In preparation for your first acupuncture appointment, please make sure to have eaten a light meal or snack and dress in comfortable, loose-fitting clothes. During your appointment, your acupuncturist will review your medical history and ask a series of questions. Additionally, your acupuncturist will feel your pulses and ask to look at your tongue as part of determining your diagnosis.
Many people new to acupuncture wonder if it will hurt. The sterile single-use needles are very thin. In fact, it would take about 10 acupuncture needles to equal the diameter of a hypodermic needle! Some needles you may not even feel being inserted, others you may feel only a slight pinch upon insertion. It is normal to feel dull ache or heaviness in the areas where the needles are inserted. The needles will remain in the body for about 30-45 minutes, during which time most patients experience relaxation and often find themselves falling asleep.
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