Get the Point: Is Acupuncture Right for You?

The actual number of licensed acupuncture practitioners in the greater Rochester, NY area is significant. I don't think the practice would be as embraced as it is in Rochester and abroad if acupuncture didn't have a good track record. All of practitioners I've had the pleasure of meeting are skilled and have undergone several years and hundreds of hours of training. It wouldn't be fair to select one over another, that's up to you to decide. I'd rather recap my experience and let you be the judge.

I occasionally suffer from lower back pain. Visits to a chiropractor have helped but in my never-ending search to alleviate the pain without going under a knife I decided to give acupuncture a try. Does it work? I'll let you know the next time my lower back flares up.

How's and Why's

I'm pretty sure you're aware of acupuncture. Maybe you haven't physically seen the technique up close, but you at least know about it from television or a magazine or perhaps a movie. Acupuncture is not some miracle medical procedure, rather its based on about 2000 years of holistic medical beliefs that views the entire body as a conduit of life-flowing energy, better known as Qi (pronounced chee). Each point of the body is part of the flow. By stimulating these specific points in the body with the use of needles, the flow and direction of energy can be balanced and impacted.

Frequency

Over time, I shopped around and talked it over. I think any legitimate practitioner understands what is to be gained if a prospective client is well-informed on what acupuncture entails in addition to how much the treatments cost and how long the treatments will last.

That being said, the length, number and frequency of treatments will vary from person to person depending on the conditions being treated, your age and health, and how you respond to acupuncture. Acute medical issues - a sprained wrist for example - generally require less time and frequency of treatment. Conversely, more chronic or severe ailments may require several treatments. With my lower back, fell somewhere into the middle with 6 or so treatments conducted every other week as the decided course of action.

I'm probably going to upset some practitioners here but like anything, acupuncture is a business. A few years ago I frequented a chiropractor who tried to sell me on a "packet" of 15 visits. Obviously that was more expensive than the 4 visits I ultimately agreed to. Would I have felt any better after 15 visits as opposed to 4? Heck if I know. I felt pretty good after four visits and stayed that way for years until my back flared up again while performing the heroic act of picking up a hammer.

Moxibustion and You

Unit I was educated a bit I thought acupuncture involved nothing else than extremely thin needles being stuck in my body, I learned the benefits of the moxibution in general and about the moxa stick in particular and how it aides those who suffer from arthritis and back pain. In moxibustion, the leaves of the Chinese herb mugwort are dried and then burned. A roll of dried mugwort was applied directly on the head of the acupuncture needle. Heat penetrates through the acupuncture needle and transfers deeply into the acupuncture point.

Say Goodbye to Pain

It would be easy to say that I treated myself: that I impacted my own success with acupuncture by expecting to feel better before I even started the treatments. There may be some truth to that but I don't think you can fake having a needle stuck in your body at point "A" and feeling the discomfort subside at Point "B".

Obviously every case is different, but it's no stretch to say that there are more and more individuals ready to try alternative methods of healing. In the case of acupuncture, I think over 2000 years of practice more than speaks for itself.