Sasee Gets Personal with Dr. Tonya Weber: AIM | Acupuncture & Integrative Medicine

Dr. Weber moved to North Myrtle Beach in October of 2019 and opened AIM (Acupuncture & Integrative Medicine)shortly after, bringing her expertise in treating difficult to manage, chronic conditions to the people of the Grand Strand with a world class healing environment that supports the recovery of health and wellness.

A majority of Dr. Weber’s patients suffer from some variation of chronic pain or autoimmune disease, but her specialty lies in the truly complicated conditions like peripheral neuropathy, fibromyalgia, and rheumatoid arthritis. Her patients have been told that their pain is “just part of getting older” but Tonya is here to “make their golden years golden!” As Dr. Weber makes known, there is more to healthcare than prescription pills, elimination diets, and scalpels.

In her teens and twenties, Dr. Weber suffered from cluster migraine headaches. At the time, acupuncture was still fringe medicine, but with successive treatments, she went from having 3-5 headaches a week to having them only 1-2 times a year! This incredible experience combined with her scientific background (Chemical Engineering at Clemson University), ultimately led to her relinquishing her career in the family business and pursuing her doctorate in acupuncture.

As Tonya thought back on her favorite Thanksgiving memories, she said, “Growing up with a family-run business, we didn’t typically take holidays off. The store my parents owned was always open on Thanksgiving (even on Christmas Day) and in an effort to make sure their employees had that time off, our entire family would work in the store to keep things up and running. Where else were our neighbors going to pick up the last-minute can of pumpkin or package of rolls? It might have been unusual, but I fondly remember those holidays, working together with my sisters and parents to make the holidays special for our community.”

Dr. Weber’s Thanksgiving family traditions involve spending time with family and eating too much food. She explained, “My grandmother was always the cook for all of the holidays because my parents worked extremely long hours in their country store – like before sunrise and well into the evening (side note: I probably get my work ethic from them). Because of that, I spent a lot of time at my grandmother’s side learning to cook and prepare dishes. Now, I do my best to recreate those meals!”

The menu for Thanksgiving in Dr. Weber’s family consists of some traditional cuisine and some not so traditional. “These days my mom likes to deep fry the turkey while I prepare the dressing,” Tonya continued, “But we also have oyster pie and shrimp casserole, two dishes my mom has always made for special occasions. Other menu items include mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole with orange slices, honey ham, green beans, creamed corned… honestly, it’s too much food to list here or for one family to consume but my mom takes great pride in entertaining so I just help out where I can.”

This Thanksgiving, Tonya is most thankful to still have her mom around to celebrate with. After losing her dad at a young age, she relishes any and all time she gets to spend with her. Since moving to North Myrtle Beach, Tonya’s home is the spot for family gatherings, so she plays hostess and acts as her mom’s sous chef. Tonya’s mom lives with her now so they will start cooking two days in advance – how could you not with their menu?

Tonya and her mom decorate all year round! She explained, “Easter, Halloween, Fall, you name it, my mom has bought something from Home Goods that will celebrate the occasion! As far as Christmas, those decorations will start going up on November 1st! After all, my mom had 13 decorated trees in the house last year (yes 13!) so we need all the time we can get! And that didn’t include the seven outdoor trees! Christmas is such a magical time of year and I have three young nephews who get a kick of our winter wonderland, so we like to go all out!”