Dr. Vel’s Story
Dr. Vel Natarajan, DACM
After almost two decades of working as an engineer for a large and well-known company with international operations, my health and well-being were affected adversely by too many hours, too much foreign and domestic travel and considerable pressure and stress.
While well intentioned, western medicine’s response was to treat my chronic symptoms with medications that provided temporary relief, albeit with side effects, but with no effective cure.
I had adopted Austin, a German Shepherd dog with severe allergies. He was plagued with incessant itching of his skin, itchy eyes, and sneezing. Western veterinarian medicine, while expensive and time-consuming, was relatively ineffective. The only options were antihistamines, steroids, or allergy shots (which I had given him for over a year). A friend suggested I take Austin to a local veterinarian who treated animals with acupuncture. Although I was skeptical, I made an appointment, only to be pleasantly surprised by the almost immediate results. Austin’s incessant scratching subsided and he no longer needed steroids.
My curiosity was piqued, and my wife Maryanne turned to acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine for fertility. Prior to this, we had tried unsuccessfully to start a family for 2 years (including a year of expensive, and emotionally draining fertility treatments). We were planning to commit to IVF, when Maryanne’s amazing OBGYN (Dr Mary Farhi MD) suggested an acupuncturist she knew (a wonderful healer, Madelyn Catanese, who is now retired). After 3 months of treatment Madelyn declared she was “done with treatment”. The next cycle, we were blessed with a positive pregnancy test, and Maryanne eventually delivered a beautiful boy, Nicholas.
After seeing these amazing results I asked Madelyn if she could treat some of my myriad of health issues. It was the first time in my life that I could feel my body healing, and I had hope that I could feel better.
To share this amazing healing system with others, I decided to leave my long-time career to return to school for a 4 year program for Master of Science in Chinese Medicine. I enrolled in the Pacific College of Health and Science, one of the most rigorous, four-year academic programs for TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) in the country. After I completed my MS degree, I spent an additional year to complete my clinical Doctorate in Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine (DACM). Although my formal education is complete, my love for improving my skills, and improving my success with complex medical conditions motivates me to take dozens of hours of continuing education every year.
This is most rewarding career choice I could have made and I am committed to sharing the gifts of this medicine with you.