Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Santa Rosa, CA Acupuncturist Answers Question: How Many Acupuncture Treatments Will I Need?

Clients new to acupuncture often wonder: "How long do I have to return to treatments before I feel better?" Although this is a great question, the correct answer usually is: "It depends." One of my teachers in Grad School told us that the correct answer to many questions about acupuncture is "It depends." While at the time I thought he was just being smart, over time I've come to appreciate just how individualized an art acupuncture is and how this answer reflects that truth. So although there in not one cookie cutter answer to this question, we can talk about general principles that affect how quickly a person will heal. Here are a few.

1. A person should (and always does in my practice) receive some benefit even from one treatment. It may not be completely the desired end result, but they should walk away a little more relaxed, a little less in pain or somehow one step forward on their path to healing.

2. Treatments build on the previous results assuming they are spaced closely enough together. Thus, people should receive greater results after say three treatments than just one.

3. Generally, the longer one has had an illness or a pain, the longer it will take for it to respond to treatment and be healed. Thus, acute illnesses will heal quicker than chronic problems.

4. Young people generally heal quicker than older people.

5. People of strong constitution may return to health quicker, but people of delicate nature may respond well to the subtle nature of acupuncture.

6. People who have other forms of support: family, friends, community, or other health practitioners may heal quicker.

7. People willing to make changes in diet and lifestyle or take herbs along with coming for acupuncture tend to respond faster.As you can see, there are many factors that will affect the number of treatments needed for acupuncture. In addition, people often find that once their initial goal for treatment has been met there are other issues that they would like to address. So the process can continue on in deeper ways and begin to address underlying deficiencies and patterns of psychological and spiritual imbalance.

If you would like a mini consultation about how acupuncture might help you or an initital recommendation for a treatment plan, call Kat Delse, L.Ac at (707) 775-8311 or visit http://www.santarosa-acupuncture.com

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