Nanaimo Acupuncture

11/22/2025

Heads up clients of Nanaimo Acupuncture.
Guess where construction started this week?!

Just look to the US, or back east or even Calgary not to long ago if you want to see what happens when we don't maintain water and sewer lines. A few months of noise is better than a street collapsing. It does mean it can take a few extra minutes to get here, but you can still access the clinic easily.

Heads up Nanaimo Commuters! The Third Street Complete Street Project is starting tomorrow morning, November 17 at 7 am and affecting traffic on Fitzwilliam Street.

· Construction hours: Monday – Friday, 7am – 7pm.
· Single-lane, alternating traffic will be in effect on Fitzwilliam St between Pine St and Milton St.
· No access onto Fitzwilliam St from either Machleary St or Kennedy St.
· Street parking will be affected.
· Flag persons on-site.
· Pedestrian and cyclist access accommodated.
· Access maintained to all residential properties.
· EMERGENCY SERVICES prioritized, please use an alternate route if possible.

To learn more about this project, please visit https://www.nanaimo.ca/goto/Third

09/25/2025

Hey everyone!
This year I'm sponsoring (well not just me, I'm not rich) the Butterfly Run in Nanaimo. It's a group with a fantastic goal of supporting people who've experienced loss. A lovely group of people who remind us why compassion is the cornerstone of civilisation.
The run/walk is next Saturday (Oct 4th) at Westwood Lake and you can register, or get more information at their website - https://www.butterflysupportnetwork.ca/nanaimo

12/04/2024

The last of 2024.
Last call for using up health benefits and holiday hours

If you haven’t broken the bank with a weekend of heavy shopping this is just a friendly reminder that December is a good opportunity to use up the last remnants of benefits for 2024. You can come in for acupuncture, IMS or triggerpoint needling and still get cupping, guasha, electric stimulation, magnet therapy and more.

I’ve always tried to provide the best care that I can at a cost that’s significantly (20-40%) lower than average. This means that your benefits last longer and even if you don’t have extended health coverage you still pay less out of pocket.

Now more than ever, people are struggling with the rising cost or housing, food, heathcare, heat and other costs of staying alive. It’s not easy and those of us who work in healthcare are no different. My decision was between passing the costs onto my patients or just work harder and longer.

So now the office is open up to 50 hours a week and still just $80 per one on one treatment or community acupuncture on a sliding scale.

Health benefits are essentially part of your pay check and a great way to stay healthy, pain-free and sane through the next month. If you or your friends and family have some leftover coverage, there’s no better time than the present for some actual self-care.

Holiday hours:
Closed Dec 24 and 25th
I'll be around as needed through the rest of the month and through the new year.

01/16/2024

What a fun weekend!
Had a great time hanging out with the 75 year young(!) moxibustion master Mizutani Junji and a few other acupuncturists at his clinic in Vancouver. It was a great review for this technique and a chance to see the master at work again.

01/01/2024

Happy New years!

2024 marks 20 years in practice for me so I’m trying to feel more introspective and reflect on what that means as a practitioner and even how rare it is to be happy in the same job for so long. Twenty years with no promotion and only one pay rise?
Looks like I need to have a chat with my boss!

In 2023 I completed the sports medicine training, an amazing course with some of the best teachers I’ve ever met. I learned so much about anatomy and targeting injured tissue as well as correcting postural issues that might contribute to injury & pain.

This year I’m returning to a unique family style of acupuncture 董 (written as D**g or Tung in English). This is something I started reading about when I was still in school and have been using for many years; I’m now signed up for the master level training. Should be fun!

Speaking of returning to the basics, this year I’m also spending more time with master moxa teacher Mizutani Junji to brush up on moxibustion therapy and taking some smaller courses on Tuina and body work techniques. It’s good to have some tools that aren’t just more needles.

I want to thank everyone for a great 2023, especially my volunteers who help me practice nearly 100 orthopaedic exams. I wouldn’t be where I am without all of you.
I hope everyone has a great year ahead of them, and wish you all the best.
Clayton

12/19/2023

Holiday hours:
Always closed Sunday & Monday, which means the 24th & 25th as well as the 31st and 1st are just normal days off.
I'll be taking the 26th and 27th off, but if there's any urgent need for treatment feel free to call in because I may still be around.

12/05/2023

I've seen quite a few women with fertility issues and supplements are often discussed, but more than 90% essentially malnourished is pretty frightening.

Most of those tested lack nutrients crucial for healthy foetal development as found in abundance in meat and dairy products

10/27/2023

Even though the clinic is called Nanaimo Acupuncture, I sometimes do a bit more than just that. Here's a little introduction to one of the needle free therapies I also offer.

Targeted magnet therapy

07/19/2023

You may have heard growing noise about upcoming changes that Health Canada is planning. And you may also have heard a lot of vague, slightly threatening talk verging on conspiracy theories about the downfall of the vitamin and supplement industry.

Well here's a link that lays out the costs (hundreds of thousands every year) that will be added to every single natural health care product you use. The proposed changes are brutal and are a horrible solution to a problem that barely existed.

As an acupuncturist, these changes have little to no impact on what I do, but as a consumer I'm pretty worried. Local jobs will be lost and large multinational profits will increase. Natural remedies used by millions will significantly increase in price or disappear altogether.

So if you haven't done so already, please write your local MP. Life is expensive enough and many products have already pulled out of the Canadian market because they're afraid of doing business here.

On May 12, 2023, Health Canada published a proposal detailing cost recovery fees for natural health products. While there is a lot of information to digest in Health Canada's proposal, the proposed fees raise questions regarding the cost to industry and consumers.

06/26/2023

Lucky numbers?
It’s difficult to believe that I'm only the 7th acupuncturist in BC, and the 13th in all of Canada to complete the Sports Medicine Acupuncture training (and pass the final exam) with Matt Callison in San Diego. I bought his first book when I was still in school and here I am finally completing his program - 23 years later!

An amazing teacher, a rich, dense curriculum and a group of instructors & assistants who could easily have taken his training and created copycat courses themselves. But that's the thing about great teachers, they inspire their best students to collaborate and build something better.

I'm still processing the past year - hundreds of hours of class time, even more in study, time away from work and family and all at a cost that still makes my eyes water. There’s a lot to integrate into what I already do, but I really appreciate having new perspectives on acupuncture and a lot more knowledge of functional anatomy.

And as promised, there are no plans to use a few extra letters after my name to justify increasing treatment costs. If I increased prices for every course I’ve taken, it’d be ridiculous. Continuing education is mandatory for acupuncturists, as with all health care providers, and we should want to become better at our jobs, no? Even this is less of an accomplishment than it is a rather large stepping stone on a lifelong journey.

Honestly, letters after a name don’t mean that much, I’ve met people who took a one-weekend course and called themselves a Certified Sports Medicine Acupuncturist. But that ethical dilemma is their own, I was given permission to use it by the person who created the title. I just have to live up to these expectations to keep learning with every patient I see so I can provide the best care I can.