Acu-Weight Loss and Fitness opens in Lewes

Acupuncture therapy can help clients detoxify and lose weight, says Les Binnix of Acu-Weight Loss and Fitness.

Binnix is a licensed clinical therapist and resident acupuncture specialist.

By inserting tiny, minimally-invasive needles at defined points on a client's body, Binnix said, a trained clinician can change the flow of energy, reducing stress and the desire to miss use food or drugs.

A practicing mental health counselor for nearly 20 years, Binnix said since he began offering acupuncture therapy in addition to traditional individual and group therapies, he has seen clients reap physical and mental rewards, drug-free.

"When people take medication for anxiety or depression, they are changing their chemical process so they feel better," Binnix said. Acupuncture does the same thing, he said. The treatment changes the chemical processes so patients feel better, he said.

Benefits of acupuncture, a traditional form of Chinese medicine, uses thin needles, inserted in specific points along the body, to re-align energy flow, he said.

Binnix offers detox acu-therapy sessions in Lewes and at a satellite office in Bethany Beach. His practice includes mental health, anxiety and addiction relief as well as the recent addition of treatments to improve weight management.

During weight-loss sessions, the specialist said five acupuncture points are activated by the insertion of painless, sterile needles along meridians, or energy channels, in the ear.

These points are activated to reduce stress, anxiety and depression, which are often the same triggers that accompany overeating and food addiction, Binnix said. "Unlike medications and appetite suppressants that people take," he said, "acupuncture does the same thing, and there's no side effects."

Drugs and food can activate endorphins, the neurotransmitters that register excitement, stimulation and pleasure, sometimes leading to abuse.

In a state of addiction, Binnix said, the brain no longer registers natural endorphins released by the pituitary gland, instead seeking out the addictive substance.

He said acupuncture therapy can change the body's flow of energy, enabling an addiction to be resolved and allowing the body to restore the natural production of endorphins.

"The reaction has been really, really awesome. People notice a huge change in their stress and anxiety level and the emotional part changing is what really needs to happen first," Binnix said. "Acupuncture is all-natural."

For more information, visit www.acu-weightlossandfitness.com or call 302-344-5609. The Lewes office is at 1682 Savannah Road, Suite 5.