Not really. Sometimes, you may feel a slight pinch or a dull achy sensation, but generally, it is very gentle. Often times when I press an area to see if it is tender, the pressure is actually more sensitive than the actual acupuncture itself. Some areas are more sensitive than others but if you are nervous, we can avoid those points and start in areas that are less sensitive. People tend to be more sensitive during treatments if they have had a lot of caffeine and woman are more sensitive during their menstrual cycle.
People ask me all of the time if acupuncture can help what they are suffering from and the answer is almost always yes. Acupuncture helps your body become more efficient at healing itself, which means it can help all sorts of ailments, including back pain, headaches, migraines, arthritis, fertility, menstrual problems, and pain whether it is emotional or physical. The thing to be aware of is, when there is a lot of healing to do, the symptom that is bothering you the most may not be the first symptom to improve because it may not be your body's first priority to heal.
Usually people feel very relaxed and happy after acupuncture. I have even seen people burst out laughing. There can be some mild adverse side effects from acupuncture, like bruising, but nothing too serious. I have also seen people get very tired or slightly light headed after treatments, especially if they already felt like they might be coming down with a cold or flu. Acupuncture boosts the immune system, which means if your fighting off an illness, you will feel even sleepier because your body heals best while at rest.
I usually compare this concept to walking into a dark room. When you walk into a dark room, do you usually get on a ladder and climb up to the light in the ceiling to turn it on? No - you go to a switch in the wall, flip that, and that in turn sends a signal through some wires that creates a response in the ceiling. With acupuncture, we are doing something similar.There are hundreds of little switches in the body that activate an energetic system within the body. Just like in our homes, some switches turn on lights in the kitchen, some turn on lights in the living room, and sometimes we even use circuit breakers that will affect several areas of the house at once. Other times, we simply need to change a light bulb, which is more like local needling. I however find that working with the larger switches creates a much more powerful response. For this reason, in almost all of my acupuncture treatments I use what are known as distal points and I very rarely put in needles in the local area of injury unless there is substantial scar tissue involved.
When starting out, it is ideal to come at least once a week. Just like with exercise and dietary changes, your body can't adjust over night and will easily revert back to the state it is used to at first. The great news is acupuncture treatments build on each other and usually last progressively longer and longer each time.
No! It is ideal get acupuncture you when you are well and try to maintain wellness, especially with something like migraine headaches or digestive issues. Once you have a full blown migraine, it is much tougher to take you from a 10 to 0 than a 3 to 0 (on a scale with 10 being extreme pain). Of course, you can still come in when you have symptoms, but it is best to catch them early instead of waiting until they are intolerable. When getting acupuncture in between symptoms, our goal would be to reduce the frequency and severity of the symptoms (ie. migraines) over time.
The program I attended, was actually a masters level program that can be completed in 3-4 years (3 if you give up summer). The training included over 3500 hours of combined classroom and clinical training.