Acupuncture for Pain Relief in Denver's Highlands Neighborhood
Pain that outlasts rest, ice, and a stack of ibuprofen often responds to a different kind of treatment. Acupuncture, one of the oldest tools in Chinese medicine, may be the piece that's been missing from the plan. Joanne Trujillo, L.Ac., MSOM, has treated patients in Denver's Highlands neighborhood for over 17 years, drawing patients from Wheat Ridge, Edgewater, Arvada, Sunnyside, Berkeley, and Lakewood.
Acupuncture uses thin, sterile needles, about the width of a human hair, placed at specific points on the body to relieve pain, calm the nervous system, and support the body's own healing response. Most people feel very little when the needles go in, and many sessions end in a state of relaxation that borders on sleep.
What Acupuncture Helps With
Patients come to Joanne for chronic back and neck pain, migraines and tension headaches, joint pain, and stress that hasn't responded to anything else. Because every treatment plan is built around a patient's specific pain and health history, no two sessions look exactly alike.
Pain isn't the only reason patients see Joanne. Her practice also treats allergies, stress, anxiety, and chronic headaches or migraines, along with digestive issues, fertility support, and women's health concerns. Many allergy patients come through her NAET Allergy Elimination program, which works for both adults and kids. Patients managing autoimmune conditions, recovering from chemotherapy, or looking to support their immune system find relief here too, and several return for cosmetic facial acupuncture or microneedling to care for their skin alongside everything else.
What to Expect
A first visit begins with a real conversation. Joanne asks about health history, current pain, sleep, stress, and what's already been tried, since that context shapes everything that follows. She then checks pulse and tongue, both standard diagnostic tools in Chinese medicine, before selecting the points suited to the case at hand.
Needles typically stay in for 15 to 30 minutes while the patient relaxes under low lighting with quiet music playing. Warmth, gentle pressure, and light tingling are common as the needles take effect, and it's not unusual for patients to drift off entirely.
Depending on what a session calls for, treatment may also include cupping or gua sha. Cupping uses suction to relieve muscle tension and improve circulation. Gua sha uses a smooth tool to gently scrape tight areas, easing inflammation along the way. Neither is offered as a separate service; both are folded into an acupuncture session only when they'll help.
Ready to Start?
Acupuncture tends to work best as a plan rather than a single visit. Book a first session online, or call 720.772.8540 with any questions beforehand.