Frequently Asked Questions
1. What can acupuncture treat?
Acupuncture can be very effective for many conditions including:
2. Why do I need more than one treatment?
Acupuncture is a process, and like any other therapy, works with the body over time to assist the body in healing. You may hear from someone that acupuncture worked for them in only one treatment. This does happen, but is rare.
3. How many treatments do I need?
This all depends on how your own body responds to acupuncture. You and the acupuncturist will track your progress and make the decision together on how many treatments are needed. Treatments usually are most successful if they are done more frequently at first, then taper off as the symptoms
begin to lessen.
4. How do I know how much to pay?
Typically, community based treatments cost anywhere between $15-50 each. It is important that you have enough treatments to get the maximum effect from acupuncture. You may decide on the amount that you can afford in order to have the treatments that you need.
5. Does acupuncture hurt?
The needles used are very small, about the diameter of a hair. You might feel a very slight pricking sensation, or you might feel nothing at all from the needle. What you might feel is the sensation of the "qi" or energy . This is called "da qi" and may be felt as an aching, warm or just an unusual sensation that goes away quickly. Be sure to tell the acupuncturist if you have these sensations. They help in deciding the best placement of needles in your own situation.
6. What is "community acupuncture" ?
This would probably best be described as "communal acupuncture". This is how traditional acupuncture is practiced in China. Instead of a single room where a patient meets with a physician one on one, treatments in a community setting are done in one large room, with several treatments in progress at one time. This has a couple of advantages. First, the Qi, or energy, of all the patients, gathers together to make the Qi in the entire treatment area greater than the Qi of just one person. All patients benefit when the Qi in the environment is enhanced. Secondly, since more than one treatment occurs at a time, the cost of overhead is dramatically reduced, and treatments can be provided at a rate afforable for everyone.
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