Michelle Rodriguez opened Inside Out Acupuncture and Chinese Herbal Medicine this week in Marion, bringing with her a strong knowledge of alternative medicine and its potential in the community.

“When most people think of acupuncture, they think it’s for dealing with chronic pain," Rodriguez said. "But most of them are not aware of its many other uses. It can be used for treating asthma, skin disorders and addiction."

Rodriguez, a licensed acupuncturist from Middleboro, received her Master’s in acupuncture and Oriental medicine from the New England School of Acupuncture in Newton.

"Most people who try acupuncture do so out of curiosity or because nothing else has worked for them,” she said. “They try acupuncture and it works. It’s very unusual for acupuncture to resolve everyone’s ailments in one treatment but it makes you feel better. And with additional treatments it can help you.”

In regards to the pain factor of the treatments, Rodriguez said the needle feels like a mosquito bite, if you feel the needle at all. That feeling, she said, goes away very quickly, leaving the patient feeling relaxed and rejuvenated. She added that this is the patient’s body responding to the treatments by releasing pain-relieving chemicals throughout the body. This allows the body to help in healing itself.

The benefits of acupuncture are something worth exploring she said, adding that the U.S. Department of Defense recently gave the New England School of Acupuncture a $1 million grant for funding research into treating post traumatic stress disorder.

“There’s still that mystery because it’s not mainstream,” she said.  “But when you have government agencies giving you contracts then you know it’s working.”

Rodriguez said that she hopes for the approval of the still-pending Massachusetts Acupuncture Insurance Coverage legislation, which would allow her to accept all forms of state insurance in exchange for treatment.

Her clinic currently shares it’s building with a new Remax franchise office operated by Wayne Bellemare.  On Nov. 10, from 4 p.m. until 8 p.m., the two will be hosting an open house to familiarize themselves with the community.

Rodriguez also holds diploma status in Oriental medicine from the National Certification for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine.

Before pursuing her career as an acupuncturist, Rodriguez and her husband Hector opened several businesses as entrepreneurs over a near 25-year span. One such business, Inside Out Mobile Washing, opened in Middleboro 24 years ago and is still going strong.

The success of their business led Rodriguez to keep the name, Inside Out, for her latest venture after hearing a Chinese superstition to stay with a name you have success with.

Rodriguez said she hopes to open an herbal medicine pharmacy inside her office at 140 Wareham St. next month.

"There of hundreds of herbs that work differently for different people," she said.

Based on someone’s ailment, she would be able to diagnose the patient and create a specific formula that might help them and ease their pain.