By Terrence Synnott
Daily News staff

NEWPORT - Whether it's the common cold, a headache or a musculo-skeletal ailment like lower back pain, Dr. Seth Bock and Dr. Julie Stapleton say a simple needle prick or series of pricks can usually unlock the body's natural healing powers.

"With acupuncture, you put a needle in and you free it," Bock said, speaking of the ancient Chinese concept of Qi or chi, which deals with the study of how energy and blood flow through the body.

"It's all about restoring balance to the body," Stapleton added.

The couple, both doctors of acupuncture, is opening a general practice on Broadway devoted to the complementary techniques of Chinese acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine. Their business, Newport Acupuncture & Herbal Medicine, is expected to open in the next couple of weeks and will focus on combining the two disciplines to make people feel better, they said.

"I'm hoping we can really find a niche in the community with this," Stapleton said.

Bock and Stapleton will be joining several area practitioners who currently provide acupuncture, the Chinese modality dating back some 2,500 years. Newport Hospital also recently began offering acupuncture treatment through its Vanderbilt Rehabilitation Center and Dr. Dale Drennan, a general physician who was recently certified in the practice.

But Bock and Stapleton say their business will differ from other local practitioners by focusing on complementing their treatment with alternative medicine. They also plan to operate an alternative medicine pharmacy to sell herbs and other alternative medicines at Newport Acupuncture, located at 7 Broadway, next to Aidan's.

"A lot of people say herbs can't do anything. The truth of the matter is a lot of pharmaceutical drugs are derived from plants," Bock said.

Stapleton points out that Chinese medicine can be used to treat symptoms as well as to prevent illnesses.

The couple, who both graduated from the New England School for Acupuncture in Watertown, Mass., plans to accept patients with or without a doctor's referral.

Bock comes to Newport from the Boston area where he worked as the manager of regulatory affairs for the Department of Interventional Cardiology at the Brigham and Women's Hospital and participated in clinical practices at the Charles River School of Shiatsu and the New England School for Acupuncture. He has been practicing acupuncture for the past year and a half.

Stapleton is a recent graduate of the New England School for Acupuncture. She is a former Newport resident and worked in social services here before moving and studying acupuncture.