Welcome to your Better Days

your personal journey to healing through acupuncture & Chinese medicine

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Meet Lea, licensed acupuncturist & owner

Hi there! I’m Lea Manilla, owner of Better Days Wellness. I am a Licensed Acupuncturist and have been actively practicing since 2020. I attended Pacific College of Health and Sciences in NYC, where I graduated with a double masters in Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine.

I am a Jersey girl through and through, being born and raised there and spending majority of my life in the Garden State. My husband, a Fairport native, and I met in Hoboken where we lived for 7 years. Since then, we have found our way back to his roots, and now I love to call Rochester home.

I found acupuncture myself at 15 years old. As a competitive swimmer, I suffered from rotators cuff tendinitis in my shoulder, threatening my career. Not only did acupuncture heal my injury, it opened up new possibilities for both current performance and future passion. As I witnessed the benefits first-hand, I developed a deep love for the practice. Since then, I have worked diligently to achieve my dream and welcome others to the world of healing and Chinese Medicine.

My hope for Better Days Wellness is to provide a safe haven for everyone who walks through my door. I want to spread the magic of acupuncture, as it is an invaluable support in helping us to achieve supreme health and well-being so we can live our most joyful lives. Your journey to wellness starts here, with better days ahead!

Our Services

  • Helping with over 100 clinical symptoms, acupuncture works to reset the nervous system and help you function optimally. Each treatment ranges from 45 minutes to 90 minutes.

  • Cupping helps with musculoskeletal pain; it is mostly used on the neck and back but can also be used elsewhere. Cupping can be added on to any treatment, or booked as a 30-minute standalone appointment.

  • A similar modality to cupping, Gua Sha is a scraping method performed on painful areas of the body, helping with different types of musculoskeletal pain. Gua Sha can be added on to any treatment if necessary.

  • The burning of mugwort on certain acupuncture points to further stimulate the points and improve the flow of qi in the body. Like cupping and Gua Sha, Moxa can also be added to any treatment if necessary.

  • A wonderful way to enhance acupuncture treatments, herbs work from the inside out and help to strengthen the body and combat ailments or disease. Each formula is specific to the patient and what they are presenting with.

  • A form of facial massage adapted from the Traditional Chinese Medicine technique that involves using a flat stone with specific strokes to help the skin with its natural healing process. Facial Gua Sha is its own service.

  • Using Traditional Chinese Medicine, different techniques are used to increase collagen production, promote cellular regeneration, and minimize fine lines and wrinkles.

  • Aromatherapy and essential oils are used during each session to help enhance the treatment.

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My mission as an acupuncturist is to provide a safe haven for everyone who walks through my door. I strongly believe we all have an innate ability to heal ourselves, and it is merely my job to help direct you down that path. I provide health and wellness services foundational to Chinese Medicine, with my primary specialty being acupuncture. I also use other Chinese Medicine modalities like herbal medicine, cupping, gua sha, moxa, and auricular therapy as auxiliary to my acupuncture treatments. I love to incorporate nutritional counseling, aromatherapy, and mindfulness in my treatment plans. My experience includes providing care for women’s health and fertility, various pain conditions, sports medicine, anxiety and emotional imbalances, digestive and respiratory issues, insomnia, pediatrics, and anti-aging services.

Acupuncture is an invaluable support in helping us to achieve supreme health and well-being so we can live our most joyful lives. I am so excited to walk with you in your journey and bring you to better days!

FAQs

  • The needles are single-use, sterile, and stainless steel. They are completely solid, we are not injecting anything or taking anything out. They are hair thin, and discarded after each treatment in a needle-safe container.

  • It is the meeting point of nerve, lymph, and blood vessels along connective tissue which when stimulated by a needle, triggers our body's natural healing responses.

  • No! It should not hurt, we always make sure you’re comfortable and can completely relax for the duration of your treatment. Some common sensations you can feel are: pressure, warmth, tingling, electricity, heaviness, muscle twitching, and most commonly — ZEN!

  • Each acupuncture treatment is specified to the patient and their individual wants and needs. However, acupuncture is a cumulative medicine - the more you come the more results you'll see. We recommend coming once a week for 5-7 weeks in the beginning to see a build up of results. Once we get to a point where you're comfortable, we can taper off appointments. The goal is for you to feel so good you come once a month for maintenance!

  • Some common side effects are small bruising at the needle insertion, itchy skin at insertion, relaxation after a treatment. You can experience a worsening of symptoms before improvement, but if that happens, we usually see improvement within 24-48 hours. Dizziness can occur if prone to it, so we want to make sure to stay hydrated before and after an appointment. And yess, acupuncture is extremely safe when performed by a licensed acupuncturist. However, some health conditions may make it inadvisable, so make sure to let your practitioner know of any health conditions.

  • Your initial acupuncture appointment at Better Days Wellness is 1.5 hours long, and consists of a detailed health intake, with a primary focus on your chief complaint. Once we are done discussing, I take a look at your tongue and pulse to help further diagnose, and then we start needling! Once all of the needles are in and you are comfortable, I leave the room and you rest with the needles in for 25-30 minutes. After the time is up, your needles are removed, we answer any follow-up questions you might have, and you are good to go!

    Prepping for an appointment is easy! All you need to do is bring water and make sure to stay hydrated before and after, wear loose clothing, and have some sort of food in your system. You’ve got this!

Let’s heal together.

Have any questions? Not sure if acupuncture is right for you? Let’s chat! Fill out this form and I’ll be sure to get back to you ASAP.

Heartfelt Experiences.

  • “It has been an absolute pleasure getting to know Lea over the past few months. She has helped me navigate the fertility process and is incredibly gentle, compassionate, and thorough in her approach. Lea is a fantastic communicator and was eager to help me outline a clear plan of attack, which made me feel like she was “all in” from the very beginning. After only a few sessions, Lea has my full trust and I’m excited to keep coming back!”

  • “I highly recommend Lea as an acupuncturist. Her expertise, patience, understanding, and caring approach have made a significant positive impact on my well-being. The results speak for themselves, and I'm grateful for the positive changes she's helped me achieve through acupuncture!”

  • “I absolutely love Lea! She has truly gone above and beyond to help me get back to feeling more like myself again. She’s always so happy and positive and you can tell she genuinely wants to help you. I am not one to rest or take time for myself but have found that acupuncture with Lea has brought so much peace into my life and really allowed me to focus on myself. I always leave so refreshed! The best part of my week is acupuncture and I am forever thankful for both Lea and acupuncture!”