Taking the sting out of needling

It’s true – acupuncture does use needles.  And let’s face it, for anyone who doesn’t like needles, this represents a serious stumbling block in choosing to have acupuncture.

So I thought it would be a good idea to look the issue right in the face, and to pass on to you the things that I tell patients, and prospective patients all the time.

1)  Acupuncture needles are incredibly thin.  Compared to the other needles we come across in normal life – sewing needles, syringe needles, blood-taking needles – they are tiny, and I mean … TINY!  Think very very thin wire with a very sharp point, so thin they are bendy.

2)  Because of their thinness and sharpness, it often happens that when they are inserted, you don’t feel anything – hard to believe because needles should feel sharp and needly, shouldn’t they?

3)  When the needle is accurately inserted into an acupuncture point (which is at a certain depth depending on location), you will indeed feel something – but this feeling can be many things, only one of which is ‘sharp’.  Common sensations are variously described as dull, tingly, warm, buzzing, ‘a thud’, pulling, nervy, achy – and sometimes even no sensation at the site of the point, but a feeling of connection elsewhere in the body.

4)  It’s clear from the above that it isn’t the needle you feel (otherwise you’d always feel it, & it would always feel ‘needly’) – rather you feel what happens when the needle hits the acupuncture point (which I tend to describe as a little bundle of energy under the surface).  It is entirely possible to miss a point completely, even by half a millimetre, and you wouldn’t feel a thing.

5)  Sometimes needles are ‘in & out’ within a second or two, and sometimes they stay in for 15-20 minutes or so.  Either way, the actual sensation experienced from the needle touching the point lasts only a few seconds.  It’s entirely manageable.  Especially when you factor in the feelings of calmness and relaxation that lying down with needles in for 20 minutes can engender, or the improvements in health and wellbeing that your treatment is bringing.

6)  It’s also important to stress that the needles used in acupuncture are pre-packed, sterile, single-use needles – disposed of after treatment.  Clean and safe. Of course.

It’s 23 years since I first started practising acupuncture in Northampton & Daventry, and in that time I’ve only ever had two people decide that they couldn’t cope with the treatment for reasons of personal history.

So, if you’re worried about needles, or it’s putting you off trying acupuncture, give it a go – you’re very unlikely to be more scared of needles than I was before I first had treatment, and it turned my life around!  I still wouldn’t say I love the needles, but I do still have regular acupuncture.

Call me on 07970 295177 – and we can talk it all through.