Another question we hear all the time - is it going to hurt?
‘No – but you should feel it’ is the answer I tend to give. If someone holds your hand – it doesn’t hurt but you can feel it. Think of acupuncture in the same way, it won’t hurt but your brain should know something is there. Acupuncturists are looking for several specific sensations when they needle. Different areas of the body will elicit different feelings and you as the patient will also have your own way of interpreting these sensations. Communication is really important between acupuncturist and patient and a good acupuncturist will be checking in with you at every point. If a needle ever feels uncomfortable, your acupuncturist should adjust it for you. Lots of patients are anxious about trying acupuncture and luckily we’ve not seen any correlation between that and finding acupuncture sore. Overwhelmingly, people feel sleepy and relaxed once the needles are in.
We still hear stories from patients who had a previous bad experience with acupuncture so let’s look at why that might be. The most common mistake we hear about is when a tight muscle is not prepared for needle insertion adequately, If somebody is attempting deep needling in a tight muscle without warming up the area first or getting the patient in a position that encourages the muscle to relax – well then it can be pretty uncomfortable. This is why setting up the patient in the correct position can sometimes take quite some time before the patient is ready. Using the wrong gauge needle on patients can cause pain, as can cheap needles and poor technique. All good reasons to make sure you only let degree trained acupuncturists treat you.
It is very common for clients to be referred to us by other healthcare professionals if they have had a bad experience previously. Do reach out to the clinic if you want to try acupuncture but have some anxiety – it is very normal to feel like this and isn’t a barrier to getting good results from your appointments.
British Acupuncture Council Members are the only group of acupuncturists who are PSA accredited and can accept referrals from medical healthcare professionals.
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