Hidden Gems: Meet Martha Lucas of Lucas Acupuncture

Today we’d like to introduce you to Martha Lucas.

Hi Martha, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstories.
I am a Research Psychologist who, when working in western medicine doing research, was curious about how alternative medicines would help my patients heal faster. That curiosity led me to learn Reiki and I became a Reiki Master. Then, I learned Axiatonal Alignment and Colorpuncture.

It was learning Colorpuncture that led me to Chinese medicine school because I wanted to know more about how the treatment worked. Researchers are curious and I was curious… I wanted to know why and how color on acupuncture points works in Chinese medicine. I was blessed to meet my Pulse Diagnosis mentor in my first semester of Chinese medicine school and I never looked back! He taught me how important it is to be able to determine the causes of the patient’s symptoms and not just to “put a bandaid on the situation” by treating the symptom instead of the cause.

I opened my own clinic (became an entrepreneur) because I wanted to treat my employees the way I felt was proper. In other words, I wanted them to have some flexibility with their lives with my support. For example, one of my employees has lupus nephritis. When she has had some acute episodes over the last 15+ years, I have given her paid time off for the entire time that she needed it – during hospitalization and at home recuperating. I and other employees would pick up her workload until she was feeling fine.

It’s that sort of opportunity that I wanted to offer others. And, I have more flexibility when my family needs me. I also work in a Western medicine internal medicine clinic two days a week – they asked me to work there about 6 years ago so they could “stop giving their patients pills,” I love their commitment to offering their patients options.

I also teach Chinese medicine worldwide because I am committed to helping practitioners be the best they can be. Chinese medicine will only thrive in our country if the practitioners successfully improve patients’ health. When practitioners don’t receive adequate education so can’t give effective treatments, people say that “acupuncture doesn’t work.” It DOES work… it’s a fabulous therapy but the correct diagnosis must be made in order for the treatment to be correct.

I am an author; my books include Cosmetic Acupuncture Works!, Pulse Diagnosis: Beyond Slippery and Wiry, The World’s Littlest Book on Ear Acupuncture, and Acupressure, You Don’t Need Botox. And helped when one of my grandsons wrote, The Skeleton in a Tutu gets Acupuncture.

Last but not least, I have created a natural skincare line based on Chinese herbs – My Zen Skin Care.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Some parts of the journey have been smoother than others. As a former University Professor, it was a more or less easy transition for me to start teaching Chinese medicine courses.
And, as a former business owner (in an unrelated field), I had some business acumen to start my own clinic. A big challenge in my field is that most health insurance doesn’t cover acupuncture or other Chinese medicine treatment.

Therefore, people have to pay out of pocket which necessarily limits my patient population and doesn’t seem right – to limit people’s access to good health. Acupuncture works; that’s all there is to it and should be covered by health insurance. Practitioners of Chinese medicine/Acupuncturists have education requirements, pass national board exams, and have national certification and state-granted licenses. We’re medical providers and our services should be covered by insurance. Another challenge is the education of the general public. Chinese medicine is not a religion; it has no religious overtones. It is a system of medicine.

The pandemic really threw my business for a loop. Since teaching was a large part of my income, I lost about 70% of my income. One day I had income; the next $0. It was amazing to experience. So I had to create an online presence for my courses. Before that, I didn’t offer any courses online – all of my acupuncture training programs were in person. But it is a huge struggle to get people to buy online courses. I also started to offer more online therapies to my patients (another struggle) – distant Reiki (my original alternative medicine love), Essential Oil Acupoint Therapy, and meditation/self-hypnosis sessions.

I’m still struggling to regain my pre-pandemic income and wonder if I will ever reach that point again. I know that “age” is just a word but reinventing oneself after 20+ years in your business is no easy matter.

As you know, we’re big fans of Lucas Acupuncture. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
The business is also known as Your Wellness with Dr. Martha. That was the name given to it when the pandemic hit in order to have a more global appeal. After all, acupuncture is an in-person therapy while wellness can be offered distantly.

I would like more people to understand that, while acupuncture is the most well-known therapy that I offer, I also offer:

• Gua Sha (Chinese medical massage),
• Chinese herb prescriptions,
• Nutritional advice according to the theory of Chinese medicine,
• cosmetic acupuncture,
• Injection therapy which includes trigger point therapy for pain and neural therapy (treating scars),
• Ultrasound therapy for pain,
• Distant Reiki treatments,
• Moxibustion therapy,
• Essential oil acupoint therapy (a distant therapy).

One unique thing about sets me apart from other acupuncturists is that I am also a Research Psychologist. For years, Chinese medicine schools didn’t require any pre-training. So, to have an acupuncturist who is also a doctor from another profession is fairly rare.

The crisis has affected us all in different ways. How has it affected you and any important lessons or epiphanies you can share with us?

I don’t know if I’d called it a “lesson,” but I did have to learn how to have more of an online presence than I’ve ever had before. And, it’s a big struggle. People are used to seeing me in person and, even though it’s been, 20+ months, online is still a struggle.

I have always thought of family first and do my best to help others. The horrible split in our country over-vaccinated/non-vaccinated has really brought the love for others, social responsibility, caring for elders, protecting unvaccinated children, etc. To the forefront of my thinking.

Pricing:

• $135 Initial acupuncture visit
• The healthy results from acupuncture are cumulative so packages are available.
• $1540 For 10 Cosmetic Acupuncture treatments (discounted price when paid in advance.)
• $99/Session scar therapy
• $95/Session Facial Gua Sha Moisture Bomb treatment

Contact Info:

• Email: drmlucas@acupuncturewoman.com
• Website: www.acupuncturewoman.com
• Instagram: yourwellness_withdrmartha
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DrMarthaLucas
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAsTpUMce8UKhVcBF_wiaIA