10 Most Common Questions You Wanna know about Acupuncture NOW

April 23, 2023

Acupuncture

10 Most Common Questions & Concerns You Wanna Know about Acupuncture NOW

In the United States, acupuncture is not mainstream medicine yet, even though most Asian countries utilize this alternative medicine to treat many diseases. Most have never tried acupuncture or had no idea what it is.

After treating hundreds of clients in my practice, I would like to share the questions and concerns of people wondering about or interested in acupuncture treatments.

We understand this can be a lot of information and overwhelming: if you are looking for more support and answers, set up a free consultation with our Licensed Acupuncturist & Pain Specialist, Satoru Ozawa. Share your story, get your questions answered, and learn how you can set yourself up for tremendous success in achieving a healthy life.

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1. What is the most common reason for acupuncture?

Pain management is one of the most reasons why people come to get acupuncture treatments, including low back pain, neck pain, shoulder pain, headaches, and migraines. On top of that, acupuncture is very beneficial to treat and recover quicker and faster from Bell’s palsy or facial paralysis condition, trigger finger, anxiety, and depression, etc.

2. What are the benefits of acupuncture?

Acupuncture reduces inflammation and chronic pain. Your body starts relaxing and releases the tension of the body. I call switching off the stress mode to relax mode: the sympathetic nervous system to the parasympathetic nervous system. Because once your body relaxes, it increases the blood flow. As you know, blood has nutrients and warmth. You need it when you need to heal or release tension.

For example, when you injure your meniscus in the knee, the outer rim has blood vessels, so it heals itself; however, the inside of the meniscus doesn’t have one. Therefore, it doesn’t heal by itself. That’s why you need surgery to scrape the torn part to smooth up and clean up for meniscus pain.

When you have neck and shoulder tightness, your neck and shoulder muscles will most likely tighten up. What happens with these muscles causes poor blood circulation. Once you relax the muscle and increase the flow, your pain decreases. That’s why acupuncture is so effective in reducing chronic pain.

3. How often should I get acupuncture treatments?

It depends on how severe your condition is. If you have acute conditions like acute Bell’s palsy, like your face just stopped moving within a few days to a week, you should come to the treatments 2-3 times a week. However, if you have had chronic low back pain for a long time, I recommend coming back weekly for the first five sessions. After your condition improves, you can return once in two weeks to three weeks. Most clients come back once a month to tune up their bodies for maintenance.

4. How long do the benefits of acupuncture last?

It also depends from person to person—some last up to a week, but some last only a few days.

5. Can acupuncture reduce inflammation?

Yes. Acupuncture has been shown in many studies to be incredibly practical in reducing pain and inflammation due to its ability to stimulate the body to release its natural painkillers.

6. What is the disadvantage of acupuncture?

Even though the disadvantage of getting acupuncture is minimal, there are a few disadvantages or cautions to getting acupuncture treatments.

Soreness can be one of them after getting acupuncture. Because acupuncturists insert acupuncture needles, sometimes clients feel soreness or heaviness, but it is nothing serious. It is a natural healing process, so do not worry about it.

Another thing is bruising, especially when needling on the face. Because many small vessels go around in the face, when the needles hit the vessels, it may cause bruising. However, again, it is not anything you will be worried about, and it should go away within a few days. If you take blood thinner medications, it is also another risk of getting bruises easier than regular clients.

Lastly, if you are pregnant, please mention this to your acupuncturist before you get the treatment because the specific acupuncture points induce labor.

7. What is the success rate of acupuncture?

The success rate varies from client to client. If you come for pain management, the success rate will be 75-80% you will feel better than before.

8. Does the acupuncture needle hurt?

The needles are very thin, and they cause no pain from the needles.
The size of the needles is from 0.10mm to 0.25mm in diameter, which is five times thinner than the average injection needles.

9. Is the acupuncture needle safe?

Yes. Acupuncturists use 100% sterile and disposable stainless steel needles under the guideline of the Clean Needle Technique. So, the needles are very clean and one time use only.

10. Does insurance cover acupuncture?

Many insurance companies are beginning to include acupuncture coverage. It is important to note that all insurance policies differ regarding benefits and coverage.

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When Should I start Acupuncture?

As a general rule of thumb, the sooner one receives treatment, the better the prognosis.
Some patients come for chronic cases and these are often more complex and take a much longer time to achieve results.

Regarding the frequency of treatments, Acupuncture follows a simple rule. Acute and relatively new conditions are most effectively treated with more frequent visits, whereas chronic and old conditions can benefit from more widespread treatments. In other words, if you just had an acute low back pain, you will probably be prescribed 2-3 treatments per week in order to get the most effective results, and chronic cases will generally come in only once a week.

If you or a loved one want to learn more about Acupuncture and whether it’s appropriate for your case, send us a message through our contact page.

I hope it helps.

Satoru Ozawa, L.Ac, ATC

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Acupuncture