Do you ever wonder what it is that makes some Doctors so incredibly compassionate while others have a bedside manner better suited for the DMV? In the case of our very own Dr. Tonya Weber, DAc, LAc, it is a case of true empathy.
“I suffered from cluster migraines in my teens and twenties.” Cluster migraines are named such for their debilitating pain that is a step above the norm. “I had migraine headaches 3-5 days a week that were so intense I was often bed ridden and would become physically sick.”
Being that migraine is one of those complicated conditions that is not fully understood, Dr. Weber’s options were prescription medications that often did not work and to make lifestyle changes to limit triggers that often cause migraine.
“It was no way to live,” she shares “I was young and should’ve been living a bright, vibrant life. Instead I was monitoring my daily caffeine intake, avoiding long exposure to fluorescent lights and doing my best to prepare for changing weather conditions. As you can imagine, Spring and Fall were especially rough. We lived in South Carolina, it was Winter in the morning and Summer by the afternoon!”
It wasn’t until her primary care doctor sent her to an acupuncturist that she found real relief.
“This is why I often refer to my practice as ‘The Last Resort With The Best Results.’ You’ve been everywhere else and been given the same disheartening prognosis, prescribed the same medications and told ‘this is just something you’re going to have to learn to live with.’”
Soon after her incredible experience with the healing arts she made the life changing decision to abandon the family business and pursue her doctorate in acupuncture, “acupuncture quite literally saved my life and I wanted to share that with the world,” she proclaims.
While in school she watched as her grandmother began to suffer from peripheral neuropathy. “Your golden years should be golden, not plagued with insufferable pain while doctors and specialists tell you there is nothing they can do.” Understanding that Eastern Medicine excels where Western Medicine fails, Dr. Weber set forth to develop treatment protocols for all variations of Peripheral Neuropathy (including diabetic and chemotherapy-induced) and now has a 90% success rate in treating this once difficult to manage condition.
“I was tired of seeing the older generation suffer unnecessarily,” shares Dr. Weber. “Diagnosing them as ‘just getting older’ and giving them a treatment plan of ‘you’re just going to have to get used to it’ has never sat well with me so I wanted to offer them a real option for treatment and care.”
And what do those in our care have to say? “Dr. Tonya Weber looked me in my eyes and wanted to know about me, not just my condition. I feel like a person, not just a patient,” shares Perry. “In fact I don’t think she ever used the word patient.”
Dr. Tonya Weber has a long personal history in complicated, difficult to understand conditions and understands how tragic it can all be if left untreated. “I have sat where my patients sit during their initial consultation. I’ve experienced their pain and suffering in a very real way. I know the frustration of feeling hopeless on an intimate level. And it brings me incredible joy when I get to say ‘I can help you!’”