I first met Dave back around 2002 when I was struggling with nagging pain in my neck, upper and lower back, and right side which had persisted for several years. It all started with a sharp pain in my neck on the day of an exam my last year in college, and then other symptoms arose even after seeing a litany of medical doctors, massage practitioners, physical therapists, and other professionals. I even had a colonoscopy at one point which turned up absolutely nothing for the pain in my side. Someone recommended acupuncture and although this was completely foreign to me, I decided to try it. I lived in West Seattle at this time and found Dave Engstrom through several refer sources who said he was excellent and had helped people with pain.
Dave was a godsend. A lot of my pain problems were clearly rooted in stress. It all started with a time in my life where I was trying to graduate college, study for a very difficult professional exam (CPA), move cities, start a new career, and..... get married. At the age of 23. It was all too much and after starting work in a pretty intense job, my body would not let go of the stress symptoms that were keeping me locked up. I really enjoyed lifting weights in college and had to dial that back quite a bit between 2000-2002 while dealing with the pain management, which was very, very frustrating. Meeting Dave, he really opened up my eyes to a lot of these issues and the acupuncture treatments and other body work were just what I needed to start removing some of the trigger points in my body that had really taken root. After several months of seeing Dave, I had seen dramatic improvements and was able to return to my previous sports activities, and even took up running half marathons. I moved from West Seattle in 2004 to live in Europe for several years, but returned to Seattle in 2006 and relocated to the Greenlake neighborhood. Distance and geography has not kept me from seeing Dave on a regular basis the last 7 years. I am very active and now have two little children that demand my attention and I am very grateful to be able to play with them like a little kid. Regular and routine "maintenance" through acupuncture and body work is simply a lifestyle choice for me and it is one significant tool in the tool belt for personal health, and a very important one.
Being a professional and practicing as a CPA, I recognize through experience that there are good practitioners, there are average ones, and rarely do you find a truly outstanding, absolutely top of class practitioner. Dave Engstrom is one such individual. He has put in the time over many years in the fields in which he practices and he is an expert. I have referred a number of individuals to Dave over the years and would do so readily to any member of my close family. My advice to you is - look him up, you will not regret it. read more