Are you apprehensive about your first acupuncture session? Have no worries because in this short post we are going to give you a step by step walkthrough of what to expect for your first acupuncture session. The first step of an acupuncture session is the consultation. The practitioner will go through a series of questions in order to discern what your current state of health is. This intake process usually takes about 30 minutes. Once they have all the info they need from the intake form, they will take your tongue and pulse diagnosis. By looking at your tongue and feeling the pulse of both wrists the practitioner achieves a greater understanding of your body and its state of health. That completes the intake process and once that is completed you are now ready for your treatment. There are many modalities that can be used in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), but the most common is acupuncture. For more information on the other modalities, please look at the “modalities” article under the writings tab. For your acupuncture treatment the acupuncturist will have you lie either face up or face down on the table and will begin inserting needles in to points that suit your particular case. For treatments it is best to wear loose fitting, comfortable clothing with shorts being the optimal choice. Most people are nervous about needles until they actually see just how small they are. The needles used for acupuncture are almost as thin as a strand of hair and are very flexible. Some patients experience slight discomfort with some of the points, but this discomfort only lasts a few seconds. You may experience a dull ache or slight tingling with some of the needles. These are just some of the many signs of “De Qi” and are a sign that your body is responding well to the treatment. The needles are usually retained for a period of 20-25 minutes. During this time you just relax and enjoy the treatment and many patients actually fall asleep. Once the needles are ready to be removed, the acupuncturist will come in and remove each needle and dispose of them in a sharps container immediately. Our needles are single use sterile needles and are never reused. Once all of the needles are removed the acupuncturist will ask how your treatment was and will give you any information that you need and may prescribe an herbal formula if your case would benefit from one. This is what a typical initial consultation looks like and hopefully now you are excited to get your first treatment and start your healing journey.
