What is acupuncture?
Are you new to acupuncture and considering beginning regular treatments? Do you have reservations about whether or not this 3,000-year-old art and science is right for you? Although it might be intimidating at first, acupuncture can be used to treat a wide range of internal ailments, physical pain, and mental/emotional conditions. Results can be as fast as the first treatment, but most people experience a change by their sixth treatment.
Typical questions that most people ask during their first visit are:
How does it work?
Will it hurt?
When will I start to feel better?
Overall, acupuncture is not very painful. In fact, most people don’t really feel much. The needles are fine, flexible, and often no bigger around than a human hair or a piece of thread. By inserting a needle into an acupoint by a skilled acupuncturist, the slender needle produces little to no sensation at all. However, the goal is to obtain a Qi response. When the needle makes contact with Qi, the energy, most patients experience a slight tingling or warming sensation. Some responses can feel like a heavy sensation or a dull ache; this is a good sign! But acupuncture should never feel painful or nervy.
Recovery from any disease varies from person to person. This is because everyone is constitutionally different. The longer you have been dealing with a health issue is generally comparable with how long it might take to get you back into tip-top harmonization. For example, if you have been suffering from low back pain for 20 years, it might take a few years for you to be completely pain-free, though acupuncture may provide relief even after the first treatment. If you have something more acute that has only been an issue for weeks or months, you could experience relief in a few sessions. For the best long term effects, it is important to come back regularly to either support the body’s healthiest aspects or to build up the body’s natural defenses against whatever is causing you discomfort. Remember, prevention is the best medicine!
So, what can acupuncture treat? Well, it has three main objectives:
to relieve pain and other symptoms,
to strengthen the immune system,
and most importantly to balance/harmonize/integrate the human body/mind/spirit, as a whole.
Acupuncture is used to treat a variety of different health issues from the mental and emotional to chronic or acute physical conditions. Keep an open mind. If you are experiencing pain from a sports injury, residuals from being sick, dealing with stress, or aging, acupuncture has methods and protocols for making you feel balanced and better.
Here’s a list of what acupuncture treats:
+ Allergies
- Allergic Rhinitis
- Seasonal Allergies
+ Chemical Dependency Issues
- Smoking cessation
- Alcoholism
- Opioid addiction
+ Dermatology
- Acne
- Psoriasis
- Eczema
+ Digestive Health
- Acid reflux
- Peptic ulcer
- Gastritis
+ Diseases
- Heart Disease
- Kidney Disease
- Liver Disease
- Diabetes Mellitus, non-insulin-dependent
+ General Illnesses
- Common Cold
- Flu
+ Mental/Emotional Health
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Grief
- PTSD/trauma
- Stress
+ Neurological Conditions
- Essential tremors
- Multiple Sclerosis (MS)
- Parkinson’s Disease
- Bell’s Palsy
+ Oncology
- Induced and Post-Operative Nausea and/or Vomiting
- Immune Support
+ Pain
- Car Accidents
- Acute/Chronic Body Pain
- Headaches
- Osteoarthritis
+ Sleep Disturbances
- Insomnia
- Sleep Apnea
+ Sports
- Sports Injuries Chronic, or Acute
- Enhance Peak Performance
+ Upper Respiratory Health
- Allergic Rhinitis
- Asthma
- Persistent Cough
+ Women’s Health
- Fertility Enhancement and/or Infertility (for men as well)
- Menstrual Issues
- Menopause Symptoms
- Pregnancy Complications (including morning sickness, breech baby, labor pain)
- Lactation Issues
