Tendon and soft tissue
A tendon that never finished repairing needs mechanical stimulus and graded load, not rest. This is where shockwave therapy and laser do most of their work.
PainManagement
Drug-free pain management in The Villages, Florida.
No opioids, no indefinite prescriptions, no injections into a joint that did not need them. An exam, a specific target, and a checkpoint where we tell you the truth.
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: Drug-free pain management in The Villages FL. Acupuncture, shockwave, laser and point injections with MD oversight. No opioids. Call 352-430-2720. No opioids, no indefinite prescriptions, no injections into a joint that did not need them. An exam, a specific target, and a checkpoint where we tell you the truth.
4 to 6Visits to a clear answer
0Opioid prescriptions
2Clinicians, one of them an MD
7 AMEarliest appointment
The premise
Pain that lasts has a driver. Find it and you can treat it.
Conventional pain management in a retirement-dense market tends to follow a fixed sequence: anti-inflammatories, physical therapy, steroid injection, repeat injection, surgical consult. It works for a substantial number of people. For everyone else, the sequence simply runs out.
What is usually missing is a mechanism. Pain in the same knee can come from the joint surface, from the tendon at the edge of it, from a nerve upstream, or from the muscles that have been guarding it for two years. Those four things do not respond to the same treatment, and a patient who has failed one has not failed all of them.
So the first appointment is an examination, not an intake form. We test the joint, load the tendon, check the nerve, and watch you move. Then we pick the tool that matches: mechanical stimulus for tendon, laser for slow-healing tissue, needling and point injections for a sensitized nerve or a trigger point, movement work for a joint that stopped being used properly.
Dr. Thomas Phipps, MD, provides the medical oversight. Dr. Christopher Cheshire, MS, AP, LAc, DOM, is NCCAOM board certified and does the treating. Neither of us will keep you coming indefinitely.
How we choose
Four drivers, four different treatments.
A sensitized nerve
Burning, shooting, or electric pain behaves differently. Treatment aims at calming the signal and supporting the nerve, using acupuncture, point injections, and laser therapy.
A joint that stopped moving
Arthritic joints hurt more when they are guarded and underused. We reduce the pain enough to restore movement, then keep it moving. The order matters.
Guarding and compensation
Two years of protecting one hip changes how you walk and loads everything else. Releasing the compensation pattern is often what finally settles the original complaint.
Treated here
What we see most in The Villages.
- Chronic low back pain
- Sciatica
- Knee osteoarthritis pain
- Hip pain and bursitis
- Shoulder and rotator cuff pain
- Neck pain and stiffness
- Headaches and migraines
- Plantar fasciitis
- Arthritic hand and wrist pain
- Peripheral neuropathy
- Pickleball and golf overuse injuries
- Post surgical pain and stiffness
Getting here
Inside The Villages, on the ground floor.
910 Old Camp Road, Suite 162. Free parking at the door, step-free entry, and the ACUPUNCTURE sign visible from the porch. Golf cart accessible.
Patients also drive in from Lady Lake, Oxford, Wildwood, Summerfield, Fruitland Park, Leesburg, Belleview, and Ocala.
910 Old Camp Road, Suite 162, The Villages, FL 32162
Mon–Thu 7 AM–3 PM · Fri 7 AM–12 PM · Directions
FAQ
Before you call.
Do you prescribe pain medication?
No. This is a drug-free pain practice. We do not prescribe opioids or manage narcotic pain regimens, and we will refer you elsewhere if that is what you need.
Is this instead of my orthopedist?
No. If your problem is surgical, or needs imaging we cannot order, we say so at the consultation and send you back. We work alongside orthopedics and physical therapy.
How fast does it work?
Some patients feel a change in the first two visits. Most know by four to six. We do not ask anyone to commit past that checkpoint.
Do you take Medicare or insurance?
Details on the insurance and payment page.
What if you cannot help me?
Then we tell you at the consultation and you have lost twenty minutes. That happens regularly and we would rather it happen at the start.
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 NCCIH: chronic pain in depth ยท MedlinePlus: chronic pain.
Start Here
Twenty minutes to find out whether this is treatable.
Free consultation with an exam and a straight answer. Bring your imaging and your list of what you have already tried.