Valley Ranch Acupuncture, Mesquite

When it comes to the integration of Eastern and Western medicine, Dr. Carlos Chapa might as well be the poster child. He spent nearly a decade learning and practicing Western medicine, first as a medic in the U.S. Marines, then as a civilian paramedic. When he took a sabbatical from his budding medical career to study abroad in China, Dr. Chapa's early interest in natural cures—stemming from visits to his grandmother's small town in Mexico, where she acted as the town healer—took root in the form of Traditional Chinese Medicine. He delved head-first into this new passion, earning his master's degree and then his PhD in Oriental Medicine from Dongguk University in South Korea, which led him to study at one of the world's first hospitals that integrated Eastern and Western principles.

Today, Dr. Chapa brings this integrative approach to clients at Valley Ranch Acupuncture. As a licensed acupuncturist who has treated thousands of patients, he uses this 5,000 year old technique to decrease pain, boost energy, and affect hormone levels in clients, all with the aim of treating the root cause of the issues and not only focusing only on the symptoms. True to his forward-thinking style, Dr. Chapa may even swap out the hair-thin, virtually painless acupuncture needles for a laser. The low-energy beam is used to target the same locations and produce the same results as acupuncture needles, but require no penetration of the skin.