Of the many questions that I get about acupuncture, one of the more common questions is how many acupuncture treatments will I need before I feel better? This is one of the tougher questions to answer for a patient, because how many treatments it takes is different for everybody. There are several factors to consider: What type of condition are we treating? How severe is it? How long has it been a problem? How is it presenting for you? How old is the patient? etc.

As a general thought, if you are coming in for an injury like a sprained ankle or low back pain, usually the more acute the injury, the fewer acupuncture treatments will be necessary for recovery. If it has been a lingering injury for years, then it will probably take more treatments. On top of that, some people tend to respond very quickly to acupuncture, while some others respond, but at a slower rate. I’ve worked with patients where one treatment was all that was needed and they felt amazing afterwards and felt completely better. On the other side, I’ve worked with some patients where the progress was a little bit slower, but with each treatment, they were getting steady improvement, and little by little they started to feel much better.

Whether you respond quickly or slowly, one thing we do want is that you do notice improvement with each treatment. Often times people will feel better for a few days after the initial treatment, and then after their second treatment, they feel better for a longer period of time, and so on. Each time you receive a treatment, the goal is to have you feeling a little bit better, and for a little bit longer.

Ultimately, each patient is unique, and each body will respond how it responds, so it’s hard to say exactly how many treatments will be necessary for anybody. The goal at Premier Acupuncture is always to get you better as fast as possible with the fewest amount of treatments as possible.

If you have any questions about a specific condition that you may have, feel free to contact me and I’ll be glad to answer anything I can for you.

Michael

A new year often times means a new resolution. Whether that resolution is for weight loss, to quit smoking, or to just get healthier in general, it’s often a tough thing to keep. Whatever your new years resolution is for 2013, make sure you set reasonable and quantifiable goals for yourself. If your goal is to lose weight, set goals along the way that aren’t too daunting that the thought reaching the goals seems out of reach. If you want to lose weight, set weekly or monthly goals that you can chart and can motivate you to continue to push through.

Whatever your resolutions are, remember that you’re not alone and that other people are running the same race that you are and seek a support system that will help motive you without discouraging you.

Also don’t forget to take care of yourself and utilize acupuncture, massage and other things to help keep you feeling good and motivated.

Be well,
Michael