Acupuncture

How many treatments will I need ?

It depends on these main factors:

The type of health concern and length of time you have had the health concern

Your symptom/s may be isolated to one part of your body or involve many organs and systems. Often if a client has experienced a condition in short time frame, fewer body systems and areas will need to be incorporated in treatment. Which of course means a shorter treatment time frame. A very long standing chronic condition presenting with many signs and symptoms can take a longer period of time to stabilse and heal. Please understand that deep and lasting healing takes time, especially for long standing conditions.

*Body systems refer to systems such as the circulatory, nervous, endocrine etc

Everyone responds to treatment differently. In the case that acupuncture is not suitable for you we will support you in finding another health care provider more appropriate.

Client compliance

Usually, there are essential lifestyle changes that are to be incorporated while receiving treatment. These changes can include diet, exercise, mindset, etc. It is important that this advice is followed to ensure the progress of treatment goes according to plan.
Another factor includes frequency of appointments. It is important to follow your practitioner’s recommendation to ensure a quicker recovery time.

Are there any side effects to Acupuncture ?

Some clients can feel light headed or tired after a treatment. This is because we have activated a healing response in your body which can use up a lot of the bodies energy. If this happens it is recommended to take time out to relax and regenerate after your treatment.
It is common for clients to feel either very calm after a session or energised. Clients also tend to report an immediate therapeutic effect, especially noticeable in the treatment of pain.

A Scientific Perspective

There are four main areas of the body that acupuncture can influence:

Blood Flow
Impaired blood flow to certain areas of the body is one of the main causes of disease according to Chinese Medicine. The body will not heal without proper blood flow. Acupuncture can stimulate the dilation of blood vessels which increases blood flow to targeted area’s

Enhancing Oxygen and Nutrient distribution
Building on the idea that one of the main causes of disease is poor blood flow muscles, organs and other parts of the body start to have a limited supply of oxygen and essential nutrients. The ability to dictate blood flow allows us to send these essential elements to where they need to go.

Organ Health
Acupuncture has the capacity to influence organ health again by improved blood flow and nerve activation. Blood, oxygen and nutrients nourish the organs so they can heal and function at full capacity. While the activation of specific nerve fibers can encourage and enhance certain organ functions. In clinic we usually target organ health with a combination of acupuncture and herbal medicine.

The Nervous System
Acupuncture activates sensory nerves and proprioceptor fibers which travel from the skin to the spine and sends messages to the brain. A great example of the benefit of this ability includes the treatment of pain. In the case of pain Acupuncture accesses the nerve pathway involved, improves the nerve’s signal to your brain and forces your brain to release natural pain killers to shut off the pain signal and reduce your pain.

An Energetic Perspective

Moving on from the abilities of acupuncture to influence the physiology of the human body in incredible ways, acupuncture also has the capacity to have an effect on the emotional and spiritual aspects of our being.

We are much more than just skin, muscles, ligament, bones, etc. There is this idea in Ancient Chinese Medicine that our purpose in life is to fulfil our soul’s destiny. In order to do this we need to not only achieve physical health, but also conscious alignment with who we are and what we truly want out of life.

We all seek happiness and joy. True happiness and joy comes from accepting and valuing ourselves AND connecting with what makes our soul sing.

Acupuncture has the ability to align not only the physical body, but also the energetic bodies which strengthen insight, clarity, connection to self and vitality.

How much depth gained from treatment really depends on what you believe, what you need and what you are ready for.

The debate between energy and hard science

There is currently a lot of conflicting views as to whether acupuncture is classified as an ‘energetic medicine’ or a ‘blood and bone medicine’ that has no association with energy. It is a challenge to stand by the energetic model as we live in a time where the paradigm around medicine falls into generic science and evidence based models. This seems to rule out and take away credit from therapies that cannot be fully understood by ‘proven’ and hard facts.

At Natural Medic we recommend you consider this type of therapy if:

⦁ You would like help understanding and addressing your symptoms
⦁ You want a comprehensive and holistic approach to your health
⦁ You would like to explore a natural alternative to pharmaceutical medication
⦁ You would like more than a ‘band aid’ fix. Is the medication you are on fixing the problem or just masking the problem? We can help get down to the root cause of your problem
⦁ You have tried everything else! Nothing seems to provide a solution to your health concern

Is Acupuncture Painful?

Acupuncture needles are so fine and inserted so quickly that many clients report barely feeling them. Though there are sensations you can expect to feel with some points such as a heaviness and tingling. This is just an indication of the point being ‘activated’ and stimulating its desired effect. These sensations are not painful.

At Natural Medic we pride ourselves on being gentle. We use very smooth needles to avoid discomfort. If you are concerned about the needles hurting just let us know and we will be extra attentive. Usually after the first needle it is usually realised that the anticipation of the needle going in was the most uncomfortable part of the process and the acupuncture itself was a breeze.

How many treatments will I need?

This depends on four main factors:

The type of health concern
Your symptom/s may be isolated to one part of your body or involve many organs and systems. Often if a client has experienced a condition in short time frame, fewer body systems and areas will need to be incorporated in treatment. Which of course means a shorter treatment time frame.
For example a cold and flu can may only require one or two sessions.
A very long standing chronic condition presenting with many signs and symptoms can take up to 12 or more treatments.
*Body systems refer to systems such as the circulatory, nervous, endocrine etc

The length of time you have had the health concern
We usually measure treatment in the following way:
For every year you have had the condition this translates to one month of weekly treatment.
This time frame does not apply in every case. Though please understand that deep and lasting healing takes time, especially for long standing conditions.

How your body responds
This is the general guidelines we aim for:

For the treatment of pain we expect you to feel an immediate reduction in pain in the treatment room. This pain usually comes back. The goal is to reduce the frequency and intensity of pain over time until the pain eventually doesn’t come back or becomes easily managed.

For the treatment of internal disharmony we expect you to begin seeing improvement in your health concern within two weeks. Examples of internal disharmony conditions include insomnia, fatigue, digestive issues, etc
Everyone responds to treatment differently. After three sessions we will be able to tell if this type of treatment is appropriate for you. We will judge this by assessing your response and rate of response to acupuncture. This will also indicate the appropriate frequency of treatment. In the case that acupuncture is not suitable for you we will support you in finding another health care provider more appropriate.

Client compliance
Usually, there are essential lifestyle changes that are to be incorporated while receiving treatment. These changes can include diet, exercise, mindset, etc. It is important that this advice is followed to ensure the progress of treatment goes according to plan.
Another factor includes frequency of appointments. It is important to follow your practitioner’s recommendation to ensure a quicker recovery time.

Are there any side effects to Acupuncture?

Some clients can feel light headed or tired after a treatment. This is because we have activated a healing response in your body which can use up a lot of the bodies energy. If this happens it is recommended to take time out to relax and regenerate after your treatment.
It is common for clients to feel either very calm after a session or energised. Clients also tend to report an immediate therapeutic effect, especially noticeable in the treatment of pain.