What to Expect

WHAT SHOULD YOU EXPECT FROM AN ACUPUNCTURE TREATMENT?

During your evaluation together we discuss your symptoms and your practitioner will evaluate your pulse and tongue characteristics to formulate a syndrome diagnosis and your treatment plan. You will then have privacy to disrobe completely or leave on undergarments and drape yourself with a clinic sheet. The sterile, non reusable needles will be inserted into specific places of function in the body called Acu-points. These areas stimulate the Qi (chee) or life force energy in your meridians to balance the body's systems. The average needle retention time is 25 to 50 minutes. If needed, both sides of the body are treated for 25 minutes, so plan on 1½ hours for consultation and treatment. 

WHAT DOES AN ACUPUNCTURE TREATMENT FEEL LIKE?  WILL IT HURT?

When you are relaxing during your needle retention, you may feel bodily sensations that the needles illicit from the energy or Qi moving within the body or feel nothing at all. Some sensations could feel like a pathway opening, a tickle, lightness, heaviness, warming, cooling, relaxation of the muscles, clarity, focus etc. After the treatment most patients feel much more relaxed or floaty, stress-less and a reduction in symptoms. Results from the treatment range from immediate relief to delayed relief depending on the condition being acute or chronic and what energetic pattern is at the root of the problem. Some results take consistent weekly treatments whereas others might need only a few treatments to get better.  Because your acupuncture treatment will continue to balance the meridians for about 4 days, If your symptoms are pain and it resurfaces days later, it is usually much reduced since the first treatment and it is advised to follow your treatment plan until the meridian is totally balanced and the pain has ceased. Just like most symptoms take time to get worse, the acupuncture takes time to unravel those symptoms. Many patients choose to come in for health maintenance.  

Patients should have a small snack before their treatment and please refrain from wearing perfumes or colognes as we do have chemically sensitive patients being treated in other rooms.