5 Key Questions to Ask Your Acupuncture Practitioner
What can Acupuncture help with?
The World Health Organisation has listed over 60 different symptoms, diseases, and conditions that can be effectively treated by acupuncture. These range from joint pains, anxiety, and depression, through to Irritable Bowel Syndrome, migraine, and chronic fatigue.
My specialisms are:
You can see just how successful my treatments are by reading over a hundred and sixty independent patient reviews on Free Index.
If you’re trying out acupuncture for the first time, head over to my New Patients section to find out more about my personalised treatments.
Is Acupuncture safe?
When performed by a properly trained and fully insured professional acupuncture is extremely safe. This safety record is backed by research that highlights the remarkably low level of mild, transient, adverse effects.
Of course, you want to make sure you are receiving the best standard of care so it is important to check that your practitioner has studied acupuncture to degree level and belongs to a reputable professional association (I am a member of the Association of Acupuncture Clinicians). Be wary of practitioners who offer ‘dry needling’ as this is nothing at all like Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) Acupuncture.
How long will it take to see results?
This depends on the individual and their health concern. Some patients start to feel better straightaway, while others may experience a slight, temporary worsening of symptoms before improvement begins. Acupuncture has a cumulative effect which is why I offer blocks of 6 appointments. This gives your body chance to adjust to the treatments and accumulate the benefits.
Do Acupuncture needles hurt?
As a general rule, no. The needles are as fine as hair and nothing at all like hypodermic needles used by doctors.
However, you might find some needle insertion points are more sensitive than others. There’s a few different reasons why this can happen:
- You may be tired, dehydrated, or hungry. Thirst, lack of sleep, and low blood sugar levels can affect the sensitivity of nerves in your skin and amplify the sensation of a needle being inserted.
- Point location: some needle points are simply a lot more sensitive than others! Hands and feet for example are much more sensitive than the belly or thigh areas.
- Some needle points are known to be more stimulative to Qi (pronounced ‘chee’) – the life force energy that flows around the body.
It is quite normal to feel a dull ache around the needle point, but if this is too much for you or the pain feels sharp and stinging, just let me know and I will adjust the needle or remove it altogether.
The needles I use are sterile, disposable, single-use needles, so there is virtually no chance of infection or contagion.
Is there anything I should do before and after my appointment?
There are a few steps you can take to get the most out of your acupuncture session.
Before an appointment it is important to:
- Avoid caffeine and alcohol, and make sure you are neither hungry nor overly full.
- Avoid any intense physical exercise right before your treatment.
- Wear loose fitting, comfortable clothing e.g., baggy trousers that can be rolled up.
- Avoid scraping your tongue for a few days. Tongue diagnosis is an important part of TCM Acupuncture, and I need to see what your tongue is like unscraped.
After a session it is best to drink plenty of water, avoid stimulants like tea, coffee, and alcohol as well as any stressful physical or mental activity, for at least two hours.
I am always happy to answer any questions that patients have before or even during a session and want you to feel completely at ease in the clinic room.
If you want to know more about how Acupuncture can help your health issues call me on 07788 633292 or email info@yorktraditionalacupuncture.co.uk TODAY.