1. Acupuncture Doesn’t Hurt

When people think of needles, they usually imagine hypodermic needles used for vaccinations. However, unlike hypodermic needles, which are thicker and hollow, acupuncture needles are hair thin. So, generally speaking, the needle insertion is almost painless!

Some people may feel nothing as certain points are activated with needles. Some may feel a slight pinch when the needle first goes into the body but soon experience muscular and emotional relaxation as the needles ‘settle’ into the body.

By the end of your treatment, you probably won’t even notice the needles as you allow time for them to work their magic. Many of our patients leave our treatment rooms in a relaxed state of comfort.

2. Acupuncture is NOT like Hellraiser

…Or other movies. Sometimes, all it takes is 5 strategically placed needles to help you get better. Acupuncture is all about creating relationships and connections between the various points in your body, so a good acupuncturist can effectively use their needles to treat your condition, without making you look like this guy.

3. Acupuncture has (at least) a 2000-year history of healing

The history of acupuncture is long, rich, and mysterious. Archeologists have discovered stone knives and bamboo needles in modern-day China that are believed to be used for medical procedures during the New Stone Age (10,000 – 4,000 years ago).

Although there is a lot of debate surrounding when exactly acupuncture began in China, most medical historians can agree that the seminal acupuncture text, the Nei Jing (The Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Internal Medicine) was written around 300 B.C. This was the first text that clearly recorded descriptions of the meridians, vital acupuncture points, and needling techniques.

4. Acupuncture works best when used consistently

As with any important pursuit of life, health and well-being require a clear path towards success and a willingness to follow that path. In China, some people get treatments every day to achieve their health goals in a matter of months or even weeks. However, in the United States, because we have a culture that prioritizes work over health, many people’s schedules don’t allow them to commit to daily acupuncture treatments.

This only means that reaching your goals may take a little longer, which is why we recommend weekly treatments if your schedule allows. Visit a local acupuncture practitioner regularly for best results.

5. It’s backed by the World Health Organization and National Institute of Health

This is for anyone who thinks that acupuncture is a pseudoscience; we’re backed by the World Health Organization! The World Health Organization or WHO is a specialized agency of the United Nations based in Geneva, Switzerland that is concerned with international public health.

In 1979, the World Health Organization conducted a symposium on acupuncture in Beijing, China and created a list of 43 diseases and conditions that benefit from acupuncture. Almost 20 years later in 1997, the National Institute of Health published a follow-up study on the efficacy of acupuncture in treating symptoms associated with chemotherapy and surgery.

The list of conditions that have been empirically shown to treat is impressive:

  • acute and chronic gastritis
  • acute epigastralgia
  • acute bacillary dysentery
  • adverse reactions to radiation or chemotherapy
  • allergic rhinitis, including hay fever
  • biliary colic
  • correction of malposition of fetus (breech presentation)
  • dental pain
  • depression (including depressive neurosis and depression following stroke)
  • essential hypertension
  • facial pain (including craniomandibular disorders)
  • headache
  • induction of labor
  • knee pain
  • leucopenia
  • low back pain
  • morning sickness
  • neck pain
  • nausea and vomiting
  • peptic ulcer
  • periarthritis of the shoulder
  • postoperative pain
  • primary dysmenorrhea
  • primary hypotension
  • renal colic
  • rheumatoid arthritis
  • sciatica
  • sprains
  • stroke
  • tennis elbow
  • tempromandibular (TMJ) dysfunction

Thanks for reading! If you are in the San Francisco Financial District area, we hope to see you in the office for a treatment. Visit our home page to book. Find out why we’re among the best for acupuncture in San Francisco (yelp)!