What Should I Do For My First Treatment?

Before an acupuncture treatment, it is important to make sure you have eaten and drank something within an hour before the treatment, as low blood sugar can cause your body to be overly sensitive. Wear comfortable, loose clothing to treatments to allow for relaxation and ability to access any necessary acupuncture points. Many patients report extreme relaxation during and after treatment.

What Should I Do After My Treatment?

Expect that you will be very relaxed after a treatment. To support your body’s healing process, eat nutritious food, drink lots of water, and create a calm environment after your treatment. Avoiding work, stress, exercise and sexual activity is encouraged after getting a treatment.

Does Acupuncture Work? What Can it Treat?

According to the World Health Organization, the following symptoms, diseases and conditions have been shown in controlled clinical studies to be treated effectively by acupuncture: 

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• low back pain

• neck pain

• sciatica

• tennis elbow

• knee pain

• periarthritis of the shoulder

• sprains

• facial pain (including craniomandibular disorders)

• headache

• dental pain

• tempromandibular (TMJ) dysfunction

• rheumatoid arthritis

• induction of labor

• correction of malposition of fetus (breech presentation)

• morning sickness

• nausea and vomiting

• postoperative pain

• stroke

• essential hypertension

• primary hypotension

• renal colic

• leucopenia

• adverse reactions to radiation or chemotherapy

• allergic rhinitis, including hay fever

• biliary colic

• depression (including depressive neurosis and depression following stroke)

• acute bacillary dysentery

• primary dysmenorrhea

• acute epigastralgia

• peptic ulcer

• acute and chronic gastritis

How Does Acupuncture Work?

Your body is a living organism. It works best when we keep it tuned and running smoothly. Acupuncture can help this process by stimulating the neurological system, which relays messages back to the brain; our control center for all of our bodily functions. This will tell the brain to regulate releasing hormones and neurotransmitters, effectively allowing your brain to order the body to bring itself back into balance. Examples of these are serotonin, which regulates your mood, appetite, sleep, memory, and sexual desire, dopamine which increasing the conversation between neurons, and melatonin, which regulates your sleep cycle, or circadian rhythm

Will it Hurt?

While these are needles that are, in fact, piercing the skin, they are about as thin as the hair on your head. The small size combined with extremely gentle needling technique leads to lessened sensation, if anything is felt at all. Most patients report not feeling the needle whatsoever throughout the course of treatment.

What if I Am Scared of Needles?

That is okay! There are plenty of other modalities that can be used instead, such as acupressure, which is simply pressing on the acupuncture points rather than piercing them.

What is Cupping?

Cups are used mainly for alleviating pain. When we have tense muscles, it is as if we have an internal bruise stuck inside of these muscles. When a vacuum is created with these cups, the skin is raised inside the cup, pulling blood and lymph to the surface. When moving these cups, it forces any stagnated blood to move within the muscle tissue, essentially acting as an internal massage. This causes blood and lymph flow to increase in circulation and accelerate the healing process.