acupuncture experiences

[yellow]

Have you had acupuncture? What for? How did it feel? Did it work for what you had hoped it would work for? How long did your treatment take? Did the acupuncture fix the problem "for good" or was it more of a bandaid?

Just doing some poking around (no pun intended) to try to understand my own reactions to it. I have some ideas and the doc has some ideas but we've both agreed to think about it a little more.

Just curious to hear about others' experiences. Not looking for recommendations (since I'm already in the middle of it) or condemnations (since I'm already in the middle of it), but more info on how different people's bodies react.

Thanks!

[salsabike]

Good pun.

I had acupuncture once a week many years ago for fibromyalgia. It was one of two things I ever found truly useful (the other being ice bags). It sure didn't cure it, and its effects lasted only 3-4 days--but then my muscle pain at that time was quite severe. For that, it really was useful.

I had it again about a year ago for shoulder and upper back tightness when I started swimming again. I did not find it as helpful for this stuff and I stopped it after a couple of months. More helpful was going to PT, doing strengthening exercises, and most of all, learning proper freestyle technique so I could stop insulting my shoulder.

I have never found it painful. I have never found it to be a "for good" cure for the things I had. But it was an effective means of relief for a while. I think it can sometimes interrupt a bad pain process and stop it from spiraling up out of control.

[OakLeaf]

I had acupuncture maybe five years ago when I bruised a tendon and a nerve in my hand and it was healing really slowly. Along the way he treated me for some inflammation in the forearm and elbow tendinitis secondary to the hand injury... and also some anxiety/depression.

I would say that more than anything, the acupuncture helped get things in my body moving in the right direction so that it could heal itself. What it's supposed to do, I guess. I didn't experience anything miraculous, but the healing process sped up noticeably. I'm trying to remember how long we worked on it - I think it was about six to eight weeks, two treatments a week at first, then once a week. He used several modalities, not just acupuncture - massage, soaks, herbs, mesotherapy. (From what he told me, there are not many states where acupuncture doctors are licensed to do mesotherapy, but Florida is one of them.)

As for the anxiety, you just reminded me of that little point in the upper part of the ear that he taught me about. That really works, I can pinch it myself fairly effectively, but I'd completely forgotten about it.

In general it was relaxing and not painful, but there were some points that were pretty sensitive, mostly in the hands. He knew which ones they'd be and warned me before putting the needles in.

[kmehrzad]

Have you had acupuncture? What for? How did it feel? Did it work for what you had hoped it would work for? How long did your treatment take? Did the acupuncture fix the problem "for good" or was it more of a bandaid?

I've had acupuncture for a sciatic nerve problem and it was VERY successful. Physical therapy did not help me one bit, however, after three sessions of acupuncture, my sciatic nerve pain was gone. Several years ago my brother pulled a muscle in his leg and his dr. put him on muscle relaxers. I persuaded my brother to try acupuncture, and after several sessions he started feeling like his former self and got off the meds.

In my case the treatment was not a 'bandaid' but resolved the problem. You need to find a reputable acupunturist, though. Get referrals from satisfied patients, if possible.

[OakLeaf]

I forgot to mention that my dad has had great success with acupuncture for his benign essential tremor. He is the original grouch and totally did not "believe" in acupuncture, but my sister the acupuncture doctor persuaded him to try it. He does have to keep up with the herbs or his tremor comes back full force, but I'm not sure how often he gets acupuncture treatments.

[Raindrop]

I've tried acupunture for trigger thumb, without too much success, but at the same time I was being treated for that, the acupunturist (?) also treated me for hot flashes and stress. Now, it might of been because I'd taught a Spinning class at 5:45am on the days I had my appointments, but after the needles were in place (no pain there), I almost immediately went to sleep....and the hot flashes ceased for at least two to three months.

So, although the main issue was never resolved with the treatment..two other problems were, so I thought it was successful.

[crazycanuck]

I did a few sessions when I crashed & hurt myself 2yrs ago. I thought i'd give it a shot as Wahine & a few other te chickas told me about thier experiences & thought hmm..why not.

I only went a few times but would recommend the clinic I visited to friends.

I'm drawing blanks on this one but will be back when I remember a bit more...

[NbyNW]

I've tried acupuncture on three separate occasions and I remain on the fence as to whether it's right for me:

First time was to deal with shoulder pain from overuse when I was dragonboat racing. I was in Taiwan and my relatives took me to the best doctor they knew. I had four needles and 15 minutes under a heat lamp. One of the needles was in my wrist and caused swelling/bruising. I didn't notice any difference in my pain after the treatment, other than the swelling in my wrist which I didn't have before. So maybe my body was still dealing with too much trauma from the injury, or maybe the idea of acupuncture was something that I wasn't receptive to for whatever reason. But a strange sidenote to this story is that my grandmother visited me a couple of weeks later -- I was still in a great deal of pain and my wrist was still swollen. My grandmother was an experienced qi gong practitioner and gave me a treatment. My wrist felt better in a couple of days and my pain subsided for about a week.

Second time was meant to help with detox/lack of energy during a particularly stressful time in my life. I only had a single treatment, but I think my lack of response to it led to my doctor and I agreeing that it might not be the right direction to pursue.

Third time, my TMJ specialist wanted to see if it would help with muscle pain and tension associated with TMJ. Again, I would say in this case I just didn't respond positively or negatively to the treatment, so it didn't seem worth pursuing. Should we have tried a few more times to see results? I don't know. I do know that there are plenty of other tools available for managing my pain and healing process.

[Crankin]

I did acupuncture for a year and a half, to deal with anxiety and some pain from my fibromyalgia diagnosis and other sports related things that came up. My experience was mostly positive. The anxiety diminished within weeks and pretty much never came back. I was just generally more relaxed. It helped with my stomach/GI complaints, too. As far as the other things, I am not sure if it helped. I was also going to PT, doing yoga, and taking medication for parts of this time.
As time went on, I noticed that it would hurt when he took the needles out and sometimes I felt pain or stiffness for awhile afterwards. He switched to smaller needles and that worked. But, I stopped going in May, because I had spent all of the money in my HSA account (maybe buying the $500.00 glasses didn't help), so I decided to wait until January, when the HSA money starts again. I think I might find a new practitioner, though. The guy I went to is well known for dealing with difficult cases, but he was a little strange. A former racing cyclist, too. But, I didn't feel like anything was happening as time went on.

[zia]

Have you considered dry needling? Slightly different concept, but with similar objectives. This link discusses the difference. I didn't realize it was any different from acupuncture until recently. Several friends have had very positive outcomes; I am about to try it myself, and have had success with myofascial massage for hip pain.

I know this isn't exactly what you asked for, but thought it was at least worth a mention.

[OakLeaf]

According to my acupuncture doctor (a former environmental engineer who went to medical school for his second career, for two years, until he decided he didn't want to be a drug pusher [his words], and dropped out and went to acupuncture college instead) - anyway, according to him, "dry needling" is no different from acupunture, it's just a very small part of the discipline with a different label, that allows MDs to practice the same medicine that TCM practitioners have been doing for 5,000 years, while still expressing disrespect for what they call TCM.

Just as "immunotherapy" for allergies is a fancy MD name for homotoxicology.

[zia]

Hmmm, my "dry needler" is not an MD. She's an RN, and trigger point therapist. Her emphasis is entirely on anatomy and focusing on releasing specific contraction knots in the muscles. It's all very pragmatic.

I've never heard my practitioner mention "chi" or even mention TCM. This page talks at length about what she does. It is similar, but, as her site says, it's all based on Western medicine principles.

(I guess it could be a small part of TCM, but I don't know enough about it to really say!)

[Biciclista]

I have had acupuncture given by a few different practitioners, the last being Ping Wong, a wonderful person who incorporates some massage into what she did to me.
I had a frozen shoulder, a very painful condition. I know that what she did helped me to heal as well as I did, I have full range of motion now. Also, during headache season, my son got married last year. I was pretty stressed out for lots of family reasons, wedding included. I went to see Ping and was able to skate through that wedding like I was on cloud nine. Acupuncture is great. See if you can find someone who has been doing it a long time, I think their confidence helps !

[pfunk12]

I had acupuncture a few years ago for my back issues. I have spondylolysis -a stress fracture of the L5. I decided to try acupuncture since nothing else seemed to help me. Because the needles were put in my back, I had to lie on my stomach. This was the worst position possible for me. Lying on my stomach caused compression of my sciatic nerve so instead of feeling relaxed for 45 minutes and getting benefits from the acupuncture, I was in complete agony. Even though it didn't work for me (because of the unique circumstances), I would still try it again - if I was dealing with a different issue/injury.

[7rider]

Have you had acupuncture? What for? How did it feel? Did it work for what you had hoped it would work for? How long did your treatment take? Did the acupuncture fix the problem "for good" or was it more of a bandaid?

I tried acupunture for a herniated disc in my neck.
It didn't really help me much. I thought it would help with the cause, and have relief of the symptoms as a side benefit, but that didn't happen.
It was very relaxing to lie there with soft music, a warm table. I would go maybe 2x's a week (I think) and he'd leave some needles in my arm when I left, covered in bandages.
I ended up getting better relief with more "western" treatment - 4 ESI's (epidural steroid injections) and loads of traction.