The Do’s and Don’t of Acupuncture

There are things that patients have to be aware of before, during and after surgery. The same goes for those who undergo acupuncture because in order to enhance the value of the treatment, there are some do’s and don’ts that patients have to follow.

First, you should not eat a large meal before or after treatment.

You should also avoid over exercising, engaging in a sexual activity or consume alcoholic beverages 6 hours before and after treatment.

Since the acupuncture session will last from 45 minutes to 2 hours depending on how often you have to go to the clinic, you better fix your schedule so you have time to rest.

Chances are, you were consulting with a doctor prior to your visit to the acupuncturist. If there are any prescription medicines given, don’t forget to take them.

You will not feel any improvement after just one or two visits with the acupuncturist. Just the same, you should write this down so you can go back to the acupuncturist on your next visit and tell him or her how you felt during the previous session. Such feedback will let the specialist know what needs to be modified in the future to help you with your problem. 

The acupuncturist might give you some herbs to take as part of your treatment. Since you don’t know if taking them will have any side effects with the medication you are taking, you should first consult with your doctor if it is safe to consume both.

Women who are pregnant are also advised not to undergo acupuncture treatment. However, they can engage in that once the baby is born.

How well the acupuncture treatment will go depends also on specialist who will be performing it. You have to take into account their years of experience and skill so they are able to make the correct diagnosis, finding the acupoints in the body, the angle at which the needles will be inserted and the techniques they know as there are different types of acupuncture.

This brings us to asking ourselves how to find a skill acupuncturist. For this to work, we have to do ask our doctor if they can refer anyone. It wouldn’t hurt to also do some research online. After all, there are about 3,000 acupuncturists all across the country so it won’t be that hard to find one.

Before you decide to have a session with them, talk to the acupuncturist to know their credentials. This will also give you the opportunity to find out how much do they charge as this can be from $45 to more than $100 per session.

You can probably ask for the name and contact number of a previous client so you can ask this person how everything went. Remember, if it doesn’t work out for you, don’t be afraid to find someone else who can do a better job.

The most important thing to do during the session is to relax. If you feel an itch or something, tell the acupuncturist. The same goes if you are nervous or experience a burning sensation so the specialist will take out the needles.

Now that you know the do’s and don’ts of acupuncture, you should ask yourself if this form of treatment is right for you. If conventional medication doesn’t work, it wouldn’t hurt to see how things turn out.