Please wear loose clothing which you can roll up your sleeves to your elbows, and pants which you can roll up to your knees.
Eat a light meal or snack before your treatment.
No over exercising, overexertion, recreational drug or alcohol for at least 12 hours before and after the visit.
It varies from patient to patient :
Some experience immediate symptom relief
Some feel improvement a few hours or couple days later
Some may feel the pain gets worse before they get better
5% of patients won’t respond to acupuncture treatment method
Acupuncture is the insertion of hairlike, sterile, single-use and disposable needles into specific points on the body to produce specific functional changes that can promote the body’s self-healing ability and eliminate problems associated with ailments. This method was discovered and developed by the Chinese, and it has a four to five thousand years of history.
According to Traditional Chinese Acupuncture Theory, there is energy flowing through the 14 channels in our body. The energy is invisible and immeasurable. When Energy is flowing smoothly in the channels, our body is in optimal health and can heal itself. When illnesses occur, energy flow in the channels become abnormal. By inserting needles into certain points on the body, the acupuncturist is able to return the energy flow to normal condition. In turn, it promotes the body’s self-healing ability and eliminates problems associated with ailments.
Modern research suggests that acupuncture can stimulate the central nervous system, which in turn triggers the pituitary gland to release hormones such as endorphins into the body to alleviate pain. Acupuncture can also stimulate the body’s bioelectricity activity (i.e. perinergic signaling), the endocrine system, or immune system to enhance the body’s natural healing abilities and produce therapeutic effects.
National Institutes of Health (NIH) acknowledged acupuncture efficacy in the Consesus Conference of 1997. The World Health Organization (WHO) has listed the variety of diseases or disorders which acupuncture treatment can improve (alone or together with conventional medicine).
These conditions are adult post-operative medical pain, chemotherapy, addiction, stroke rehabilitation, headache, menstrual cramps, joint pain, tennis elbows, fibromyalgia, myofascial pain, osteoarthritis, low-back pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, asthma joint pain, insomnia, stress and many more.
The acupuncture needles are very fine unlike those on a syringe and our acupuncturist applies certain unique techniques of needles insertion. Therefore, most of the time patients don’t even feel a pinch of discomfort at all. Sometimes, there is just a slight pinch or prick when the needles are first inserted.
After a needle is inserted, you may sometimes feel soreness, heaviness, distending, or numbness sensation in the needling area. These sensations indicate the body’s processing of the acupuncturist’s directive.
Acupuncture has been practiced for four to five thousands of years, and is proven to be a relatively safe treatment. In addition, The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulates and requires that acupuncture needles be sterile, nontoxic, and labeled for single use by qualified licensed practitioners only. When performed by a trained licensed professional, acupuncture is extremely safe.
Absolutely not. There is no drug applied to the acupuncture needles. The needles we use are only fully sterilized, single use and disposable needles.
The depth of needle insertion depends on anatomical structure of our body. When our acupuncturist inserts the needle on the points with more muscle, the insertion of needles will be more deep. Approximately, one-half inch or less depth of needle insertion will be applied on hand, foot, head, and chest areas; and somewhat deeper insertion on hip, thigh, and shoulder area. Depth of needle insertion is also dependent on the angle in which the needle is inserted.
The number of required treatments varies from patient to patients.Normally, the longer you have suffered from the illness, the more treatments you will need. In addition, the age, overall physical health and sensitivity of body to acupuncture therapy can also effect the number of treatment. In general, most of the patients experience symptoms of relief after the first treatment.
Absolutely. The best way to be healthy is prevention. Acupuncture regulates the energy flow in our body and makes body’s self healing ability stronger. This in turn provides the body with its own armor. The body is able to fight the illness using its natural ability to heal. You can have regular visits, just as you would go to your dentist for regular teeth cleanings to keep them healthy.