Consultation
During the initial consultation I will take a medical history in order to understand your unique physical profile and lifestyle. You will generally be asked about your current symptoms, medical history, any medication taken, diet, digestive system, sleeping patterns and emotional state. I will also take your pulse on both wrists and look at your tongue, as these give extra information about the state of your energy, and palpate for areas of muscular tension or pain.
Treatment plan
Following diagnosis I will put together your personalised treatment plan which may include lifestyle and dietary advice. Because energy meridians cover the whole body, the points used are not always close to where you experience pain or discomfort. For example, if you suffer from headaches needles might also be inserted in your foot or hand. The amount of needles used, varies from patient to patient and treatment to treatment. As a general rule, however, the first treatment will usually be more gentle and involve less needles.
Duration
Both initial consultation and follow-up appointments take 1 hour.
Does it hurt?
Acupuncture needles are inserted at points selected to affect your whole body, as well as your symptoms, and you will be left to rest for a while before they are removed. The single-use sterile needles come in sealed packs that should be opened in front of you and are safely disposed of after each treatment. Acupuncture needles are very fine: the sensation of insertion differs completely from this of an injection needle and isn’t painful. Most people describe a ‘tingling sensation’, a ‘warmth’ or sometimes a ‘dull ache’.
After effects
Most people find acupuncture relaxing and often feel very calm after a treatment. You may feel tired or sleepy and should take this into account planning the rest of the day. High intensity training might have to be delayed. Make sure you stay well hydrated both before and after the sessions. Acupuncture has very few side effects and any that do occur are usually mild and self-correcting.
Risks
There have been a number of scientific papers published on the safety of acupuncture. These have concluded that acupuncture is safe so long as it is delivered by a properly trained individual. I therefore recommend that you ensure your acupuncturist belongs to a professional organisation such as the British Acupuncture Council, as we are educated to a degree level with many more hours of practical training than some shorter courses.
As acupuncture involves the insertion of needles there will sometimes be a small bruise or bleeding. This will only apply to approximately 6% of people who have ten acupuncture sessions. Occasionally, people can feel dizzy or nauseous during or after treatment and, on very VERY rare occasions, may lose consciousness. Approximately 0.2% of people who have a course of 10 sessions of acupuncture will feel dizzy. Approximately 0.14% of people who have a course of 10 sessions of acupuncture will feel nauseous. In extremely rare cases (0.03%), people lose consciousness. In my long career of over 15 years, I have only experienced this last issue on less than 5 occasions and have been able to easily deal with this using my regularly updated first aid training. On rare occasions, patients can experience headache, local muscle pain or strong pain during needling. These side effects are classed as ‘uncommon’, affecting up to 10 of every 1,000 people treated. Please, ALWAYS let me know if you feel uncomfortable, so I can adjust the treatment if needed.
The above effects are to some extent an unavoidable part of acupuncture. However, the risks can still be minimised. Please let your acupuncturist know if you feel hot, or the room is stuffy, or you are hungry/thirsty, or you are especially nervous. This should help reduce the chances of dizziness and nausea. Please also let them know any medications that you are taking, such as anti-coagulants (this will be discussed as part of the intake conversation anyway).
As the acupuncture involves piercing the skin there is a small risk of infection at the needle site. The estimated risk is 1 to 10 of every 10,000 people treated. BAcC acupuncturists are trained, and bound by our Professional Codes, to provide acupuncture hygienically.
Serious adverse events such as pneumothorax (piercing the lung/perforation of the lung lining) and nerve injury can occur. However, these are very rare, and the risk is reduced by seeing a well-trained acupuncturist. In 2.2 million treatments pneumothorax occurred twice and nerve injury 31 times. One of the people who had a pneumothorax needed hospital treatment, the other required observation only. The longest duration of any side-effect was 180 days (nerve injury). No permanent injuries or deaths were associated with the acupuncture treatments.
Both cupping and guasha can lead to dark/purple patches on the skin. This is often an expected part of treatment. You may have seen dark rings from cupping on elite athletes such as swimmers. These marks disappear after a few days.
Cupping and moxibustion both carry a risk of accidental burns. Burns from moxibustion are estimated to occur once in 1000 to 5000 treatments.
Electro-acupuncture involves the use of a machine similar to a TENS machine, where a mild current is used to speed up the effect of the needles used. The intake appointment will flag up any issues where its use is contraindicated, such as the presence of a defibrillator/pacemaker, or any metal in the body.
I also regularly use a heatlamp in clinic – TDP lamps are considered generally safe for use in most cases, apart for patients with reduced skin sensitivity. My intake appointment should flag up any possible issues contra-indicating its use (diabetes, peripheral neuropathy, MS, serious arteriosclerosis, nerve damage, spinal cord injury & central pain, melanoma). There is a very small risk of thermal injury, which can range from superficial redness to deep tissue burns. Again, a properly trained practitioner who is aware of the risks and contra-indications should minimise the chance of any issues arising.
Please also mention if you are pregnant, have any implants/articifial limbs, if you have a fever, if you are prone to bleeding or are on bloodthinnning meds and do not have treatment when under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
How many treatments will I need?
This depends on various factors, including the nature of the condition, how chronic it is and how you in particular react to acupuncture. As a general, but very rough, rule, you should see a difference within about 5 treatments, starting at weekly or bi-weekly treatments which can be spread further apart once beneficial changes are becoming more consistent. Both frequency and estimation of duration of the treatment period will be discussed during the first appointment.