If you've ever noticed that your joints, muscles, or old injuries start talking to you as New York shifts into its humid summer mode, you're not imagining it. There's real physiology behind weather-related pain, and there's a lot that can be done about it before the worst of the summer heat and humidity arrives. This is the time of year I start having this conversation with patients — because how you feel in July and August often depends on what you do in May and June. Why Hu

If you're a migraine sufferer, spring in New York City is not the relief it is for everyone else. For many people with migraines, the season change is one of the most reliable triggers of the year — and May in particular, with its wild barometric swings, pollen surges, and rapid temperature shifts, can be brutal. If you've noticed your migraines clustering or intensifying right now, there's a specific reason for that. And there's a treatment approach that addresses it at a le

If you're somewhere in the menopause transition — whether you're in the thick of perimenopause, recently menopausal, or navigating the longer post-menopausal chapter — you may have noticed that conventional medicine doesn't have a lot to offer beyond hormone therapy and a list of things to manage. For many women that's not enough. And for some, HRT isn't an option or isn't something they want. (Although most of my patients - myself included- use a combination of both) I work

If your allergies feel worse this year than they used to, you're not being dramatic. Allergy season in New York City has genuinely intensified over the last decade — longer, earlier, and more severe than most of us grew up with. And if you're someone who has been managing with antihistamines and nasal sprays and finding that they're working less well, or that you're just exhausted from the constant management of it, there's another approach worth knowing about. Why Allergies

There's a moment I always love when a new patient looks at me — a little skeptical, a little hopeful — and asks, "But how does it actually work?" Click the image to get to the Times article It's the right question. And this week, the New York Times published a piece that gets us closer to a real answer than Western medicine ever has. I'd encourage you to read it — [click the image to get to the article]. It's worth your time. The short version: researchers have discovered tha

By Annalisa Brown, L.Ac., Dipl. Ac. | AB Acupuncture | Upper West Side, NYC Every year around this time I start hearing the same thing from patients: "I should be feeling better — it's finally warm out — but I'm exhausted." If that resonates, you're not imagining it, and there's nothing wrong with you. Spring fatigue is a real physiological phenomenon, and in New York City it hits particularly hard. Why Spring Can Feel Worse Before It Feels Better We tend to think of seasonal

If you're living with chronic pain, anxiety, IBS, or symptoms that never fully resolve no matter what you try, this post is for you. I'm an acupuncturist practicing on the Upper West Side of New York City, and the approach I use at AB Acupuncture is a little different from what most people expect. It's rooted in neuroscience, informed by a framework called Pain Reprocessing Therapy, and centered on something I believe deeply: that understanding your own nervous system is part

A practical guide to photobiomodulation — what it is, how it works, what light therapy treats, and how it fits into a clinical acupuncture treatment on the Upper West Side. If you've been looking into natural pain relief, you've probably come across "light therapy." But the term covers a lot of ground, and most articles online conflate two very different things: sunlight-replacement light boxes (the bright white lamps used for seasonal depression) and photobiomodulation — the

If you’ve tried physical therapy, massage, medication—or all three—and still feel like something isn’t fully resolving, you’re not alone. I’ve met many people in New York who’ve been through the usual healthcare routes but still feel stuck. That’s where acupuncture often comes in as a game changer. A lot of patients who come in for acupuncture in New York aren’t new to healthcare. They’re just new to something that actually changes the pattern, not just manages it. So what’s

If you live in New York, you’re used to pushing through. Through long days. Through stress. Through pain that “isn’t bad enough” to stop everything—but doesn’t go away either. At a certain point, your body stops keeping up. Sleep gets lighter. Muscles stay tight. Hormones shift. Recovery takes longer than it used to. That’s usually when people start looking for something different. Acupuncture has become a go-to for New Yorkers who want a more effective, less medication-depen