ANDREA LUGO-SIADOR L.Ac

HOW DOES ACUPUNCTURE WORK?

Acupuncture points are specific areas on the body just beyond the surface of the skin.
They have high concentrations of nerve endings, mast cells, lymphatic vessels, and
capillaries. When an acupuncture needle is inserted into an acupuncture point, it
stimulates the sensory receptor, which in turn stimulates the nerve, which then transmits
impulses to the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal system.

This complex system of interactions (often called a “feedback loop”) between the brain,
hormones, and glands is responsible for regulating a number of bodily processes.
Because acupuncture helps to regulate the various feedback loops in your body, it
actually allows your body to heal itself of whatever is wrong.

In Chinese medicine terms, these biodynamic happenings described above are simply
the activation of Qi and Blood within the body. Qi is a term for the life-force energy that

permeates all living things in the universe. Our bodies have energetic
“roadways” or what we call acupuncture channels. These “roadways” or channels are
like the highway system that we drive our cars on and within the body they are similar to
the pathways that our nervous, vascular and lymphatic system follow. When the
acupuncture channels are blocked, they cause a sort of ‘traffic jam” in the body. This
“traffic jam” blocks the flow of Qi and blood, thus causing dis-ease. By inserting needles,
we are simply unblocking where Qi is stuck or creating the flow of Qi where it has been
deficient.

This amazing trait is unique to nearly every other medical system, and has sustained
acupuncture as a complete system of medicine for over 5,000 years.

WHAT DOES ACUPUNCTURE TREAT?

Acupuncture can treat a wide variety of conditions that western medicine treats as well.
Some of these include, arthritis, hypertension, diabetes, depression, anxiety, the
common cold and flu, etc. Of course there is always a boundary where the reach of
acupuncture ends and the boundary of western medicine begins. For example,
acupuncture is excellent in the treatment of chronic appendicitis. However, if a patient is
suffering from acute appendicitis, acupuncture cannot and will not be able to help. This
is considered an emergency and requires hospitalization and possibly a surgical
procedure.

HOW OFTEN SHOULD YOU SCHEDULE APPOINTMENTS IN ORDER TO GET THE
HIGHEST VALUE OF YOUR TREATMENTS?

Acupuncture works cumulatively, and it is very rare that one treatment is all you will need
to feel better. It is essential to get treatments close to each other at first because each
treatment gains momentum on the last. If treatments are too far apart, we can lose
momentum and erase the progress we have achieved through treatments.

Each person responds differently to acupuncture, so we usually will not know exactly how
many treatments you will need until we have gone through a few sessions. A typical
treatment course for chronic conditions may be around 10-12 treatments in 6 weeks, and
for acute conditions it may look like 6 treatments in 4 weeks.

Because each treatment builds on the last, I expect you to feel slowly yet progressively
better with each treatment. It is also important to schedule a session immediately if you

ever start to feel yourself “backsliding,” and your next scheduled appointment isn't for a
couple of days or longer.

Generally speaking, we will be able to space treatments further and further apart as long
as you keep steadily improving with each treatment (and stay at that level between visits
to the clinic). Maintenance sessions are often recommended every 4-6 weeks to keep
your body in a healthy, joyful, and balanced state.
 

DOES ACUPUNCTURE HURT?

Pain is subjective to most patients. However, the sensation you feel upon insertion of the
needles can be described more as a small prick or pinch rather than pain. Sometimes
patients report they did not feel anything at all when inserting the needles. Again, pain is
subjective to each individual and also dependent on many daily factors. For example,
when a woman is menstruating or if an individual has the common cold or flu, then these
circumstances can cause an individual to be more sensitive to the sensation of the
needles on that particular day.

It is common to feel tingling, dullness, or a warming sensation at the needle insertion
point and sometimes that sensation can travel down the acupuncture meridian or refer to
other parts of the body. All of these are normal reactions and having these sensations
are proof that the Qi in the acupuncture point is activated and beginning to create
movement, thus kick starting the healing process.
One fact about needles worth mentioning is the size of the acupuncture needle. An
acupuncture needle is so thin, that one can fit 20-30 acupuncture needles into the tip of
an average hypodermic needle.

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