“We have a lot of people who come in with an incredible migraine and nothing else works for them,” said Sanam Abbas, a marketing graduate student and receptionist at the center. “Or a lot of younger children who fall off the bed and have amazing back pain and the doctors can’t figure it out. Then they come in here for therapy.”

Many people choose acupuncture because it has the ability to fill in the gaps of Western medicine, said certified acupuncturist Lisa Cavagnolo, who considered a career in nursing before pursuing acupuncture at the wellness center.

“Most acupuncturists quite often will hear that they’re someone’s last resort because they have tried everything else,” Cavagnolo said.

Jodi Roberto Hancock, the educational program coordinator for the MSU Women’s Resource Center, said she agrees alternative forms of medicine can help when Western medicine doesn’t suffice.

Cavagnolo will conduct a seminar about acupuncture on behalf of the Women’s Resource Center at noon today in the Lake Superior Room of the Union. The seminar is free and open to the public.

Unlike many of her patients, Cavagnolo said she sometimes turns to acupuncture before common Western practices.

“I do use acupuncture as my first resort for certain things,” she said. “But depending on what comes up, I still use Western medicine.

“Any good acupuncturist recognizes that Eastern medicine and Western medicine go hand in hand.”

Abbas said she knew she wanted to work with nontraditional health care since she took a class on holistic medicine during her undergraduate years.

“In class we meditated every morning and talked a lot about yoga and shiatsu, which they teach (at the center), and learned about massage therapy and herbal medication,” she said.

While Abbas said her holistic medicine class was an eye-opener, it was not the first time she had come in contact with something other than Western medicine.

“My mom is from Pakistan and she’s a huge believer in herbal medications and homeopathic medications,” Abbas said.

“When we were younger, my mom would take us to the doctor and if the medication wasn’t working, she would take us to a homeopathic doctor and get medicine from him.

“And I would say most of the time these medications worked.”

Although Abbas said she believes non-Western practices are a healthier way to heal, her checkbook stands between her and treatments, like acupuncture and massage therapy.

“I’m a student, so I usually use Western methods because medical insurance covers it,” Abbas said. “I definitely turn to regular Western medicines first. They’re more convenient and less expensive. Homeopathic medicine is just an alternative.”

Cavagnolo treats people of all ages, including those with recurring headaches, athletes with pain often times caused by old injuries that haven’t healed properly, women experiencing unexplained infertility and people battling stress.

“To me, there’s more than one way to heal and find solutions to medical problems,” Hancock said. “Everyone has to figure out what’s best for them. Some people take pills and it goes away — and sometimes it doesn’t.”