Well you’ve done it! You’ve finally considered acupuncture, or maybe you’ve even booked your first appointment. Now what? What is the appointment going to be like? Will the needles hurt? Do I just walk in and someone starts poking me?? Every acupuncturist and their office of course will be different, so here is what it’s like here at Moonlight Medicine:
1) Booking the appointment & forms
Book your appointment online (you create an account so you can see all your forms, past and future visits, cool!) – you will receive a confirmation and paperwork via email to fill. SUPER IMPORTANT! Please read through all these documents as they contain consent forms, things that may happen during treatment, privacy practice forms and financial responsibility forms. Check your insurance benefits beforehand, and if you have any questions, email the clinic!
Remember that booking an appointment saves a timeslot for YOU, so if you’re late or don’t show up, we lose that slot for another patient and we lose work for that hour. We appreciate your respect of our time and other patient’s time <3
2) Checking-in & first visit!
Arrive right on time, if you’ve filled your forms out, just head on in! Have a seat and I will greet you and take you back to a treatment room that looks similar to a massage therapist’s room or doctor’s office. Typically we sit and chat; the interview process starts before we do any sort of treatment. This can take 30-45 minutes the first time and 15 minutes or so after we have established treatment.
3) The acupuncturist & interview process
Our chat may involve things you’ve never been asked before! Let’s say you’re coming in for back pain – I will ask specific questions about the pain, like when did it start, and how long you’ve been experiencing it, quality of the pain, but then we will ask a series of other questions to get a general idea of your lifestyle and constitution. Some of these questions will be about sleep, work habits, eating habits, urination, bowel movements, etc.
You might ask, “Why would you be asking me all of these questions if I’m coming into for something completely unrelated?” In Chinese medicine, we believe that all factors contribute to balancing an issue, so if you have back pain for example, other lifestyle or constitutional factors may play a part in why you are experiencing this pain and it will not heal.
4) Checking the pulse, tongue & palpating
During the appointment, I will ask to look at your tongue, feel your pulse and maybe do some other palpating (which might mean feeling your arms, legs, back… I always ask permission first!). The tongue body, color and quality, similar to the pulse, give us indications of things that are going on inside the body (sooo cool!). Same with palpation – doctors will sometimes do this if they are feeling for specific organs in your abdomen for example – but we might do this to check for temperature or other qualities that help us figure out what’s going on with you.
5) Treatment begins!
Afterwards, we begin treatment! You will be lying on a table, either face up, down or on your side, and the acupuncturist will begin to insert tiny little needles. 40 or so acupuncture needles can fit into the size of a hypodermic needle, pretty cool!! I might also do a little cupping, gua sha or rub some topical herbs to help you. I will leave the room and let you rest with the needles in for about 30-40 minutes and come up with a treatment plan. I may suggest herbal medicine for you, diet or lifestyle changes, or referral for another practitioner. I also treat two patients at one time, so I will dip into a second room while you rest sometimes to treat a second person, then back to you while they rest.
6) Sensations of acupuncture
Some sensations you might feel as the needles are going in could be a like a quick prick or poking sensation (NOTHING like getting your ears pierced), soreness, itching, aching, or like someone is pulling at a tiny little spot in your skin or muscle – sometimes you even feel nothing at all! It’s best if you can relax and drift off into a meditative-like state, and if you are unable to, ask your acupuncturist if they can adjust anything. Hey, it’s your treatment, so you should be able to be comfortable! The body will heal faster if you can be at ease.
Depending on how you are at that day – let’s say you had too much caffeine, or didn’t sleep well the night before, or if you are having a menstrual cycle, you may feel more sensitive that day. It’s always a good idea to eat a little before the appointment – don’t come in on a completely empty stomach, especially if you have a morning appointment.
Lastly, you may or may not feel some strong or strange emotional sensations. An acupuncture session can be very vulnerable - you have just told this person you don’t know all these intimate details of your life, and then they poke you with needles! It’s completely normal to feel like you want to cry or laugh or feel anxious, and perfectly normal if you feel nothing at all! If anything at all makes you feel uncomfortable, or it’s too much or too fast, please tell the practitioner – if the person you are seeing will not adjust the treatment so that you feel good when you leave, maybe think about finding someone else.
7) Length of treatment
You will lay on the table for anywhere from 30-60 minutes, depending on your condition and what your acupuncturist thinks is best for you. A longer treatment Is not always better, it really varies on a case-by-case basis.
8) What to expect afterwards
After checking to see if you’re ready, we pull the needles out afterwards, and there is usually little to no sensation, but there might be a soreness or itchiness (or some other sensation) afterwards. It is rare that there is a little bruise or bleeding, but it will go away, and there is nothing to worry about if there is.
We recommend you don’t shower or get into water a few hours afterwards, only because you have been made vulnerable and we want to keep you warm, cozy and safe to keep that healing process going. This could also include, no major workouts right after, or stressful situations (like don’t head straight back to work and immediately delve into that horrible project your boss has been bugging you about for weeks). You usually will feel an “acu-buzz” right after, you might just feel a little sleepy or spacey, and that’s pretty normal.
9) Follow-up
Make a treatment plan with your acupuncturist! Have a goal in mind (like “I’d like to have a 50% reduction in pain in the first month” or “I’d like to be sleeping better within the next 2 weeks”) and talk with your acupuncturist about it, so that you both can have clear goals of what you want to see happen. With chronic conditions, progress can be slower, but that means it will be longer lasting. Every condition is different, but I think a couple visits is usually a good starting point to see if you and the practitioner are a good fit. If you feel like it is not, ask them for a recommendation for someone else! We usually have a great network of other providers who have specialties, and I personally want to help you get back to feeling better!