I'm considering accupuncture. What should I expect?

[Minimus]

does it hurt? has anyone here been helped by it? Thanks!

[Nancy Waterman]

1. It hardly hurts, usually not

And it often works miracles, but not always. It depends on the issues. It brings you energy into balance and then your body can work to heal itself.

[Minimus]

2. thanks! balance and healing is exactly what I need.

I'm looking forward to doing it now.

[Nancy Waterman]

3. It worked miracles on my son

He was 10 weeks premature. Over the years he never could control his pee. By age 8 he was still wetting his pants every day and his bed every night. He couldn't hold it in at all. After the first session of acupuncture, he said to me he could hold his pee in for the first time in his life. He was really amazed at what it felt like. He had never had that experience. We went weekly and then every other week, and then less often for quite a while so that the correction would hold. We had already been to a pediatric urologist whose sage advice was to force him to pee every hour. Not very helpful.

I have a friend who had a large uterine tumor. She went to a Chinese acupuncturist who gave her herbs and worked on her several times a week. The tumor went away. The gynecologist had wanted to do a hysterectomy. I think she took a bit of a chance, but it worked out well. She knew it wasn't malignant and clearly having so much acupuncture helped her entire organism, not just the tumor, which was the symptom of the imbalance. If there is not any danger, trying something less invasive first can make sense.

[Minimus]

5. That is so great about your son. I'm sure he was happy.

[NMDemDist2]

4. don't drink caffine before your visit and you'll hardly feel a thing

but if you are caffinated up, you will feel some sting

it makes a huge difference i have found

as far as your results, it does depend a lot on what you are trying to accomplish....

[Eloriel]

6. In general, if there are areas where the energy is

rather severely blocked, it can hurt -- with or without caffeine, tho I don't doubt what you're saying is probably true too.

BUT, for the most part (from my experience), these instances are few and far between. Most of the time, no pain at all.

I was amazed that my acupuncturist (when I was seeing one) could find just the right spot and insert that long thin needle without it causing pain. He said he could "feel" where the spot was, and even that it sort of pulled in the needle. IOW, it's an energetic thing.

[Desertrose]

7. Had a few treatments after a car accident...

and it was not painful at all. Sometimes I could feel the tingle as I figured the energy was released. The needles are extremely thin and they are just sort of "tapped" in...no one is going around stabbing you with big needles!!

I've also done well with accupressure but using the needles is quite amazing.

Good luck!

[Coyote_Bandit]

8. Wonderful

I fell while moving a few years back and reinjured my back (had been a chronic pain patient for several years after an auto accident). I couldn't lift one arm at all. Fortunately for me I have a friend whose husband is a trained accupuncturist. He previously worked in te medical field for nearly 20 years. He actually combines accupuncture with accupressure. He did a single one hour treatment on me. I asked him not to use the needles - but he did anyway - and I did not know it until he wanted to heat one on the pressure point. One treament was really all I needed. Granted that soft tissue needed some time to heal. But the kinks and knots and restricted moveent were resolved in a single treatment. I was amazed. I would definitely do it again.

[cassiepriam]

9. I have had great results

I had very bad acid reflux, meds not working. I tried acupuncture
and the acid reflux is simply gone. I am fine. Just had a upper GI scope and everything looks perfect. Amazing. I have read that 3-5% of population experiences pain with acupuncture. Of course I was in that group. But I admit that unknowingly I drank a lot of coffee on my first appt which was the worst. At this point when I go in for treatment I have little discomfort. I am not sure what you are trying to treat, not all presenting problems respond to Acup. I would strongly advise you get a licensed medical professional with acupuncture training and experience. Good luck to you.

[tlcandie]

10. I had it done and wasn't impressed... BUT

I talked to a woman when I was in Washington state and she had been in a severe car accident and told she would never walk again. She said to heck with that and took off work and life for about a year and explored various methods of healing.

She found an acupuncturist and within the year's time she was in the gym working out with little or no pain! Simply amazing!

I think I got a hold of someone who was at least not right for me. He used an electrical piece on my ear lobes that irritated me severely! So, I don't think it was acupuncture so much as this practitioner who found a way to make money while working on various people at one time.

:shrug: