Exploring Life & Business with Amy Messer of Acupuncture Westside

Today we’d like to introduce you to Amy Messer.

Hi Amy, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.

Hello, and thank you for including me. I watched my father suffer a long and unpleasant battle with cancer when I was young. I was too young to help then. However, while I was in college, I stumbled upon Shiatsu and Clinical Massage therapy as a trade that would afford me a more flexible schedule and better wage than other jobs at that time. As I became better at it, I began to feel a purpose in being able to help others with injuries & well-being, and my practice became meaningful to me. This became a gateway for my interest in a more advanced scope of practice. Observing marked improvements for some clients and conditions by curious triggers in seemingly random points on the body piqued an interest in understanding why. This became the impetus for my looking into accredited master’s degree programs related to integrative healthcare. Another part of my interest was how and when something like acupuncture could be an alternative to drug therapy.

There aren’t a lot of Masters’s Degree programs for eastern medicine, but there are a few – less than 10 — that are quite good and associated with major university medical institutions. None of these are in Kansas yet. UCLA Health has the Center for East-West Medicine, which integrates modern Western and Traditional Eastern medicine for world-class care for hospitalized and ambulatory patients in several locations. Pacific College of Oriental Medicine & Health Science has campuses in NYC, Chicago and San Diego, the latter of which has a clinic in the Rady Children’s Hospital, and another at UCSD Medical Center. California also has a high licensing standard that requires licensees to know how to work with western doctors, when to refer a patient elsewhere, order lab tests, read lab results, keep and share confidential medical information securely, and so on. This isn’t required in most other states, and it seemed important. So, I enrolled and was accepted at Yo San University, a renowned program located in Marina Del Rey.

I soon learned this curriculum wasn’t easy. It was intensive, academically rigorous and required 3 years of clinical internship before being eligible for the state board’s licensing exams. It is a 3000+ hour, 4-year program requiring about as many hours of western science, etiology, and pathophysiology as there are for the eastern scope of the program. It’s critical to know how not to harm. There are hundreds of points and acupuncture protocols, some critically contraindicated for various conditions, and interactions between common western drugs and any plant medicines.  It was a demanding 4 years, but I did it.

Once licensed in CA, I continued to build a practice in Marina Del Rey. Los Angeles is a competitive market, but the weather is generally nice, and plenty of people are familiar with getting acupuncture on a regular basis. The pandemic changed things for me a bit, though. By 2022 I chose to return to Kansas to be closer to family and the spirit of Kansas people.

My business in Prairie Village is growing, but relocating my practice cross country into a new state with relatively young licensing took a lot of work. My peers at the Kansas Association of Oriental Medicine were amazingly helpful in ways that exemplify the nature of Kansas I know and love. I would not have had such a supportive group in CA to help me in such a way. I’m grateful to be back here with new ways to help.

Alright, let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what challenges have you had to overcome?

Oh boy. It has not been a cakewalk. The barrier to entry for being an acupuncturist – anywhere, but especially in CA or Florida is higher than I imagined when I first became inclined to dive deeper into it as a career choice. Yes, I understood it was a 3000+ hour, 4-year Masters’s degree. I was a bit surprised by how academically intensive the program would be covering western medicine. A qualified program covers so much more than just knowing some acupoints and their key actions, which is what one might expect. It becomes important to demonstrate an academic and practical understanding of western medical pathophysiology and etiology for understanding common point combinations and protocols that are contraindicated for various pathologies and conditions, such as pregnancy, cancer, or a skin rash that may be staph. We also need to be literate of western pharmacology & drug interactions with food and crude plant medicines, how to read lab results, when it is best to refer out and communicate with MDs, and more. We learn how to help, but also how to not harm.

I was also surprised with how intensive the eastern material would be, which includes learning a different way of seeing how the body functions according to natural factors. This has been a developing understanding of naturalistic observation since the bronze age. Reference texts of Traditional Materia Medica include thousands of plants available as medicines – some with compounds extracted for common western cancer drugs – that are all a part of the material required for demonstrable knowledge of identification, actions, safe use, and when not safe to use in combination with drugs prescribed by a doctor. As for acupoints, there are hundreds upon hundreds, each with specific actions and indications that are rarely used alone. Treatment protocols include combinations of many different points that must not contradict each other and cause harm but effectively resolve often complicated internal conditions that appear contradictory. It has demonstrated wonderfully in my practice for my patients, helping mitigate side effects of chemo, improving neuro-motor recovery from stroke, peripheral neuralgia from diabetes, Bell’s palsy, TMJ, non-alcoholic cirrhosis, skin conditions, long-covid fatigue, and it has been a great alternative to opioids for managing some types of pain. A common question is “Does acupuncture work?” The answer depends on what condition is being presented. It’s a useful organic option for a lot of things that aren’t easily addressed by allopathic treatments. I do my best to explain what and why in plain terms to anyone in my care for their comfort, ease, and confidence.

Thanks – so, what else should our readers know about Acupuncture Westside?

My practice includes services within the scope of acupuncture, including integrative internal medicine, chronic pain management, advanced skincare, and I incorporate clinical massage therapy as well. This combination of complimentary practices may set my practice apart, though 3 things about my practice I like to communicate are:

1) I prioritize patient comfort. My patients have my undivided attention. I listen carefully and want my patients to feel heard. I do the interviews and the treatments. My patients can relax on a first-class treatment table fitted with fresh linen for every appointment — no paper on top of cold vinyl. I explain the protocol in simple terms for patient ease, comfort, and confidence.

2) I am also a Licensed Esthetician (LE), with an acupuncture specialty of advanced skincare-related protocols. Eliminating wrinkles, improving skin elasticity, facial lifting, and treating acne are within the scope of acupuncture and becoming more sought out. An episode of Goop seemed to generate wider interest.

3) My wonderful location – I love the building and neighborhood. My business is on the first floor of the beautiful mid-century office building at 7301 Mission Rd in Prairie Village — Building A Ste 111.

Do you have recommendations for books, apps, blogs, etc.?
Tony Robbins, Dr. Wayne Dyer, and Deepak Chopra are a few of my favorites.

 Acupuncture Westside Pricing:

• $120 for initial Acupuncture visit
• $100 for follow-up Acupuncture visits
• MicroNeedling & Facial Acupuncture is from $200 – $500
• Hydrafacials are from $150 – $250

Contact Info:

• Website: https://acupuncturewestside.com/
• Google Maps: https://goo.gl/maps/BNCnFBT37VusMEdy6
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/acuwestside/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100087448027917
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/acupuncture-westside-prairie-village

Image Credits
Dale Starnes