Your First Visit
The first session, which is usually about 90 minutes, begins with a comprehensive interview that includes both your medical and personal history and continues with a treatment. Part of the initial diagnostic procedure involves looking at your tongue and feeling six pulses on both wrists; these provide further information about your “pattern,” or diagnosis.
Once a diagnosis has been determined, you will lie on the treatment table, fully draped at all times, and I will insert needles at specific points indicated for your situation. The area to be needled is cleaned with alcohol before the needles are inserted.
Certain conditions may require employing additional techniques to best address a specific problem. One technique, moxibustion, is the gentle warming of the needles with moxa, an herb derived from the plant Artemisia, which feels very comforting. In some instances, massage therapy or herbal medicine may also be indicated. Other modalities are cupping, gua sha, and electro-acupuncture. All techniques are described in detail and discussed prior to their application.
Once needles are inserted, I will turn down the lights and make sure you’re comfortable and warm enough, and then I’ll leave the room to allow the acupuncture to do its work. Needles will stay in for 20 to 40 minutes, depending on the course of treatment.
Follow-up sessions are about an hour.
Does it hurt?
Insertions are gentle and usually barely perceptible. The sensations vary from person to person, from no sensation at all to a warmth or momentary dull ache at the needle site or somewhere else along the course of a meridian. There may be a feeling of heaviness or tingling. Most patients are surprised to find that treatments involve little to no pain and are usually very relaxing and renewing. Any discomfort should be shared with me so that I can make adjustments to alleviate this. The needles are approximately the density of one to two human hairs, very fine and flexible. They bear no resemblance to the feeling of getting an injection or having blood drawn, which is done with hollow point needles.
Are the needles safe?
Acupuncture needles are FDA approved, pre-sterilized, and used only once before being carefully discarded in a biohazard sharps container. I use Japanese needles, known for being pain-free.
How do most people respond to acupuncture?
Most people feel very relaxed and renewed. It’s common to feel progressively better after each treatment. Some illnesses so dull the senses that the full severity of the symptoms is no longer clearly felt. As the life force returns, sensitivity returns, so that a patient may temporarily feel worse. If this happens, it passes in a short time, and typically there is a big leap forward in feeling better. Generally illnesses of short duration respond quickly, while chronic problems respond more slowly.
How many treatments are necessary?
The length and frequency of subsequent visits will vary according to the symptoms and the response to treatment. It is very individual. The benefits of acupuncture may take several treatments, although dramatic results can occur quickly. The duration of the condition, the amount of deterioration or symptoms, and the constitution of each patient must be taken into account when determining the number of treatments necessary. Most chronic conditions require a minimum of ten treatments to alleviate symptoms and balance the system so that symptoms are not likely to recur. Illnesses or injuries of short duration can require from five to ten treatments. And many people use acupuncture for health maintenance, even when there are no acute symptoms, to keep the immune system strong and viable.