First
The waiting room
Four chairs, a plant, a coat rack with a white coat on it. Nobody is moved through here on a schedule that belongs to somebody else.
Acuherb Clinic · Helen H. Liu, L.Ac., O.M.D.
Acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine, practiced in Ellicott City by the same physician since 1997.
One practitioner, one room on Baltimore National Pike, and a shelf of herbs kept in the building. Dr. Liu trained in medicine in Hunan, taught at her own university, and has treated patients in Howard County for close to thirty years.
Standing
Maryland licensed in acupuncture since 1995, NCCAOM certified in acupuncture and Chinese herbology, and rated 5.0 from 6 Google reviews. The practice opened in Ellicott City in 1997 and has not moved.
Dr. Liu took her degree in medicine at Hunan Province University of Traditional Chinese Medicine in 1984, completed a three year postgraduate program in Chinese herbal medicine, and worked as a physician and teaching faculty at her own university before moving to Canada and then to Maryland.
More about Dr. LiuThe rooms
Four rooms, in the order you meet them.
This is the whole clinic. There is no second floor, no bank of treatment bays and no rotating staff, which is the point of it.
Second
The treatment room
One table, made up fresh, and a heat lamp. Needles are sterile, single use, and thrown away after you. This is where most of an appointment happens.
Third
The desk
The point model, the books, and the framed credentials behind them. Dr. Liu asks what has already been tried before she decides anything.
Fourth
The shelf
The herbs are kept in the building. A formula is written for the person, then made up here, rather than handed over as a boxed product.
“The best doctor treats not yet emerged diseases.”
The line is from the old Chinese medical texts, and Dr. Liu quotes it because she works that way. She puts real weight on preventative treatment: catching something early, while it is still small enough to answer quickly, gets a better result than waiting for it to declare itself.
What she treats with
Two treatments, and the methods that sit alongside them.
Acupuncture and herbal medicine are used together or separately depending on what you come in with. Both are hers to prescribe. She is nationally certified in each.
NCCAOM certified, Maryland licensed
Acupuncture
Very thin sterile needles, used once and discarded. Insertion is not painful and most people feel a slight sting, nothing more. Electro acupuncture is also offered. Treatment can run alongside the medicine you already take, and Dr. Liu will ask you to keep seeing your own physician.
What a session involvesNCCAOM certified in Chinese herbology
Chinese herbal medicine
Herbs are given as a formula rather than singly, because constitutions and patterns differ from person to person. They are collected from unpolluted mountain forest, imported, and inspected by the US authorities. Cupping, gua sha, moxibustion, tuina and diet and lifestyle adjustment sit alongside the herbs in the same room.
How a formula is writtenAlso in the same room
- Cupping
- Gua Sha
- Moxibustion
- Tuina
- Diet and lifestyle adjustment
The door
10304B Baltimore National Pike
Ellicott City, Maryland 21042. Ground floor, own entrance, parking outside the door. Six people have rated the clinic on Google and all six gave it five stars.
“Helen is amazing.. I have sought out other acupuncturists for months only to be disappointed at the lack of change in my "condition" After going to Helen my symptoms began to improve significantly. She is amazing.. The BEST acupuncturist I have been to.”
Janet Oquendo · Google
“Dr. Helen Liu is so helpful in her treatments. She truly cares about what's best for your health and listens to your needs. I highly recommend her for any acupuncture and medicinal herb treatments!”
Vanna Keomisy · Google
Asked most
The questions people actually arrive with.
These are the clinic's own answers, in Dr. Liu's wording. If yours is not here, the phone is answered in the office.
Acupuncture needles are very thin and made from stainless steel. Inserting the needle in the skin is not painful. In this clinic all needles are sterile and used only once. Most people feel a slight sting as the needle goes in, and nothing more than that.
Acupuncture is very safe. Only sterile, disposable needles are used, and conventional technique is strictly observed in the clinic.
Yes to both. Acupuncture treatment can be given at the same time you take other medicine, and we encourage you to keep up regular visits to your primary physician.
Because people's constitutions are different, and so are their pathologic changes. A formula is tailored to an individual's body condition and pattern, which a single herb cannot do.
Yes. The herbs are collected from mountain forest without industrial pollution, and they are imported and inspected by the US authorities. Patients do not need to stop their current medication to take them.
It depends on your condition. One visit with three to five doses of herbs may be enough for something simple like flu. Chronic disorders take longer, and usually start at one or two visits a week.
The table is made up. Call the office and ask whether this suits what you have.
Dr. Liu answers that question herself rather than booking you in blind. Bring what your own physician has already said, and keep seeing them either way.
- Opening hours
- Mon 8am to 12pm · Tue 8am to 5pm · Wed 1pm to 7pm · Thu 8am to 12pm · Fri 8am to 5pm. Every other Saturday 8am to 12pm. Closed Sunday.
- Where
- 10304B Baltimore National Pike, Ellicott City, MD 21042. hliu@acuherbclinic.com