Comprehensive Health & Acupuncture Center

What is Acupuncture (brochure)

Course of Treatment

As part of your first visit, I will discuss with a proposed course of treatment. Since individuals vary, it is difficult to state definitively at the time of your first visit how many treatments will be required. In general, acute conditions of recent onset may only require 2 or 3 treatments. Chronic conditions usually require more treatments to achieve sustained results. With chronic conditions I usually recommend an initial course of 3-5 treatments in order to make a better assessment of whether or not acupuncture will help the condition. Most people begin to experience results within the first two treatments. If there has been no response to the acupuncture after 4 - 6 treatments, acupuncture will likely not work and other approaches should be considered.

The ideal approach to illness is to begin treatment as soon as possible. The sooner you seek help, the easier it is to treat. For longstanding illnesses, weekly treatments may be required for several months in order to have a curative effect.

Once you initiate a healing process, it is important to follow through on treatments. The more consistent you are, the better the likelihood of results. The effects of acupuncture tend to be cumulative. After you are feeling better, I will likely recommend an additional few treatments. In Chinese medicine, this is referred to as "solidifying the constitution." The goal is to further strengthen your body to prevent recurrence of the illness. Once they are feeling better, many people find it difficult to follow through with even just a few treatments. Healing requires a lot of energy. Your body is most vulnerable following recovery from illness because it has expended much of its energy and internal resources in order to get better. It is therefore important to have a few treatments in order to prevent repeated or new illness. In general, when an illness recurs it is often more difficult to treat.

What to Expect During the First Treatment

The Initial visit usually takes between 1 and a half to 2 hours consisting of a comprehensive Health History, Evaluation and Exam followed by an Acupuncture Treatment.

Part of the Exam includes Chinese Medical diagnostic methods of looking at the tongue and feeling the wrist pulses on both sides. Imbalances in the body can be detected by observing the shape, color and texture of the tongue as well as feeling for different qualities of the pulse.

When the needle is inserted you may feel a dull ache, tingling, heaviness, soreness or an electrical sensation. All these feelings are a good sign that the "Qi" is moving.

After the first or second visit, the Physician will go over the Report of Findings and Treatment Plan including Lifestyle Guidelines if needed and frequency of visits.

After the Acupuncture treatment, you may feel energized or deeply relaxed with a sense of well-being.

Questions about Oriental Medicine and your health care are welcomed and encouraged during each visit.

How to Prepare:

Wear loose comfortable clothing for easy access to different areas of the body.

Eat something small before treatment, do not come with a full or empty stomach.

Do not brush your tongue 24 hrs before visits.

Bring a list of current prescription medications and over the counter supplements, vitamins and herbs.

Refrain from overexertion, working out, or alcohol for up to 6 hrs after treatment.

Come with questions and allow yourself to relax.

What to Expect After Treatment

Your relief may be immediate, delayed for a few hours or even develop after 1 to 3 days. The relief may last for a few hours on the first visit and then last longer with each successive treatment. OR, relief may last from the first treatment until your next visit. It is important to recognize that we are all individuals. Individual response to treatment varies.

Side Effects

Side effects are rare but may include the following symptoms: light-headed feeling, dizziness, sleepiness, euphoria, nausea, slight bruising, residual muscle aching. Any of these should last only a very short time. It is helpful to take a short nap after acupuncture. To help reduce the risk of side effects, please read the section entitled Prepare for Visit.

Flare-up

If you receive treatments for pain, avoid aggravation of the painful area between treatments. It is recommended to “baby” that area and avoid strenuous or aggravating activity as much as possible in order to receive maximum benefits. Following your treatment, your body makes adjustments for up to 36 hours. There is a 10% chance that you may experience an aggravation of the condition that you are being treated for. There is no cause for concern, as this is a healing response to the effective and unique treatment employed. The pain/discomfort and usually subsides within 36 to 48 hours. Typically, the pain will then subside to a lower level than before the treatment.

Acupuncture treatments stimulate your body’s own healing capacity. Therefore, the progress of your healing will follow a natural course. As this occurs, you are likely to experience a reoccurrence of the pain/condition in between your treatments to some degree. The degree of pain, if not aggravated, progressively decreases over a series of treatments. Finally, the pain will decrease to the level where the condition has recovered. The individual time for recovery will be different from patient to patient.

In some conditions, the body must fully expel a pathogen in order for healing to occur. For example, if you have gave a cold, acupuncture will not get rid of the cold, but can help accelerate the cold cycle so your body gets healthy sooner. If you are fatigued and starting to get a cold, acupuncture may help your body ward it off. There are also some terrific herbal formulas for this.

In cases of chronic pain, your original pain may improve and then unmask other less obvious pain in the surrounding area. Please report what happened when you return so I can modify your treatment accordingly. I will also be interested in any change in your use of pain-killer medications as a result of treatment. Please be advised that changes in prescription medication require prior approval and strict monitoring by your family physician.

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