Photo courtesy of http://anthosacupuncture.com/
Photo courtesy of http://anthosacupuncture.com/

I have wanted to try acupuncture for quite a while, ever since I heard it might help with my plantar fasciitis pain. I had inquired around Birmingham, to no avail, and was happy to see a Facebook event pop up on my timeline about a new herbal and acupuncture clinic in town.

Anthos Acupuncture & Herbal Clinic opened a few months ago off Richard Arrington Jr. Boulevard near Vulcan. They had an open house last week to introduce the community to Fotios Sardelis and his practice of traditional Chinese medicine. His focus includes acupuncture, Chinese herbs and tea.

Traditional Chinese medicine has been used for thousands of years to help resolve ailments by restoring balance to our bodies without harmful side effects, unlike many traditional Western medicine treatments. Foti uses a special combination of these medicines to treat ailments such as headaches, weight loss, hypertension, sprain, depression, neck pain, rheumatoid arthritis, and more.

The clinic is very nice and serene, with 2 private rooms for treatments and a kitchen in back with warm Chinese tea at the ready. During the open house, I tried one of the “relaxing” teas and loved it, feeling less stressed than when I had arrived. Foti also took the time to tell me more about traditional Chinese medicine and went through his cabinet of herbs with me, describing the purpose of each.

I’ll be making my first acupuncture appointment soon and hope you will join along for the ride. While I’m not afraid of needles, I don’t necessarily want 20 in me at once so this will be very interesting. I’m more interested to see if a series of treatments will help relieve my plantar fasciitis pain, which I’ve been told it can do.

Anthos Acupuncture & Herbal Clinic can be found at 1901 Richard Arrington Jr. Boulevard South, behind the Law Office of Kathy Long Skipper (go around the back of the building). You can also find his web site here and on Facebook here. Drop by and visit Foti to find out more about his education, his treatments, and some tea.