Acupuncture 针灸

What it is

Acupuncture uses very fine needles — roughly the width of a strand of hair — inserted at specific points on the body. Every needle is single-use and sterile, and is disposed of after your session.

Which points are used is decided after the consultation, not before it. The physician takes your pulse, looks at your tongue, and asks about sleep, digestion, energy and what brought you in. Two people arriving with the same complaint are commonly treated at different points, because in TCM the pattern behind the complaint is what is being read.

What a session is like

You lie down, usually for about twenty minutes with the needles in place. Most people feel a brief pinch as each one goes in, then a dull warmth, heaviness or spreading sensation around the point — in Chinese this is called 得气, and it is what the physician is working towards rather than something to endure.

The room stays quiet and the physician checks on you during the session. A good many patients fall asleep. If anything feels sharp rather than dull, say so at the time — a needle can be adjusted or removed straight away.

Before your first session

Eat something beforehand — arriving hungry is the most common reason someone feels lightheaded — and wear clothing that moves easily above the elbow and knee.

Tell the physician at the start if you are pregnant or trying to conceive, take blood-thinning medication, have a pacemaker or other implanted device, or bruise very easily. None of these means you cannot be treated. They change which points she uses and how, which is why she needs to know before rather than after.

If needles worry you, say so. It is a common thing to say and not an awkward one — the physician will talk you through each step, and moxibustion and tui na are hands-on approaches that use no needles at all.

Afterwards

People commonly feel relaxed, and sometimes a little tired for the rest of the day. Small bruises at needle sites happen occasionally and fade on their own. Drinking water and leaving a heavy training session for another evening is the usual advice.

How the following few days feel is worth noting and mentioning at your next visit. TCM treatment is adjusted visit by visit, and what you report back is most of what the adjustment is based on.