New business pinpoints the problem

April 17, 2005

BOB MARTINSON/Frontiersman reporter

PALMER - An acupuncture clinic opened Monday in Palmer's Koslosky building.

Kevin Meddleton and Samantha Berg have opened the Alaska Center for Acupuncture in Suite 208, above Vagabond Blues. To introduce itself to the community, the clinic for the next month is offering a free half-hour "de-stress" treatment. Those who are interested are asked to set up an appointment. The offer ends May 11.

Meddleton and Berg each have degrees from Cornell University and the Tai Sophia Institute for the Healing Arts in Maryland. They say they provide holistic healing practices for people with up to 43 conditions that the World Health Organization has claimed benefit from acupuncture techniques.

They provide facial rejuvenation treatments they say can reduce cravings for addictions, including smoking cessation, and relief from migraines, back pain, digestive problems, cardiac or gynecological problems and depression or anxiety.

The cost is $125 for an initial 90-minute consultation treatment, and following treatments are $90. Some insurance companies now cover acupuncture and the clinic recommends calling your insurance company to see which acupuncture procedures it covers and how many times it will cover each treatment.

The couple says their treatments can complement traditional medicine in treating chronic illnesses.

"We feel that there are tools that are right for the right jobs and we totally believe that traditional medicine has its place, so some of what we do can help support a person to get better by fixing the things that caused some of their problems in the first place, such as stress," Berg said.

Their Web site, www.alaskaacupuncture.com, answers many frequently asked questions. People who are interested in the clinic's services may call 745-8688 to make an appointment, or find out more.