What to Expect at Your First Acupuncture Visit

A Primer for Patients New to Chinese Medicine

Jan 18, 2009

Acupuncture is mysterious to many of us, but it need not be. Generally painless, this ancient healing technique is effective for treating a variety of maladies.

When you go to visit an acupuncturist, you are in good company. The National Institutes of Health estimates that more than one million Americans receive acupuncture each year. Before you venture into an acupuncturist's office for the first time, it helps to understand what to expect and to know a little about how Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) works.

Conducting the Health History

Before your acupuncturist inserts any needles, he or she will conduct a thorough health history. The acupuncturist will cover your personal and family medical history in much the same way an allopathic family doctor would. Your practitioner may also ask questions that seem unrelated to your current concern, but which help him or her understand what is happening in your body. He or she will then examine you, using techniques thousands of years old, to determine the best course of treatment.

TCM Examination Techniques

There are two important ways your acupuncturist can determine what type of imbalance is occurring in the body. He or she will look at your tongue, noting the color and appearance. The tongue in Chinese Medicine reflects the state of the entire body, with specific areas of the tongue relating to certain organ systems. This might all sound like a profoundly foreign concept to someone raised in the West. But keep an open mind; TCM is a completely different way to see the body and to affect health and wellness and it has its own logic.

The second crucial diagnostic technique is evaluating the pulse. In Western medicine, the pulse is only checked for its rate. In Chinese medicine, by contrast, the pulse can have any number of qualities that tell the practitioner about the state of the body. Different types of pulses, felt by palpation on the inside of the wrist, can be described as “slippery”, “floating”, etc.

TCM Diagnoses

From the Chinese Medicine point of view, all imbalances in the body are termed either deficient or excess. Symptoms are considered either Yin or Yang. Yin symptoms include chronic pain with no inflammation, paleness, and lack of activity. Yang symptoms are things like fever, inflammation, and hyperactivity. Treatment seeks to restore balance.

TCM Treatment

Acupuncture is the art of applying sterile thin needles below the dermis of the skin to help balance the body’s energy, or Qi. To begin treatment, you will lie down on a table. The practitioner will insert single-use needles, generally thinner than the width of a human hair, at acupuncture points on the body specific to your condition. For most people, this is nearly painless. You may feel nothing, or you might feel tingling or pricking sensations. Once the needles are inserted, the acupuncturist will leave the room and allow you to relax during treatment. He or she will then return and remove the needles, and may discuss with you lifestyle suggestions to help your condition. Your acupuncturist may also prescribe Chinese herbs.

Other techniques, in addition to acupuncture, may be employed by your practitioner as part of your treatment plan. These include:

Is Acupuncture Covered by Your Insurance?

Check with your insurance provider and your acupuncturist to see if the treatment is covered. Depending on what you are being treated for, you may require a series of treatments, and this can get expensive if you are paying out-of-pocket. If your insurance does not cover treatment, but you have a medical reimbursement plan, you may be able to recoup the cost that way.

Safe Healthcare

Adverse events resulting from acupuncture treatment are rare, according to the NIH, making it a good choice for safe, complementary care.

The copyright of the article What to Expect at Your First Acupuncture Visit in Chinese Medicine is owned by Dana Petersen Murphy. Permission to republish What to Expect at Your First Acupuncture Visit in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.