I have been undergoing acupuncture treatment on occasion for the past few months. In august, I was treated about once a week, and now I go fortnightly, though I’d love if my schedule allowed me to go more frequently. I absolutely love going to treatment. I find it so relaxing and no matter what I’ve been working on that day treatment-wise, I also feel more rested afterwards.
Everyone’s acupuncture sessions with be somewhat different as they will be focused around their treatment plan. I started acupuncture to work on the following issues; anxiety, back pain, exhaustion, hay fever and blood nourishing. (Plus one last minute appointment one week for some acute neck pain. I felt immediate relief afterwards.)
What to expect from your first appointment:
First of all, make sure you’ve had a meal before your appointment. Definitely don’t skip breakfast or lunch, but don’t stuff yourself either. You might need to remove your shirt or roll up your trousers so that your therapist can reach certain points on the body. I usually avoid the issue of needing to strip by wearing loose and baggy clothing to my sessions. I also recommend staying hydrated on the day. Drinking water before and after the appointment, is something that I’ve found very helpful.
Scared of Needles?
Don’t worry at all! Despite the evidence to the contrary (having tattoos and going to acupuncture), I hate needles. Jabs and blood-taking are some of my least favourite things in the world. Acupuncture feels nothing like being pricked by a medical needle. For one thing they are magnificently small: some are about the size of a single human hair; for another they aren’t penetrating the same levels of the body. On my first session, I even had some needles in my face. I keep my eyes closed during the needling and practice deep breathing and I’ve rarely had a needle bother me.
Be open and honest with your therapist
If a needle doesn’t feel right, make sure to let the therapist know. Some discomfort could be good: opening channels, letting the Qi flow, clearing cold. But other discomfort, especially bordering on pain could indicate an issue that they need to be area of.
I sometimes have some redness in the needling sites immediately after which fades quite quickly and I’ve only twice had bruising (when I was being treated for some lower back pain). I discussed it with my therapist and we had some very frank and interesting chats about discomfort in the body.
It’s strange to think that I said very early on in this post that I find acupuncture so relaxing. The idea that having someone stick needles in your body would be relaxing seems almost farcical, but it really is. Since I do deep breathing whilst the needles are going in, I already start the relaxation process and whilst I lie on the sofa waiting for the needles to do their thing, I’ve been in relaxation mode for at least 15 minutes and I often find myself drifting off to sleep. The closest thing that I think it’s akin to is getting a really good massage.
I am 100% an acupuncture convert, and I highly recommend giving it a try if it’s something that you’ve been mulling over. Acupuncture is sometimes available on the NHS so it’s worth having a chat with your GP about it. If they can only refer you to a private practice, it’s worth looking at acupuncture schools and charities as they usually do either discounted appointments, or sliding pay scales according to income.
Have you tried acupuncture therapy? Would you like to try it one day?
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