What will happen during the first visit?
Patients will be required to complete a medical history and to fill out appropriate forms. A specific number and type of treatments will be recommended to achieve realistic results for your condition.
What should I do to prepare for my first visit?
- Clothing: acupuncture points used for your condition will determine what areas of the body that needs to be exposed. Please wear loose, comfortable clothing to your treatments. We have clean shorts and tops for you to change into in the clinic. You can bring your own if you like.
- Dietary: it is important that you eat regular meals on the day of your treatment. Alcohol or other intoxicants should not be consumed as they will affect the efficacy of the treatment.
- Activities: Please do not plan any strenuous or stressful activities for at least 2 hours after a treatment.
- Timely information: infections and illness, such as cold, flu, and allergies are, often time, easily treated if addressed within the first 24 hours. It is essential to advise your acupuncturist of any new health issues since your previous visit. Patients should inform the practitioners as to all medications currently taking
How many treatments will it take?
“How many acupuncture treatments will I need?” This question is one I am asked by almost every prospective patient, along with “What does it feel like?” It’s a great question, although one cannot easily answer without first getting a detailed health history from a patient.
In general, for most acute conditions (usually sudden onset of pain that you have experienced for a short period of time) you will likely need 4-6 treatments. Timelines for the treatment of chronic conditions are not as straightforward. The goal of the treatment is to create healing from within. This often involves re-training the body. You would never expect to go to the gym or to physical therapy once or twice and experience lasting changes in your body. The same is true with Chinese Medicine. Whether internal, or external, physical or emotional, healing takes time, it’s as simple as that. Acupuncture studies on a variety of conditions, often show that a series of treatments (10-20), with a frequency of 1-3 times a week, is necessary for positive results. Acupuncture treatments produce a cumulative effect with time. As symptoms improve, fewer visits are required. This process is continued until maximum correction has been achieved.