chiropractic . massage therapy . rehabilitive therapy . acupuncture
Julia MacGlashan, L.Ac., MSTOM, Dipl. OM
Julia received a master of science degree in Acupuncture and East Asian Medicine from the Pacific College of Health and Science in Chicago. She is NCCAOM board certified and licensed to practice by the State of Illinois.
Julia’s goal is to provide compassionate, patient-centered care, and her lighthearted and kind demeanor makes each treatment a joy. While she utilizes a variety of techniques tailored to each person’s individual needs, Julia's treatments focus on balancing acupuncture meridians to help the body function more efficiently.
Utilizing this extraordinary medicine, Julia has treated a wide variety of conditions, including fertility, prenatal/postpartum, and gynecological conditions; headaches, chronic pain, anxiety, difficulty sleeping, and countless others. The harmony that acupuncture brings to the body permeates every aspect of a person’s life. And so, it addresses not only the individual’s main concern, but also prevents future illness and provides a general sense of wellbeing.
Julia believes that every person deserves to be heard, their health approached with understanding, and their treatment provided with the greatest quality of care. She will meet anyone in their current state of mind, body, and spirit, and work with them to get them where they want to go. Julia was born and raised in Chicago, where she currently lives with her husband and son.
Edwin Alvarez, L.Ac
I was exposed to Chinese Medicine and Herbs by doing Tai Chi. My Tai Chi teacher was also an acupuncturist. At first, I didn't think about it much since I was young, but then there were other acupuncturists in the class; there were 5 acupuncturists in our class! I then started talking to them since our teacher was Chinese and his English was not the best. It was from then that I got more curious and one of the acupuncturists convinced me to try it out. I have now been practicing Tai Chi for over twenty years, and Chinese Medicine for 12. I have also been exposed to a variety of Tai ji styles and now have settled into Chen Style Tai ji. I have even have gone and stayed in China to learn Tai ji. After graduation, I was given a chance to teach English in Korea. Most of my classmates were doing the cruise ship acupuncture thing to start off, I wasn't too keen on that and decided to expose myself to Asia directly. Living in Korea, I had a chance to see a lot of innovation in Chinese medicine and Health care. They are miles ahead of us there! I had a chance to observe at a stroke clinic at Kyeoung Hee University Hospital where there were doing things like ginseng formula IV drips and bee venom acupuncture. It was very interesting but also very TCM. Still curious, I decided to take a hop over to Japan and teach there. I stayed near Osaka, and traveled to Tokyo ever so often. It was there where I did a short observation with Edward O'baidey who was a student of Masakazu Ikeda. His did very simple Sho treatments with moxa on transport points on the back. I also met a German Acupuncturist in Kamakura, who has a dream clinic. He is semi-retired with a house near the beach, where the first floor is the clinic and he lives right above. He uses gold and silver needles and has an autoclave. Once he gets a patient, he has them commit to treatment and their own set of needles. Those needles have their name on them for life. I started getting nostalgic for home, though I wanted to go to Taiwan and Vietnam. I got back home, and ended up at Mei Ling Qian's clinic in Bridgeport. I was living in Pilsen so it wasn't a big deal, but then a relationship that brought me to the Northside started changing things. I decided to work for myself at first part time and then full-time. I then rented a space in Lakeview for three years and then built out my own clinic and was there for 5 years. After 5 years of financially grinding it, I needed a longer vision, healthcare benefits, retirement, etc. I was initially approached by Aligned, hesitated, but then took their offer. I closed shop and then worked for them for a year and a half. The pandemic then ensued and they had to close some of their clinics to stay afloat. Finally when the clinic that I was at was sent to reopen there was some political division between the team I was working with and Aligned. It was because of this difficulty that I chose not to return to them. I then decided to start from scratch again at Northside Holistic Center part time, and Project Vida part time. Sometime later Haji Healing asked me to help them out with their community acupuncture.
If I were to say that I have a specialty, I would say I get great results in treating Bell's Palsy, stroke, and rehabilitative joint mobilizations. Though I am good with a lot of sports injuries, I also have had excellent results with work injury, anxiety, depression, drug detox/cessation, migraines, and PCOS.
I also have ran 10 marathons, and have treated many running injuries, exhaustion, and sports recovery.