Why patients drive from Port Angeles to Sequim for acupuncture
It's a shorter trip than people think — and the reason patients keep making it has more to do with the work than the drive.
About a third of my patients come from Port Angeles.
When I first opened the practice in Sequim, I assumed most of my patients would live within a few miles of the office. That's not how it's worked out. People drive — from Port Angeles, from Port Townsend, occasionally from further out — and once I started asking why, the answers got interesting.
It's not a long drive
Port Angeles to Sequim is about 20 minutes on Highway 101. For most of my Port Angeles patients, that's less time than a city commute they used to do for a doctor's appointment. A lot of them swing by Sunny Farms on the way home and call it a productive trip. The drive isn't the friction.
Five Element acupuncture is rare on the Peninsula
Most acupuncturists practice some form of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Five Element is a different lineage — it pays attention to constitutional patterns, emotional and seasonal factors, and the whole-person picture in a way that TCM doesn't always emphasize. There aren't many Five Element practitioners in Washington State, and even fewer on the Olympic Peninsula. Patients who've had acupuncture before, especially patients who relocated from Seattle or the Bay Area, tend to notice the difference quickly.
Peripheral neuropathy is a specialty
This one drives a lot of the Port Angeles traffic. Neuropathy doesn't get treated well in conventional medicine — most patients are told some version of "you'll have to live with it." I use a specific protocol for peripheral neuropathy alongside Five Element acupuncture, and the results bring people back. If you've been told nothing more can be done about your numbness, tingling, or nerve pain, that's not necessarily true. Here's how I approach neuropathy.
The point
If you're in Port Angeles and you've been considering acupuncture but assumed there wasn't anything specialized nearby, it's worth a 20-minute drive. The work happens in Sequim, but the practice is built for the whole Peninsula.