Across the street from the Tsunami Pacific-Rim cuisine restaurant in the Cooper-Young neighborhood, Jessica Puckett is readying the building at 917 S. Cooper St. for its new life.

Inside, walls are being painted. The layout of an office is being prepared and adjusted. And when the preparations are finished and her operation opens for business a few weeks from now, Puckett – an acupuncturist – will bring a unique new service to a Midtown neighborhood known for its unique food and eclectic shops.

Her new business is called Midtown Acupuncture and Natural Apothecary. A native Memphian, Puckett said she chose Cooper-Young where the business will be only a few doors away from longtime establishments there such as restaurants Celtic Crossing and Jasmine, because of her affinity for the area.

Serving a need

There are other acupuncture businesses in Memphis, but none that she felt specifically served the Downtown and Midtown communities. That, coupled with the uniqueness of the Cooper-Young area, almost made her choice of a home for the business for her.

“Midtown,” she said, “is the part of Memphis where I feel most at home.”

In a way, her business and the service she provides aims to leave people with a similar feeling of balance and general wellness. In the front part of the building she’ll operate out of, a receptionist will greet clients and a retail operation will sell a variety of creams, herbal products, candles and similar items.

In a variety of patient rooms throughout the building, Puckett will perform the ancient art of acupuncture, which involves using needles to relieve pain and for other therapeutic use. She said it can treat the symptoms associated with everything from stress to insomnia.

“Most people come to acupuncture as a last resort,” Puckett said. “But my job is to move them from a state of pathology and pain to a state of wellness and then help them maintain that wellness. That’s what acupuncture should be. Even if you’re generally well, you should still come.

“I’m considering adding a massage therapist, because that’s a great co-treatment. Acupuncture can treat more than just pain. Initially, the practice of acupuncture was always a wellness modality.”

The process involves inserting tiny needles into the body, and though Western scientists don’t have a complete grasp of why it brings about the results it does, some studies show there are tangible benefits, according to information from the Mayo Clinic.

Modern age

Puckett said she wants to open her business sometime in the first week of February. A few days ago, she invited some of her friends from the Internet social networking site Facebook to come to the new location to help paint and spruce it up.

She’s in the process of finishing a Web site she’s creating for the business.

“It will be so exciting to have our own natural apothecary here in Cooper-Young,” said Tamara Walker, director of the Cooper-Young Business Association. “No more driving all the way out east to Whole Foods for homeopathic medicines, natural shampoos, toothpaste and soaps.”

Puckett said she’ll spend a lot of time talking to each patient and assessing his or her health to come up with an individualized service for each person who walks through the door. She’s also gone to great lengths to select certain products she thinks are most appropriate for her operation.

The skin care lines she’ll sell, for example, will contain no preservatives and be biodegradable. Candles for sale will be 100 percent soy wax, 100 percent essential oils and have cotton wicks.

“Every human being is different, and that is a huge difference between Western medicine and Eastern medicine,” Puckett said. “Each person’s body tells a different story. So you come in with a headache, but there could be any number of things – what could be the same diagnosis for two people will not necessarily require the same treatment.”