Traditional Chinese Acupuncture: The Ancient Healing Art Explained

When the needles go in, you may feel a slight pinching or burning sensation. 

Sometimes you don't feel anything at all!  

After a few seconds, the needle sensations go away.  Some points have more "energy" than others.  The points that you feel are removing "stagnant Qi." They're helping your body heal.   

Once the acupuncturist has finished with the needling, most people feel incredibly relaxed.  Many people fall asleep during the treatment.  

During the session, as long as you keep body movement to a minimum, you won't feel the needles. 

If you feel uncomfortable during the treatment, you'll have a call button so we can check on you and address any discomfort.  

We use stainless steel, disposable needles. 

There's nothing on or in them.  

Each one is brand new and sterile when we use it.  After your treatment, we dispose of them in a bio-hazard waste container, where we never see them again.

The needles are hair-fine. 

You can fit 12 acupuncture needles inside one hypodermic needle. 

The needles stimulate your nervous system.

They temporarily down-regulate your sympathetic nervous system – your “fight or flight” system – so your body goes in to a state of deep relaxation.

This is when you start to heal. 

It’s like re-booting your computer!

The stimulation of certain points tells your brain to improve circulation to your problem area.

The improved blood flow allows nutrition and oxygen to flood the area we’re focusing on. 

Most people feel improvements within about 5 minutes of the needles going in.  

In most cases, you'll feel it working right away.  We won't need to convince you!  

Acupuncture is extremely safe when it’s performed by a licensed acupuncturist (as opposed to someone like a Physical Therapist, Chiropractor, or Physician who has taken a weekend course on dry-needling). 

The most common side effect may be that you feel sleepy after the treatment. This is because acupuncture is very relaxing. 

If you’re concerned that you’ll not be able to drive safely after the appointment (most people feel fine to drive afterward), make arrangements for someone to help you.

Another common side-effect could be a small bruise from the needle.

If you are on blood-thinning medication, have a blood-clotting disorder, or are deficient in vitamin C or iron, you may have more chances of bruising from the needles. This is something we’ll talk about during your initial consultation before we start your treatment.  

If an acupoint feels tender after the treatment, this usually resolves in a few hours.

An uncommon symptom after acupuncture is nerve tingling. This happens less than 1% of the time and is typically resolved in 1-2 weeks.

Pregnant women CAN get acupuncture safely. 

Acupuncture is very helpful for problems that can happen during pregnancy.  Do let us know about your condition before the treatment.  There are some acupuncture points we avoid during pregnancy.   

Some people experience painful acupuncture treatments. I’ve talked to some of these people and have found that this happens when acupuncturists put the needles directly in to the pain area (which is already inflamed) or have over-stimulated the needles. This is something that we actively avoid doing in our treatments. 

Most of our patients commend us on our gentle yet effective needling style.

Our treatment tables are very comfortable and heated, and we'll give you a pager if you need us to come back into the room for any reason during your treatment. 

• Allergies
• Digestive Issues
• Fatigue
• Hormone Imbalance (period stuff, fertility, thyroid, menopause)
• Pain (shoulder pain, neck pain, back pain, knee pain, plantar faciitis, carpel tunnel, neuropathy & nerve pain, sciatica, etc.)
• Migraines and Headaches
• Sleeping Problems (Insomnia)
• Skin Problems (acne, rashes, etc.)
• Stress, Anxiety and Depression

 We do a style of acupuncture called Balance Method, made popular by the acupuncturist Richard Tan, as well as a Japanese style of acupuncture based on the work of Kiiko Matsumoto. 

The needles go primarily into the forearms, hands, calves, and feet.  

A few needles are used in the abdomen, chest, and back. 

The needles don't necessarily need to go into the problem area. 

Even, for example, back pain, can be treated without needles going into your back.  

We can treat problems in any part of the body. 

The effect of acupuncture should be immediate. 

Within 5 minutes of the needle insertion, the pain is typically reduced by at least 50%.

For most conditions, a series of treatments are recommended. Traditionally, acupuncture treatments is done daily or every other day to start. 

We usually recommend people start with weekly or twice per week appointments.  

As your body starts to heal, the treatments become less frequent. 

How long this takes depends on the individual (age, general health condition) and the severity of the condition itself.

After we do a few treatments, we'll give you a plan that outlines our recommendations for you.  

We don't know exactly how long acupuncture has been around, but many estimate it's about 5000 years.  

Otzi the Iceman, was a naturally preserved man found in the Alps with markings on his body along acupuncture points.  He died around 3000 B.C. 

Some of the written history on acupuncture dates back to 100 B.C.  

Typically, the needles stay in for 30-60 minutes.

Most people take a nap during their session on our comfortable tables. 

We leave you with a pager so if you need us to come back sooner, you can easily do so.  

Here’s some reading we give our patients before their first treatment, if you’d like more information about acupuncture. 

The first treatment in our office is about 2 hours.  The treatment portion is still only 30 minutes or so, but we do a thorough intake and some testing before we treat you the first time.  

Follow-up appointments are about 45 minutes to 1 hour in length.