Dr. Krystal Couture, PT, LAc

THE PELVIC ACU

Dr. Krystal Lynn Couture, PT, LAc, The Pelvic Acu, is a pelvic physical therapist and Licensed acupuncturist. As a pelvic care acupuncturist, she brings to her practice a background steeped in both Western and holistic knowledge. She has an extensive formal background, with a Doctorate in physical therapy from Husson University as well as a Master of Science in acupuncture from the Institute of Taoist Education and Acupuncture. 

Dr. Krystal has been published in Acupuncture Today and Medicinal Roots Magazine. She's been featured on Michelle Grasek's Acupuncture Marketing School Podcast, The American Acupuncture Council and Dao Labs.

"It is my greatest passion to share the sacred medicine of the pelvis with acupuncturists around the globe. Over the past decade, I have developed a comprehensive approach that incorporates a range of acupuncture tools, including Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), the Spirit of the Points, Manual Therapy, and Muscle-Specific Ashi Point Needling (also known as Dry Needling), to effectively treat the pelvis and the whole person. I'd love to have you join me in sharing this work with your clients."

“I just took Dr. Krystal‘s amazing course this weekend and I loved how much data she packed in. It was all about trigger points, the muscles, really what’s going on with the tissues as well as with the Chinese medicine. Coupling both together was an awesome learning process about the area of the body that we don’t really get a lot of information about: the pelvic floor. It was an amazing place to learn about more in depth and be able to integrate and incorporate into my practice." - Julia, LAc, Washington

“I thought it was amazing! Krystal was an amazing teacher.  I think it was a really safe space. She’s very passionate about pelvic health and there was a lot of information that I learned. It was awesome.” - Naja, LAc, Maryland

"I feel like the weekend was incredibly informative and helped me to develop more skills and confidence in providing pelvic care to create a safe and supportive environment for my patients." - Ilana, LAc, California

"I just took Krystal‘s pelvic floor course. Krystal was very thorough and in all that she taught. Our group had many many questions that she was able to answer with detailed responses and be supportive to our needs. She really walked me through all the practical hands-on, which I personally lack, being straight out of school. I had my first dry needling, deep needling experience, and Krystal, made it Very feel safe and easy. Now I feel way more confident to go and needle those deep points. I definitely learned a lot in these two days and I recommend it to everyone who is able to do this course." - Joelle, LAc, Florida

“It was a great weekend. I am very gratified. I was very grateful that I was here because the stress was on hands-on , so there was detailed explanation of  related anatomy of the abdomen, of the back and of course of the pelvic area. We observed it a number of times on the model and then we treated each other also at least two times.  So I feel I have very good hands on the practice and that I’m very grateful for.”  - Louis, LAc, New Hampshire

“The weekend workshop with Krystal was amazing. I learned an enormous amount of anatomy and enormous amount about my body and enormous amount about everybody else’s bodies as well.” -Robert, ND, New Hampshire

“In the Pelvic Acu training, I really loved the specificity of the point location practical and [targeting] all the small muscles. We learned how to access them most easily, the therapeutic value and benefit of the different treatments including hy we would needle them how to needle them with a lot of confidence. It was really fun!” - Dr. Devorah, LAc, Maryland

“I just completed the pelvic care course and there’s so much to take aways from it. My greatest Takeaway was the fact that we can treat so much of the body to help the pelvic area and then we can go ahead and treat the pelvis. We can treat so many different ailments with it that maybe we’ve been stuck with in practice from our patients. Some things that are really important in my practice because I treat so many women and fertility patients and postpartum that this can improve my patient’s  quality of life tremendously.  The best Takeaway was having Dr. Krystal here because she’s just a wealth of knowledge in an area that is so underserved and we’re not so educated in in the acupuncture world.”- Dr Andrea, LAc, Florida

I took Dr. Krystal’s pelvic floor acupuncture class back in the fall and I have to say it was one of the best classes I have ever taken. Not only is Dr Krystal super knowledgeable on all things pelvic health she was so accommodating to all of the questions that we asked. She really helped to tailor the class to the participants that were taking it. She did a really great job at breaking things down in a way that was easy to understand because I think that pelvic health I think can be really complicated and a little scary for people but the way that Dr Krystal approaches it just makes it very tangible and easy to implement into it and I can’t recommend her class enough.” - Genevieve, Lac, Maine

“I wanted to say a few words about the recent pelvic acupuncture course that I took with Dr. Krystal Couture last year– it’s fantastic. What can I say if you are an acupuncturist who is looking to up level those skills and bring new treatments to the women in your practice, I think this is really a fantastic place to start. Dr. Krystal is full of so much knowledge. She brings her physical therapy background into as well as her acupuncture background into putting together such a great course with dry needling with treatment of very specific pelvic conditions that can really be so beneficial for the women in your practice and your patience so it’s it’s a great course. I’m a big fan. I can’t wait to actually do another one so there you go!” - Dr. Julee, LAc, FLorida

TMJ & PF Myalgia
Patients with PFMD associated pain are 94.6% more likely to suffer from TMJD than pain-free patients without PFMD.
https://www.auajournals.org/doi/10.1097/JU.0000000000001965.12

16% of Men suffer from Pelvic Pain or Dysfunction.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK559246/

32% of Women suffer from Pelvic Pain or Dysfunction.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-13501-w#:~:text=The%20percentage%20of%20women%20with,all%203%20categories%20of%20PFD.

Pregnancy + PF Dysfunction
60.8% of the study cohort endured at least one PFD symptom during pregnancy and that specific PFD symptoms intensified in the third trimester of pregnancy.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10137441/

Lumbopelvic Pain + PF
95.3% of lumbopelvic pain participants were determined to have some form of pelvic floor dysfunction. Specifically, 71% of the participants had pelvic floor muscle tenderness, 66% had pelvic floor weakness and 41% were found to have a pelvic organ prolapse.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29268147/

Absolutely! As acupuncturists, we define Dry Needling as Muscle Specific Ashi Point Needling. We cover the Pelvic Floor as well as the concomitant tissues of the abdomen, back, hips and posterior pelvis. Dry Needling is a huge component of The Pelvic Acu Practicals. You’ll also have access to the video demos for life.

Yes! Dr. Krystal graduated from the Institute of Taoist Education and Acupuncture which is a Classical Five Element Program. While Dr. Krystal does not exclusively work with the 5 Element Style, it plays a significant role in working with the Spirit and the Emotions when addressing pelvic care. There is an entire module dedicated to Spirit of the Points of the Pelvis in our online program. We also work with Spirit within the practicals as well.

The great thing about the way Dr. Krystal teaches is the inclusive model. Whether you learned TCM, 5E, or Japanese acupuncture, the courses will offer tools that you can easily work into any style of practice. And any specialty. Of course, we have a lot of practitioners who specialize in women’s health, men’s health, obstetrics and fertility, but we also have lots of general practitioners and those who specialize in advanced age populations. Pelvic Care is an advanced specialty and does require a fair amount of experience and confidence needling, so we recommend that if students want to take the class, they are at least halfway through through their clinical hours and have a strong desire for this specialty.