Your First ACUPUNCTURE Visit

Acupuncture needles (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Even though acupuncture is becoming more prevalent in today's society, there are still many people that are nervous about the practice in general.  These people may have preconceived ideas that are inaccurate or maybe resting their ideas on the fact that it is actually a medical practice that was first done in ancient Asia thousands of years ago.  Regardless of why they are nervous or hesitant about going to an acupuncturist, however, they need to have their minds put at ease.  If you are facing your first visit to the acupuncturist, here are some things that you can expect.

First of all, you are not going to enter into your acupuncture session and immediately be stuck full of needles.  Not only that, but you are also entering into an environment that is not unlike an environment that is typically found in many doctors' offices.  Even though this is a form of natural medicine, it is still considered medicine and most acupuncturists hold to the medical profession's idea of what is expected in their practice.  Don't be overly worried about your first session because you may not actually end up getting acupuncture on your first visit at all.

The first visit is an introductory visit in which the doctor will ask you a lot of questions about your medical history, your particular problem in any surrounding issues that may also need to be taken into consideration.  It will also give you the opportunity to get to know your doctor a little bit and ask them any questions that you may have on your mind.  Depending on what your problem is, you may not even have an acupuncture treatment on your first visit.  If you do, by the time you actually have the treatment done, you will be more at ease because of having the time with your doctor before any treatment is actually administered.

The acupuncture itself is actually done by inserting hair-thin needles into the skin to various depths.  Most people do not feel uncomfortable whenever this is done other than a slight stinging in some instances.  The needles are much smaller than the needles that are typically used by a doctor so there really is not much pain if any involved.  These needles will remain in your skin for anywhere from five to 20 minutes until they are removed.  That's basically all that there is to your first acupuncture visit.  It's not much to worry about.

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