Patients Love Dr. Collins!
Read some testimonials to learn more about his exceptional patient care and treatment
Larry W.
This note is a testimonial to highlight the benefit that I’ve received from the advice, treatments, and care that you have provided me in the past few weeks. I was referred to you by my wife, who was in turn told of your work by a mutual friend. I will be forever grateful for that referral. I have suffered from chronic lower back pain for over thirty years and have tried traditional medical treatments and medicines with some limited success. Despite periodic respite from these pains, I’ve always wondered if an alternative approach might be helpful, but never took the step of trying to find one. After my first appointment with you, I got an answer to that curiosity. In addition to feeling better, I felt listened to and I understood much better the range of natural, easy-to-use activities that I could employ to be well. After three appointments, which involved acupuncture (which doesn’t hurt!), applied heat, and limited body work, I felt relieved that I could comfortably take a trip abroad that my wife and I had planned for over six months. The treatments were surprisingly enjoyable experiences, were easy to schedule, and were offered at a very reasonable price. At no point did I feel any pressure to continue unless I felt the need to do more; scheduling any future sessions were based solely on whether I felt the need to have one. I encourage anyone who experiences discomfort in their body or mind to consider an initial appointment with you to discover if there is a more natural, less invasive approach to any medical problem that they may have. I will look forward to an enduring relationship with you as a medical practitioner and hopefully as a friend. I’ve learned a lot from our conversations about the history of Chinese medicine and suspect that there is much more to gain from other conversations and additional treatments --- should either be needed in the future. I will certainly feel comfortable in contacting you again for assistance and advice. Take care, and best wishes for continued success in your remarkable work. Larry
Amber B.
I have been a patient of Dr. Collins who came highly recommended to me by a colleague, as I was going through a really bad flare up. I have suffered with fibromyalgia since the age of 16. I missed numerous days of high school trying to cope with the pain. I have endured weekends in bed as an adult trying to recoup from the weekly stress of being a teacher, mother and wife, as well as an individual diagnosed with fibromyalgia. I was very skeptical when Dr. Collins was recommended to me. I really trusted my colleague, but I had never had any sort of acupuncture. Previously, I had multiple cortisone shots, pain killers, nerve blocks, etc, that were unsuccessful, and so I agreed to just try it out. I was greeted by a doctor with an enormous amount of compassion and knowledge. Within the first week, I noticed a difference in my body. I was waking up in the morning actually being able to move my arms and shoulders without wincing from the pain. During my time with Dr. Collins, I also suffered from an impacted wisdom tooth. My dentist was out of town and was unable to see me for three days. I turned to Dr. Collins. He got me through the next few days without pain and without taking narcotics. As stated previously, I have been a patient now for a year. I feel younger at 33 then I did at 16. I have more energy and I also feel refreshed due to the impeccable care of Dr. Collins. I am extremely grateful that he has been brought into my life. My husband, parents and daughter have noticed a huge change in me. Without his care, my life would have been unbearable. I will forever be indebted to Dr. Collins for changing my life.
Cassandra M.
Due to Dr. Collins's knowledge and experience in both western and eastern medicine, I was able to enjoy the great benefits of his Oriental Medicine practice before, during, and after I had my son. My western doctor, after hearing me talk about how helpful the acupuncture and Tui Na were during my prenatal visits and seeing Steve’s resume, was very open to having him at my son’s delivery. The hospital, North Memorial in Golden Valley, MN, where I delivered, had never had any Oriental Medicine doctors attend any of their expectant mothers. I was able to make my request with a letter that included his resume and a few follow-up email messages to the contact at the hospital. Steve was given special permission to come and work with me during my labor and delivery. He was able to converse easily with the nurses and doctors at the hospital and explain what he was doing to help. It worked out so well and I really appreciated having him there! A few more details: My pregnancy was very normal and some might say boring. I would come in for my Western doctor appointments and he would just tell me to keep doing what I was doing, as everything seemed to be on schedule. When I told Steve about being pregnant, he listened to my pulse and was about 95% sure that I was having a boy. I was so excited about it and thought it was so incredible that he might be able to detect that information just from my pulse. As I was going to Steve for acupuncture during my pregnancy, I thought that this was my chance to have the most natural labor and delivery and avoid taking any drugs. I think the worst part of my pregnancy was near the end when my feet were swelling up and about a week or so before the birth, I came down with a very mild case of shingles on my neck (basically 2 red bumps). My labor technically started on a Thursday morning in early January. I think it was just a day or two before my due date. I didn't come to the hospital until that evening since my contractions were still pretty far apart. I called Dr. Collins to meet me there when he got the chance, which he did. I was admitted to the hospital and when I finally got to a delivery room (everything was a bit delayed since the delivery area of the hospital was very full), I believe that's when Steve put in the needles to help me relax and release the pain of the contractions. I had hoped to walk around and do my T'ai chi ch'uan form during my labor, but as it happened the monitors were picking up that my son's heartbeat was racing with every contraction. So I had to stay in bed due to the extra monitors they were using. As the nurses were changing frequently during the night, when they would come in to ask me to turn to my other side, I had to explain each time that I needed Steve's assistance with the acupuncture needles. They were surprised, as they weren't reading my chart or expecting anything different in my room. Steve explained, took the needles out---I think I remember them most in my feet---and then the nurses would help me turn over and Steve would put needles in again. I believe I got stuck at 4 cm and wasn't progressing. i don't remember what time of the night it was, but I'm pretty sure it was very late, or very early the next morning. The pain of the contractions became more and more intense and I was still stuck at 4 cm. From what I remember, Steve told me it was okay if I decided to keep going with the acupuncture or try the Epidural. He said I had gone further than his other patients at that time. I decided to go for the epidural, as I didn't know how much longer this was going to go on. I was able to let Steve go and get some sleep. My man, Bob, and I were also able to get some rest with the help of the Epidural. With the further help of an OB-GYN, my western doctor and many nurses helping and standing by, I finally delivered my healthy and nearly perfect baby boy a little after 3pm on Friday afternoon. He had just a little bump on the top of his head from the vacuum and I was so happy that I had avoided a C-section and possibly more drugs if Steve hadn't been helping me with acupuncture.