Jason Richard can relieve a migraine by treating a person’s foot.

Richard uses acupuncture, along with oriental and herbal medicines, to treat a variety of symptoms, aches, pains and illnesses.

Though Richard has been at Austin Acupuncture — at 114 Fourth Ave. NE — for about a decade, he said many people don’t know about his practice. Much of his business comes from word of mouth, since he’s done little advertising.

But acupuncture is based on a thousand years of medicinal practices that Richard said aim to get to the core of an ailment.

Richard speaks highly of what the practices are able to accomplish, as he said many of his customers come to him as a last resort after suffering chronic pain for extended periods.

“These are really the most difficult and impossible cases that have been written off,” he said.

The typical treatment relies on a series of strategically placed needles or — as Richard described them — threads or wire being placed in the body in a strategic spots.

Richard will begin a comprehensive discussion about the symptoms, trying to get to the root of the issue and to see if the ailment is connected with other aches and pains in the body. Treatments to a foot can spark healing for migraines. Treatments to the back can relieve migraines. Richard compared it to being an electrician.

In fact, Richard said the U.S. government is beginning to use acupuncture to the ears to treat things like post-traumatic stress.

The needles or wires are used to trigger the body into healing itself. Some cases can take a few sessions, while more chronic cases can take about a dozen, Richard said.

Despite the common connotations of treatments with needles, Richard said acupuncture is supposed to be pain free. If it’s not, he’s not doing his job correctly, he said.

Acupuncture wasn’t always Richard’s field of choice. He originally went to school to be a veterinarian and switched to seeking a master’s in acupuncture.

“It was a little off the wall, and you’re still helping people,” he said.