El Cajon, CA Drs and Health Practioners

After recovering from a bout of carbon monoxide poisoning that left her in a coma, Teresa Hall developed a passion for holistic healing methods. After getting degrees in psychology and traditional Oriental medicine, she trained at a hospital in Wuhan, China, then founded Kwan Yin Holistic Center here in the States—naming it after an Asian goddess said to have given up her own enlightenment in order to heal the world’s maladies.

Today, Teresa honors her center’s namesake through holistic services such as acupuncture, herbal remedies, tui na massage, and fertility treatments. In regular workshops and seminars, she teaches novices techniques for performing reiki treatments or getting the replay on a pinball machine every time.

Point Del Mar Acupuncture founder and owner Valerie Beckwith graduated with a master’s degree in acupuncture and oriental medicine, but she didn't stop there. Since then, she's performed extensive clinical research, studied at a university in Hangzhou, China, and apprenticed under a master acupuncturist. Each day she brings this experience to her practice, a clinic where she's teamed up with Dwayne Lee, a health practitioner who is also board certified in both acupuncture and Chinese herbology. Both are adept at treating a bevy of different conditions, having had success in the past reducing general pain, dealing with respiratory disorders, and helping their clients overcome addictions. In order to maintain the highest of sanitation standards, Point Del Mar uses only stainless-steel needles that are used only one time before being thrown away—like the motorcycles of rich men.

The wellness introductory package begins with a basic overview of the principles and practices behind Chinese medicine and is followed by a personal-health assessment and one therapeutic acupuncture treatment. Acupuncture targets specific points in the body to help redirect the flow of the body’s energy and provide relief from a wide variety of ailments such as chronic pain, morning sickness, insomnia, tennis elbow, and more. Call ahead to schedule an appointment and prepare to have tension and stress melt away faster than a wicked witch at a pool party.

At Dr. Bauer's Advanced Wellness, Drs. Jason Bauer and Travis Johnson focus on healing spines and promoting overall health without the use of surgery or drugs. During one-hour therapeutic massages, muscles surrender aches to firm hands, which send waves of relaxation over bodies and dissolve stores of tension as quickly as a dragon eats through its antacid supply. Patients then meet with one of the doctors, who consults with them to suss out deficiencies in areas of nutrition, exercise, and function. A thorough examination of the spine and nervous system includes orthopedic tests to evaluate posture and range of motion and digital nerve and thermal scans to illuminate caricatures of the brain circulated by mischievous vertebrae.

Dr. Pegah Salami, feared opponent of high-fructose corn syrup, will don her spelunking gear and rappel deep into your mouth in search of dangerous cavity caverns and the root of your pain. She'll blast out any impudent plaque with a high-pressure hose and capture your photogenic pearly whites with x-rays for your grandma's mantle, ensuring that your toothstalks are crack-free and as strong as their cuisine-crushing caps. According to the American Academy of Periodontology, improving your mouth's health has a positive effect on the whole body, making a trip to the dentist an essential part of whole-human care.

Stepping into Tower Dentistry is like stepping into the house of a neighbor—a neighbor who’s really into the Middle Ages. One of the sunny, yellow walls in the reception area gives way to the stone exterior of a castle, where children climb through a kid-size archway to enter their own play space. Overhead, a flat-screen TV entertains parents as they shift focus between the screen and their progeny, sipping coffee or juice on the plush cushions of the sofa. Nearby, a vibrant blue-and-orange flower painting crowns the fireplace, complementing the blue backlighting of the rotunda-like ceiling and the dark-wood cabinets.

If you can bring yourself to leave the cozy comfort of the foyer, you'll find that the rest of the office is just as calming. Satellite TV or music await in treatment rooms, where dentists Adam Raschke, Paul Pierce, Paul Velton, and Frank Duran would love to hear the nicknames you've chosen for each of the fish in their 1,000-gallon aquarium. The caring team maintains its patient-centered philosophy with timesaving, state-of-the-art dental technology. They use a CEREC software system to design and fabricate ceramic restorations in about an hour, and offer mini dental implants that stabilize ill-fitting dentures in a single visit.