Ocala & Marion County
Acupuncture for Ocala patients, thirty minutes south.
A short guide to what acupuncture can and cannot do for pain, and how to tell whether the drive is worth it.
Treated by Dr. Christopher Cheshire, MS, AP, LAc, DOM, NCCAOM board certified, 22 years in The Villages. Medical oversight by Dr. Thomas Phipps, MD. Meet the providers
In short: Acupuncture for Ocala and Marion County patients: pain, neuropathy, sport and tendon injuries. NCCAOM board certified, MD oversight. Call 352-430-2720. A short guide to what acupuncture can and cannot do for pain, and how to tell whether the drive is worth it.
Is it worth driving from Ocala?
That depends entirely on what is wrong with you, and this page is written to help you answer it before you spend the gas money. Ocala has acupuncturists. What is harder to find in Marion County is a practice where a board certified acupuncture physician and an MD work in the same building, which is what makes injectable treatments and medically supervised therapies available alongside needling.
Our Ocala and Belleview patients tend to fall into three groups. The first is chronic musculoskeletal pain — backs, knees, shoulders, hips — where imaging showed arthritis or degeneration and the plan stopped there. The second is neuropathy, usually in the feet, often diabetic. The third is the horse world: riders and trainers with recurrent back, shoulder, and hip problems that come from the job rather than from ageing.
If your problem is none of those, say so on the phone. There are conditions we do not treat and we will tell you before you drive down.
The useful question is not "does acupuncture work" but "does it work for the specific thing generating my pain." Those have different answers.
What the evidence actually supports
A plain reading of where the research is stronger and weaker. This is general information about the literature, not a prediction about you.
| Condition | How strong is the evidence | What we typically use |
|---|---|---|
| Chronic low back pain | Among the strongest bodies of evidence for acupuncture in pain | Acupuncture, point injections, movement work |
| Knee osteoarthritis pain | Reasonable support for symptom relief, not for reversing joint damage | Acupuncture, laser therapy |
| Neck pain and tension headache | Good support for reduction in frequency and intensity | Acupuncture, cupping |
| Peripheral neuropathy | Mixed but promising; symptom relief rather than nerve regeneration | Acupuncture, laser, see our neuropathy page |
| Chronic tendinopathy | Shockwave has the stronger evidence base here than needling alone | Shockwave therapy, laser, loading plan |
| Plantar fasciitis | Good support for combined mechanical and needling approaches | Shockwave, acupuncture, detail here |
What happens if you book
- The phone callTell us the problem in a sentence. If it is outside what we treat, we say so then, and you have not driven anywhere.
- Free twenty minute consultationHistory, hands-on exam, and an opinion. No treatment is sold at this visit.
- A plan with a number in itHow many visits, how often, and what should change. Ocala patients are usually scheduled weekly rather than twice weekly because of the drive.
- A checkpoint at four to six visitsWe compare against where you started. If nothing has moved, we stop and tell you what we would try instead.
Getting here from Ocala
We are at 910 Old Camp Road, Suite 162, in The Villages — roughly thirty minutes from central Ocala down Highway 441 or 301, and closer still from Belleview and Summerfield.
Parking is free and at the door, and the entrance is ground floor with no steps. Early appointments start at 7 AM, which is the slot most Marion County patients take.
910 Old Camp Road, Suite 162, The Villages, FL 32162 · Mon–Thu 7 AM–3 PM, Fri 7 AM–12 PM · Directions
Questions from Ocala patients
Do you have an Ocala office?
No. One clinic, in The Villages, about thirty minutes from central Ocala.
Is there parking?
Free parking directly outside the suite, ground floor, step-free.
Can I combine acupuncture with what my doctor is already doing?
Yes, and you should keep both. We work alongside primary care, orthopedics, and physical therapy.
How many visits before I decide?
Four to six. We build the checkpoint into the plan deliberately.
Do you treat riders and equestrian injuries?
Frequently. Recurrent low back, hip, and shoulder problems in riders are a common presentation here.
Medicare Source: CMS National Coverage Determination 30.3.3
Original Medicare covers acupuncture for one diagnosis Source: CMS National Coverage Determination 30.3.3, chronic low back pain of twelve weeks or more, within its visit limits. For any other condition, acupuncture here is billed to a private plan with an acupuncture benefit or paid per visit.
Watch
Inside Cheshire Integrative Medicine
Dr. Christopher Cheshire introduces the practice from the reception area: 910 Old Camp Road, Suite 162, The Villages, 21 years in The Villages, the front desk, the peptide therapy products, and the clinic entrance under the ACUPUNCTURE sign. Reach the office at 352-430-2720.
Read the transcript
I'm Dr. Christopher Cheshire. I am the clinic director and owner of Cheshire Integrative Medicine. We're located in The Villages at 910 Old Camp Road, Suite 162. We've been in The Villages now for 21 years. We offer acupuncture, we do functional medicine, we do supplements and nutrition, we do shockwave therapy, we do laser therapy, we do microneedling, and we do peptides as well. Whether it's neck pain, back pain, shoulder pain, knee pain, we treat a lot of patients with pain so they can go out and do the things they want. Here we have many different modalities to treat you with, and then it's individualized. You know, not everybody gets the same treatment. It depends on what's going on with you. If you're looking to book an appointment, call us at 352-430-2720 for a free consultation.
Patient Reviews
What patients say on Google.
Dr. Cheshire is rated 4.6 of 5 on Healthgrades from 11 patient ratings as of October 2026 (Healthgrades profile). The quotes above are from Google.
Further reading: NIH National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health: acupuncture, effectiveness and safety · MedlinePlus: acupuncture.
Start Here
Call before you drive.
Five minutes on the phone will tell you whether the thirty minute trip is worth making. The consultation itself is free.