How to get result from acupuncture

Many acupuncture patients are concerned with length and cost of therapy. Patients want to know, "When am I going to get better?", "How much is this going to cost?" Knowing how the acupuncture process works can help patients answer those questions for themselves and take control of their acupuncture healing process.

When can I expect to see results with acupuncture?

It is fairly impossible to predict how quickly any one person's body will respone to acupuncture, but in my experience in treating thousands of patients I can offer the following insights. The greater majority of patients start feeling results after 1 to 3 acupuncture therapy sessions. This does not mean their symptoms are gone, only that those symptoms such as pain are less severe, more managable, they can sleep more restfully, their outlook is brighter, they are having more "good days" than before. These patients have a good response to acupuncture which suggests that as they continue acupuncture therapy they will continue to get better and better results.

If you don't start feeling results after 1 to 3 acupuncture therapy sessions don't worry. Be patient, sometimes you'll just need more acupuncture therapy sessions in order to accurately target your problem. Just like people are not all the same, pain, stress, and other symptoms can vary and it may just take more attempts to start getting noticeable relief.

Patients in outstanding health with simple, acute problems can sometimes only require only 2 to 3 acupuncture therapy sessions to resolve a problem. Typically most patients require longer courses of acupuncture therapy divided into 3 stages - the 3 stages of acupuncture care.

The 3 Stages of Acupuncture Care (the healing process)

The first thing to take into account, when learning about your acupuncture healing process is getting to know the 3 Stages of Acupuncture Care.

• Relief Stage
• Healing Stage
• Maintenance Stage

All patients start at the Relief Stage. As the name implies, at this stage in the acupuncture healing process your acupuncture therapy provides you relief from your primary symptoms such as pain or discomfort, stress, tension, anxiety, depression, low energy or poor sleep. At the Relief Stage, patients receive acupuncture therapy 3 to 5 times a week in order to get symptoms under control so that patients have more "good days" then they did before. 

As patients respond to acupuncture and are getting consistant relief of symptoms with better sleep and mood, they transition naturally from the Relief Stage to the Healing Stage. Again as the name implies, at this stage in the acupuncture healing process your acupuncture therapy sessions provide your body the framework to make self-corrections, adjustments, or repairs to the root cause of your symptoms. Patients receive acupuncture therapy 2 times per week during the Healing Stage.

Once patients are fairly symptom free they enter the Maintenance Stage. At this stage patients receive acupuncture therapy once a week or once every other week if they are pretty much symptom-free. These treatments allow the body to maintain good health, keep symptoms from comming back or catch them and quickly correct them if they do. These treatments further help patients manage stress, maintain productive sleep and keep a brighter outlook on life.

So how many acupuncture therapy sessions am I going to need?

The number of acupuncture therapy sessions at each stage or the length of time spent at each stage depends on a number of factors.

• The length of time you have had the problem
• Whether or not you can avoid aggrevating the problem
• Your overall level of health (The number of other health problems you have)
• Your stress level, workload, responsibilities, and home environment
• How well you respond to acupuncture 

You will make quicker progress if you stick to and follow your acupuncture therapy plan, keeping your appointments and keeping an open mind. Keeping an open mind allows you to know when acupuncture is working. Also, do your best to avoid doing whatever aggrevates the problem. 

How I approach the acupuncture healing process

I am interested in getting you better as quickly as possible so that you can cut back on the frequency of your acupuncture treatments. I want you to get so much better that you can discountinue acupuncture treatment as quickly as possible. Any acupuncture therapy plan I make for you is my suggestion. After a few acupuncture treatments, it is my hope that you can figure out what acupuncture therapy plan or frequency of acupuncture therapy will work best for you.

Finally, please understand there are some problems that may require ongoing acupuncture therapy to provide you relief. These problems typically are those with structural changes to the body. Acupuncture often cannot correct these changes but can provide some relief. If your problem falls within this catagory I will be up front with you and let you know how much acupuncture therapy can help you and the course of acupuncture therapy that can provide you relief.