A nonprofit organization provides low-cost acupuncture on Fridays at the Mountlake Terrace Senior Center.

Free Range Health comes to the Mountlake Terrace Senior Center to make acupuncture more accessible.

“One of the ways we help bridge the gap for seniors is to bring our services to places where they already gather on a regular basis,” Free Range Health president Cole Alexander said in an email. “By bringing our low-cost acupuncture to them, we are making it easier for them to incorporate health and wellness into their lives.”

According to Alexander, acupuncture can be used to treat many health conditions.

“Patients report improvements in sleep, digestion, anxiety and stress level, and general pain conditions,” Alexander said.

With seniors, Alexander said most patients are dealing with chronic conditions that may have affected them for years, such as pain, neuropathy and anxiety.

Acupuncture does not replace traditional medicine, but compliments it.

“Our goal is not to replace the care they are receiving elsewhere. We work to help supplement and enhance the plans implemented by a patient’s primary care physician or specialist,” Alexander said. “In fact, we have begun to see referrals from local doctors who have seen the improvement in their patients first hand.”

Each acupuncture session at the Mountlake Terrace Senior Center lasts 50 minutes. About 35 minutes of that time spent with needles in the patient. Treatments are given in “community style,” meaning several patients are treated in the same room at once.

Anyone 18 years old or older is eligible to receive services from Free Range Health. Each treatment costs $10 for senior center members or $15 for the general public.

Free Range Health recommends patients attend four to six treatments, especially if it is the first time he or she has received acupuncture. Patients should plan to come at least 15 minutes early for the first session and dress in loose-fitting clothes.

Free Range Health is at the Mountlake Terrace Senior Center, located at 23000 Lakeview Dr., from 9 a.m. to noon on Fridays. Call the senior center at 425-672-2407 to make an appointment.