(Winter approaches at the top of Stowe Mountain, recently taken by @ryanresatka via Instagram)

A quick up-date for this holiday week's hours and a special to boot.

First, The Special!
In Manchester & Nashua, from Wednesday through Saturday all new patient visits are $10 off.
Yay! 
We do ask for first-time appointments to be booked ahead of time (as opposed to walking in).
So please give us a call in Manchester (669-0808) or in Nashua (579-0320) to set it all up.

Second, clinic hours this week:

The only change this week is for Thursday the 28th, Thanksgiving Day itself. We'll hold regular clinic hours otherwise.

Thursday the 28th, Thanksgiving Day
Manchester will be open from 9a-Noon
Nashua will be closed for the day.

MAS received good news this week as the Arthur Getz Trust saw fit to support our long-standing program using acupuncture as part of opioid misuse treatment for folks in recovery. 

We are grateful.

The truth is, we're quite grateful for all support of MAS programs.  

How might one contribute?

 - Offer a tax-deductible donation.  We are grateful for gifts in any amount, at any time of year.
 
 Does the company you work for offer a matching gift program? This is a great way to maximize your donation to MAS. Please contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to help move this option along.

 - Donate your unwanted upholstered recliner. We are often looking to upgrade.

 - Support MAS via the Amazon Smile Program. Make MAS your charitable organization of choice, shop on Amazon Smile, and percentages of your purchases are automatically donated.

Thanks to the many folks who currently contribute.

 - Looking for a different way to pay for your acupuncture treatments? Use your Health Savings Account (HSA) debit card at MAS. 

 - Pick up MAS Gift Certificates in any amount at Manchester and Nashua clinics.

 - Most importantly, continue to get treated. Using acupuncture as a tool in your toolbelt is a reliable way to support yourself and the best way to support MAS.

This month's date for Free acupuncture treatments for POCA members, is tomorrow - Tuesday, November 12th.

POCA?
Yup, The People's Organization of Community Acupuncture!

One of the best things about Manchester Acupuncture Studio is our connection to a bigger network.

We want acupuncture to become affordable and accessible to as many people as possible. It turns out a lot of other people do too! That's why we are among the founding members of a multi-stakeholder community acupuncture cooperative - The People's Organization of Community Acupuncture. POCA's membership is made up of different groups; patients, organizations, clinics, and acupuncturists.  These various groups have stakes in seeing more affordable acupuncture expand into more places and communities.

Your membership dues provide microloans to start affordable clinics all over the country and have help to found the first affordable acupuncture technical school, POCA Tech. POCA Tech students graduate with a fraction of the dizzying amount of student debt that a traditional acupuncture program requires. POCA Tech grads are trained to be job-ready, providing their communities with safe, high-quality acupuncture.

Many of you have been members of POCA for years. Thanks! We are always looking out for different ways to show our appreciation for this.

In addition to free days for POCA members at MAS, your POCA membership comes with:

 - 3 free treatment coupons to give to friends and family, accepted at any POCA member clinic

 - a membership card that gets you a free treatment the week of your birthday

 - $10 off first-time visits to all POCA clinics world-wide

 - Free e-books on Acupuncture Theory, in case you want to geek-out on acupuncture

 - access for POCA's monthy e-newsletters

Please consider joining, or renewing, your membership today.

This coming Tuesday, the 12th is November's Free Day @ MAS for POCA members.

Yes, it's time again to thank POCA members for supporting affordable community acupuncture far and wide.

Thank you fellow co-op members!

This means:

1) Free treatments for active POCA members at MAS Manchester & Nashua clinics on designated days. Like next Tuesday. Just bring in your current membership card and have a needle nap on us, in Manchester or Nashua.

2) We repeat these free treatment days for POCA members at MAS quite frequently, along with other periodic member specials.  Keep your eyes on MAS newsletters and the blackboards in Manchester & Nashua clinics, as well.

Wait...what?! You're not a POCA member?

Well, you may be interested to know, annual memberships start at only $25.
Sign yourself up online and enjoy the following terrific benefits of the world's only acupuncture cooperative, all year long:

- Free acupuncture on your birthday

- 3 Free first-treatment cards for your family and friends, accepted at POCA clinics worldwide

- Waived fees on first visits to POCA clinics worldwide

- Opportunities to volunteer, vote and discuss all things community acupuncture

- Monthly e-newsletter Sticking Together

...and regularly scheduled free days at MAS, to boot.

Basically with MAS-sponsored specials alone, as well as other POCA benefits, your membership is paid for a few times over.

Most importantly, your membership greatly helps to support the growth of affordable acupuncture services via low-interest loans offered by POCA for new and expanding community acupuncture clinics throughout North America and beyond.

Does acupuncture work by placebo? Let's ask a skunk.

Earlier this year, we were delighted to see a news story about a Skunk named Luna who receives acupuncture treatments. It is observed to help her manage arthritic pain.

We've also read about an elephant who gets acupuncture at a zoo in Singapore and an elderly penguin in New Orleans who can swim much better after a 10-minute acupuncture treatment. 

And of course acupuncture has been utilized widely and for many years in the horse-racing industry as well, for performance enhancement and immune support.

In fact, we've met many folks over the years who end up seeking acupuncture for pain relief because they first got to see how well it helped their dog, cat or horse.

(Just to be clear, we don't treat anyone's pets here at MAS. Many veterinarians in the surrounding area practice acupuncture for animals.)

We are not going to dispute the fact that the placebo effect is real and can be just as effective as actual interventions. It's also currently being studied itself, as the research community grapples with its understanding of the effect.  

But animals receiving treatment likely don't have expectations that tiny needles will give pain relief, or increased abilities. Accordingly, we'd have a hard time attributing the benefits of acupuncture strictly to psychology. 

While this debate will probably rage on, we prefer to continue to hone our collective skills and make the best use of them for folks seeking better for themselves no matter what the mechanism.