for Women’s Health, Marquam Hill

OHSU Primary Care, Gabriel Park

OHSU Primary Care Clinic, South Waterfront

Chiropractic medicine focuses on problems in the musculoskeletal and nervous systems. Chiropractors use their hands (manual manipulation) to help your joints move better and relax your muscles. They use Active Release Techniques to find and isolate adhesions. Adhesions are areas where inflammation has caused muscle or other tissue to feel firm.

Chiropractors also offer nutrition and exercise support to help you reduce pain and improve your whole body health.

Chiropractic medicine can treat:

• Back, neck and joint pain
• Headaches or migraines
• Muscle strains and sprains
• Injuries from sports or accidents
• Muscle spasms
• Trapped or compressed nerves

Learn more: Chiropractic, MedlinePlus

OHSU Comprehensive Pain Center, South Waterfront

Health psychology is the study of how mental, emotional, behavioral and cultural factors affect physical health and illness. A health psychologist can support you to:

• Understand how your physical illness may affect your psychological health.
• Understand mental, emotional or cultural distress may affect your physical health.
• Make healthy lifestyle choices, even if you are sick or struggling.
• Prevent illness and promote health through behavior or lifestyle changes.

OHSU Comprehensive Pain Center, South Waterfront

OHSU Comprehensive Pain Center, Beaverton

Lifestyle medicine focuses on how patients can take control of their health by making changes to their daily life. While conventional medicine diagnoses disease and treats symptoms, lifestyle medicine is about treating the causes of disease through lifestyle changes. A lifestyle medicine specialist helps you with:

• Nutrition and eating habits
• Exercise and activity level
• Sleep habits
• Stress management
• Substance use
• Social relationships and connection

OHSU Primary Care, Beaverton

OHSU Primary Care, Gabriel Park

OHSU Primary Care, Scappoose

OHSU Primary Care, South Waterfront

Massage therapy is the use of pressure, motion and other techniques to manipulate your muscles and other soft tissues. In general, massage is used to treat stress and body pain. Massage can also increase your circulation, body awareness and flexibility. We offer many different massage techniques, such as:

• Myofascial release can relieve pain in the connective tissue between your muscles, joints and bones.
• Neuromuscular therapy is applying steady pressure to an area of muscle spasm to relieve pain.
• Craniosacral therapy uses gentle pressure to help your organs and muscles relax, improving their function.

OHSU Comprehensive Pain Center, South Waterfront

March Wellness

Mindfulness simply means being aware of the present moment, without any judgement. It’s a wonderful tool for navigating life’s challenges that can be practiced through meditation, yoga or other techniques. Benefits include:

• Lower blood pressure
• Reduced depression or anxiety
• Pain relief
• Improved neurological function

Face-to-face mindfulness classes are suspended due to COVID-19. Visit Mindfulness at OHSU to learn about virtual options.

OHSU Comprehensive Pain Center, South Waterfront
OHSU Comprehensive Pain Center, Beaverton

Naturopathic medicine is about supporting your body’s ability to heal itself. A naturopathic doctor will work with you to find the root cause of illness and create a personalized care plan. Naturopathic medicine helps you find balance and well-being by treating you as a whole person. Treatment can include one or more therapies, and can be combined with conventional or other integrative approaches. Naturopathic therapies include:

• Nutrition and lifestyle changes
• Herbs, vitamins and minerals
• Homeopathy (using tiny amounts of natural substances to stimulate healing)
• Physical medicine (recovering physical, emotional or other functions after a disease or injury)
• Counseling

Learn more: Naturopathy, National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health

OHSU Comprehensive Pain Center, Beaverton and South Waterfront

OHSU Center for Women’s Health, Marquam Hill

OHSU Knight Cancer Institute (referral required)

Osteopathic medicine focuses on whole-person health and disease prevention.

Doctors of Osteopathic Medicine make treatment decisions based on these basic tenants:  

• Body unity. You are your body, mind and spirit.
• Self-healing. Your body can regulate and heal itself.
• The relationship between structure and function. The physical health of your body parts affects how well they work, and how well your body works affects its physical structure.

D.O.s are fully-licensed physicians, with medical degrees and residency training. They offer all the benefits of modern medicine, like prescription drugs, surgery, and diagnosis of disease. They also factor your life story and experiences into your treatment plan, and offer the added benefit of hands-on diagnosis and treatment through OMT.

Read more: The Philosophy of Osteopathic Medicine, AACOM

OMT is a hands-on, gentle technique based on a strong understanding of the human body and musculoskeletal system. It works on many levels to help you feel better by adjusting your joints, muscles, nerves and other body parts. OMT techniques help your body work better.

OMT can support treatment of almost any health condition, including:

• Muscle or joint pain
• Other types of chronic or temporary pain
• Asthma, heart and lung conditions
• Stress, depression and anxiety
• Headaches and migraines
• Pain during pregnancy

OHSU Primary Care, Gabriel Park

OHSU Primary Care, Scappoose

Rolfing Structural Integration is a bodywork system that uses soft tissue manipulation and movement patterns to balance your body better in gravity. Rolfing techniques focus on the fascia, the soft connective tissues throughout your body.

Benefits of Rolfing may include:

• Improved posture and freedom of movement
• Less pain and tension
• Less stress and a greater sense of comfort in your body

Learn more: What is Rolfing Structural Integration?, Dr. Ida Rolf Institute

OHSU Comprehensive Pain Center, Beaverton and South Waterfront

OHSU Fertility Clinic, South Waterfront

OHSU Primary Care, Marquam Hill

OHSU Primary Care, Richmond