An Acupuncturist will want to do an initial assessment to determine the disharmonies causing your complaint. Chinese Medicine views any particular problem as a symptom arising from an internal disharmony of Qi; the idea is to treat the overall disharmony, with the expectation that the associated complaints will improve.
Some things your acupuncturist will want to examine will be your tongue and your pulses on both wrists. She will then design a custom treatment – a ‘point prescription – just for you. Usually this requires around 12-14 needles, unless you are having facial rejuvenation done;
facials can require 40 or more needles.
She will insert the needles in the selected points and leave them in for 20-30 minutes (45 for facial treatments) in peaceful quiet or with soft music.. Many people find this extremely relaxing and often fall asleep. Thats fine!
When the needles are removed you may feel energized, relaxed, or both. An increase in feelings of well-being is common immediately, but most problems require a series of treatments to obtain lasting effects; your practitioner will make recommendations regarding this, as well as any herbal formulas, dietary coaching or qi gong exercises for self-treatment at home.