I started acupuncture a few weeks ago, I like my acupuncturist, however, the massage therapist who works for her worries me. When she removes my needles she does so without gloves, then with her bare hands goes over the area to make sure she got all the needles out. I don’t know if she washes her hands or not before and after each patient, but I’m worried about anything microscopic that could be lurking on her hands from the previous patient getting into my puncture points. To massage me she puts on plastic gloves. I will bring this up to the acupuncturist, but am I being dramatic to worry?

I have just had a post IVF embryo transfer acupuncture session. She put in ear tacks which she said to leave in for 2 weeks, but everything I have looked at so far say only to leave in for a few days.

She showed me the thing and it definitely had a needle and not ear seeds. Also it hurt slightly when she applied them.

This is kind of defeating the point of the things as it’s worrying me!

thank you!

Every time I’m ever going for acupuncture, I feel sick after. I also feel an incredible calm. Sometimes my symptoms get better but almost always my aches and pains feel unbearable the next day ( sometimes several days) and I’m really unable to go out and do anything because I’m so drained.

This time I’m on the fourth treatment. In the past, I’ve gone regularly for six months and this is always the case.

I recent got acupuncture for the first time. She didn’t explain anything that was happening, I know a little bit but she made me feel uneasy. There was no call button but she was son her phone outside the door. In the moment I thought will I have to tell for help if anything hurts. I realized it hurt when I started tensing so I was able to relax but it was tense relax tense relax until she took everything out. She was going to charge me for supplements 40$ but gave me for 10 then I looked it up they’re only 12 dollars anyway. My back feels looser but my neck has a bit of soreness (feels familiar to dry needling but less intense). She just didn’t explain anything from the process to diagnosis to what she’s treating. She is Chinese and there’s a language barrier but she has a degree with herbology and TCM and she’s accredited. I had to sign something about medical malpractice that I signed to go through some process in the case.

So why did it feel so unprofessional yet she has degree certification and 30 years of experience. She also burned mugwort in the room without my consent or even telling me. I mean it made me relax but under medical professional practice wouldn’t you check if this is okay if they have allergies or bag reaction? What if the patient had severe asthma?

How do I know what a good acupuncturist is?

I'm a relatively new L.Ac who's worked at a cash only place but now I'm starting part time at a PT clinic who only wants to take insurance and I have questions about CPTs. The PTs want me to be using 4 codes with every patient, 97810, 97811, 97026, and either 99202/03 for new patients and 99212/13 for returning patients. While in school we had an insurance adjuster come in to explain that in order to use 97811 a second set of needles is necessary it is not purely a time code, and the example given for 2 sets was a front and back treatment. How is 2nd set of needles being defined? - can I group points by condition (hip/shoulder treatment) or (sp qi Xu/lv qi yu) or is it only front/back. Acupuncturist who've the PTs worked with in the past seem to think it's only a 15min time code, but usually flipped the patients anyway.

2nd question: the insurance adjuster also advised to use the 99212/13 sparingly as a "re-evaluation" code done every 4-8 treatments. But the PTs are wanting me to use it after every treatment, I am re-evaluating and doing check ins with the patients not just going straight into the previous acu protocol but not sure if it's going to cause trouble to be using the code every time.

When asking colleagues or former professors the answers vary so I'm trying to get a consensus

Hopefully the Wood Snake treats us all well. Time to shed our skin and reach new heights! I saw so many GB associated issues during 2024 which I can only chalk up to a Yang Wood year. Any predictions for the Yin Wood months ahead?

I just started seeing her for fertility, as I plan to do IVF in a few months. I have been two other acupuncturists in the past for fertility, and both had me track my bbt. My only reason for changing acupuncturist is the price keeps going up. The one I’m at now charges less.

Anyways, she doesn’t even ask me about my cycle or what phase I’m in or going into. She asks how I’m feeling and sleeping and how my last cycle was, but that’s it. Should I be concerned? Or is that information not necessary? I just want to make sure I’m getting the proper care so it’s as face time and it can be.

Thanks !

so i have been having some pretty bad back pain lately and let my dad convince me to try acupuncture. they put the needles in and i was fine and then the doctor gave me a call button to press if i needed anything and left the room. about a minute in one of the needles started to hurt so i pressed the button. nobody came. i pressed it again. nobody came. i pressed it ten or so times. nobody came. i then started to yell for help but nobody came for me. i started panicking and screaming and honestly it felt like i was being tortured. it was like a horror movie. finally someone heard me after about five or so minutes of yelling, they took the needles out, and it took me about ten to fifteen minutes to calm down. apparently the cleaning people had unplugged the button system so when i pressed for help, nobody came. when i got home, i had another breakdown and today (the next day) i feel like shit. my whole body aches like i have the flu and every once and a while i’ll have a really sharp throbbing pain where one of the needles was. i don’t know what my purpose of posting this is. maybe i just want to be told that my experience wasn’t normal or i want someone to tell me when i will stop hurting. i don’t know. i never want to seek any medical help ever again.

I had my first session of Accupuncture on Saturday around 3:00pm for sleep and perimenopausal symptoms. It’s Monday night/Tuesday morning at 3:45am. I woke up about an hour ago and haven’t been able to go back to sleep. I took a half Benadryl and magnesium before bed, that’s typically enough to keep me knocked out. Most of the time I sleep like a baby but since some of these hormonal changes have taken place, it can be harder to fall asleep/ stay asleep. But lately I’ve had no issues and slept hard and deep.

During my first session, while getting the first treatment, I got a headache. I felt a little anxious, had some panicky thoughts. I felt exhausted, very low energy, cold-like symptoms afterward and just needed to come home and lay down. I recalled some childhood memories.

Sunday I felt a little bit more energetic, but still some cold like symptoms and fatigue. My spouse said I felt warm like I had a fever. I rested as much as I could and didn’t go play soccer. At one point in the afternoon I felt sharp pains on my left side of my body, near my midsection. It lasted for about 20 minutes and I haven’t felt it since. It seemed close to where one of the Accupuncture needle was placed. I slept okay Sunday night apart from some acid reflux before bed, but wasn’t wide awake at 2am like I have been tonight.

Today (Monday, 2 days after the session), I felt more irritable and easily overwhelmed, and some jealousy and “keeping up with the joneses” type thoughts that are not typical for me. Also some doubt and negativity about some financial goals we are working towards. This is pretty out of the ordinary for me. And most importantly, I’ve been wide awake since about 2:15, maybe 2:00. It’s now 4am. I do not do well without sleep.

Particularly the sleep part, is this a normal part of starting out with Acupuncture for some people? Like things sometimes get worse before they get better?

Thanks so much for your thoughts.

Anyone have any experience in administering or receiving acupuncture treatment in the foot to correct poor circulation due to diabetes?

I’m looking for information on:

• How effective is it
• What time frame/how many treatments may be necessary
• Any side effects/issues with it
• Anything else I should know

Thank you for your consideration of this query.

Has anyone heard of beer being controversial in Traditional Chinese Medicine because it is made from cold hops, compared to other alcohols like wine? I was trying to look for any resources to confirm that statement but couldn’t find anything…

To Begin with : I'm sorry that I'm not aware of the correct terms.

I went to traditional Chinese acupuncture yesterday, this time for fatigue primarily. The acupuncturist told me that the needles she chose to treat me with were to channel my energy upwards only this time. During the treatment I felt a big relief and felt my energylevels rise. They did endeed, but my head feels buzzing and my chronic migrane returned. It feels as if there is too much going on and this sensation of a pressure of sorts. What can I do to channel some energy downwards again? I'm not able to go back, so If there is ANY self care I can do, acupressures or whatever, please let me know? I'm sorry for this poor explanation.

I went there for insomnia. And i love getting acupuncture done with the hot lamp, because its nice and warm. Because its the dead of winter right now in the Netherlands.

But im not really sure if Im supposed to notice anything by now? The acupuncturist is very vague about expectations

May I please know what are your thoughts on this please? Is it a safe treatment?

Thank you.

Hello acupuncturists, I hope you don't mind me asking this here. I am planning to get a piercing on my philtrum, just above my lip and was wondering what your opinions would be on how this would effect my qi? Is this a specific acupuncture point and if so, would you think it would help or block the energy flow in having this pierced? Many thanks in advance!

I had a treatment that involved osteopathy followed by accupuncture and included having a red lamp over the injury site. I have a back injury and treatment was for this. I have had the same two other times before for other back/shoulder issues. But this time omg I was red and hot in the face leaving and still am hours later.

I had a window open in the room and no blanket or foil over me while I rested with the needles in. As I can’t tolerate too much heat, it makes me feel really awful. And I actually moved the lamp away from me after a while as it felt too hot.

Is it just after affects of the heat lamp even though it didn’t happen previous times? It wasn’t anywhere near my face.

Just curious about it and why it might be. The rest of my body doesn’t feel so hot, just face. Drinking water and peppermint tea to hydrate 🫖

Thanks for any thoughts!

Do you know how to get certified to practice accupressure in California and a good program for it? I intend to use for accupressure medical treatment more than accupressure massage. Thank you!!

I am considering acupuncture for chronic foot arch tendonosis.

I am also battling insomnia/anxiety and going to try sleep or ssri medication to help.

Would that prevent me from getting acupuncture? I would be avoiding herbs anyways and cupping anyways and looking for a practitioner who only uses needles anyways.

https://www.cms.gov/medicare-coverage-database/view/ncacal-decision-memo.aspx?proposed=N&NCAId=295

or

https://www.medicare.gov/coverage/acupuncture

Most of you probably know this change that started in 2021.

Part from limiting treatments to chronic low back that's not from surgery, cancer, etc. It must be performed by physician/CNA/PA/NP who also has acupuncture license.
Can you even find people like that? Who actually obtain both physician/CNA/PA/NP as well as acupuncture license. I'm sure these people exist, but it's going to incredibly rare. Many Medicare Advantage plans offer this with same requirements as well. It's going to be a rare gem to find someone like this.

So I was wondering, has anyone actually called their insurance and said they would like to get acupuncture with this plan (Original Medicare or MA) and actually successfully found a doctor who treated you?

edit: Some ASH plans allow patients to use this CLBP plan under regular acupuncturists, but I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about one with same requirement as medicare.

I started weekly acupuncture sessions about 4 months ago. My practitioner is wonderful and has 40+ years experience. I had no history of anxiety or panic attacks but I suffered a severe panic attack after our 7th session or so. (I have excess Yang energy and stagnant qi) and my practitioner told me this was a great sign that my excess qi was releasing. But it’s been 2 months since and I’m still having regular panic attacks. Has anyone else had this experience? Is it just a months long healing crisis? Or have my sessions brought up a suppressed panic disorder? Any advice so appreciated thank you❤️

Due to the force of the suction cups?

Hi. I'm 70 yo male and have lots of pinched nerves in my lumbar area. I also have severe cold intolerance that feels to me coming from these pinched nerves. I'm rxed gabapentin and buprenorphine, they help a lil.

It's the cold feeling that's giving me suecidal thoughts. I'm miserable in air conditioning and it increases my stenosis and spondylosis pain. So I have to go outside to warm up...I live in S FL. I've been checked for thyroid, cancer, vascular and none of those are my problem. I feel it's related to my pinched nerves. And I'm hoping acupuncture might help. Do you think it might help me? Should I look for a special kind of treatment?

Hey folks! I’ve created an anonymous survey to gather insights on student debt among acupuncture professionals. Any feedback or suggestions for alternative survey platforms would be much appreciated. I do plan to share the results - possibly later this month.

Thanks for your time and input!

https://s.surveyplanet.com/jhy2b61q (If you've already completed the SurveyMonkey form, no need to retake it.)

I started acupuncture a couple of months ago, which has been helping. However, I think I plan to switch acupuncturists soon, mostly because my current acupuncturist doesn’t remember or take note of why I’m seeking acupuncture in the first place or anything I’ve reported since starting with her. That said, I want to make an informed decision when I do switch. Would love your thoughts, thank you!

I got $10 5NP on a whim because a dance studio I go to was offering it but I’ve had a headache every day since. Is this normal? She said a headache after was possible but I didn’t know it would last this long.