Do you feel it?

Yes. 

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Does it hurt?

No. You will get a sensation which is usually described as warm, heavy or radiating. It really is like no other feeling you’ve had before, but it’s not an “ouch feeling.” 

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If you are “afraid of needles” should you still try it?

Absolutely. Many times the more nervous patients are the first to relax and drift off once the needles go in. 

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Do you need to be sick or injured to benefit from acupuncture?

While acupuncture can be incredibly effective at treating symptoms, it’s a wonderful way to support general health and wellness. You can use it to maintain your health and wellness or to treat specific issues.

 

The gist is:

Qi (or energy/ prana, whatever you’d like to call it) is constantly moving through the body. When it circulates properly, we feel good.. We are in harmony, balanced and strong. But when it gets blocked or becomes deficient, it causes pain, dysfunction, depression and disease. Blocked Qi can manifest in many ways as many illnesses.

 

For example, in traditional Chinese medicine pain is viewed as energy and blood that have stagnated. During treatment, when an acupuncture needle is inserted, the brain recognizes “something is happening” and sends blood to the insertion point to investigate, triggering a localized inflammatory response and hyper-circulating oxygen and minerals, both to the point of insertion and to other areas that may help the body recover.

 

Acupuncture often requires patients to look at health from a new perspective. Many of us are used to Western medicine which focuses on what’s sick and broken, on killing the pathogen; Western medicine tends to focus on getting us back to where we were before the bad thing happened. It’s great at this and I’m thankful for it. However, health in Eastern medicine is about strengthening the body’s natural intelligence so that it can employ its resources more effectively to encourage wellness, prevent illness, and put out its own fires. It’s about improving basic life functions: circulating blood, calming the nervous system, improving sleep and the digestive process, reducing stress. If our bodies are operating at peak potential we shouldn’t be sick, we shouldn’t be in pain, and we shouldn’t be agitated, tense and cranky. Sounds good, right?

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Additionally, you don't need to 'believe' in acupuncture for it to still work, while studies have shown that there will always be a psychological component any type in treatment, studies in canine and equine acupuncture have repeatedly been proven effective. 

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What types of diseases and conditions can acupuncture treat?

The following is a list of diseases and conditions have been found to be treated effectively by acupuncture, as described by the World Health Organization (WHO).

 

Musculo-Skeletal

• Arthritis

• Back Pain

• Neck Pain

• Muscle Pain

• Muscle Weakness

• Muscle Cramping

• Sciatica

 

Digestive

• Abdominal Pain

• Constipation

• Diarrhea

• Indigestion

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Gynecological

• Premenstrual Syndrome

• Menopausal Symptoms

• Infertility

 

Emotional

• Anxiety

• Depression

• Insomnia

• Nervousness

• Neurosis

 

Eye-Ear-Nose-Throat

• Cataracts

• Poor Vision

• Toothache

• Gingivitis

• Tinnitus

 

Respiratory

• Asthma, Bronchitis

• Common Cold, Sinusitis

• Smoking Cessation

• Tonsillitis

 

Neurological

• Headaches

• Migraines

• Neurogenic Bladder Dysfunction

• Parkinson’s Disease

• Post-Operative Pain

• Stroke

 

Miscellaneous

• Addiction Control

• Athletic Performance

• Blood Pressure Regulation

• Chronic Fatigue

• Immune System Toning

• Stress Reduction