Does it hurt?
Typically, you will feel either nothing, or a slight ping.  Often, people are shocked at how little they feel.  There is a lot of understandable concern that the needles will hurt.  The needles are TINY!  They actually fit inside of a hypodermic needle!  They are about the size of a piece of hair.  If you would like, you can start your treatment with Chinese herbs.  You might not have to get acupuncture, the herbs could be enough for you.  We won't know until we start treating you and see how you respond.  Combining acupuncture and herbs is always the fastest way to get better, but either one is effective alone as well.

Can acupuncture help me with ________________?
Acupuncture is a complete form of medicine.  Just about anything that you have as a health problem can be treated with acupuncture.  We treat the person, not the symptom.  It might take a bit longer to get better, but in the end, you will be healthy and will not have to continue getting treatments for your ailment.  However, many people choose to use Chinese Medicine, which is acupuncture and Chinese herbs as their first line of defense in health issues. 

How many times do I need treatment?
Most people need to get acupuncture and herbs for about a month or two to resolve their complaints.  The longer you have been sick, the longer you need treatment.  For example, if you are exhausted, have insomnia, pain, stress and have been like this for 10 years, you need to consider it might take 2 months to get better.  You can either get care or just continue being sick.  It is up to you. 

It is a complete waste of your time to come in for one or two treatments and say acupuncture does not work!!!  Acupuncture takes time because we are treating the whole person.  We do not just suppress symptoms and call it healing.  Our goal is to get you better as quickly as possible and be sure your problem does not come back. 

Do not even consider acupuncture unless you can commit to a course of treatment.  That is usually about 10 treatments.  We sometimes find that people feel better fairly quickly, but they are not completely "done".  They stop coming in before the underlying problems are completely addressed.  The symptoms might come back.  They then blame acupuncture.  Remember, it is up to you to make the commitment.

The most common reaction with people is that within a month or so they say they feel better than they have in years.  Often, you do not realize your health and energy level are so bad until you start to feel better.  You can look back on things and see the improvement.  Your body just tends to get worse over time.  The longer you are sick, the more your energy level declines in trying to deal with it.  Your energy is lower and you do not even have the energy to heal.  If you give your body a chance, you can have more energy and feel better than you have in years.

Will insurance cover acupuncture?
Some insurance companies cover acupuncture.  They do not cover herbs.  It is best to plan on your insurance company not covering it and then being pleasantly surprised if they do.  I have seen a decline in the insurance plans that cover acupuncture.  Even though acupuncture is a very inexpensive form of health care, most people see it as a luxury, so it is cut from insurance plans.  In reality, if they covered acupuncture, health care would be less expensive in the long run.