What To Expect At Your First Acupuncture Treatment
For your first acupuncture treatment, you should expect to be at the clinic for about an hour.
Wear warm, comfortable, loose clothing (ie. no skinny jeans!).
The practitioner will probably need access to your hands and feet, as well as points on your shins, forearms, and possibly your torso, so loose clothing works well.
Most of your first treatment will be spent getting to know you and your medical history in depth.
Chinese medical practitioners ask a lot of questions in a lot of detail because our medicine is based on getting to know a person’s underlying constitution as well as their symptoms in order to obtain an accurate diagnosis. This is why you may come into our office for back pain and your acupuncturist will ask you about your digestion. In Chinese medicine, everything is interrelated, and every detail matters. The more in tune with your body you are, the more effective your treatments will be.
Chinese medical diagnosis also relies heavily on observation. Your practitioner may look at your complexion, take your pulse, look at your tongue, feel your abdomen. All of these observations help your practitioner make an accurate diagnosis for your individual situation.
After your intake, the practitioner will perform a simple acupuncture treatment. She will also discuss your treatment plan with you and prescribe herbs if needed.