Preparing for Your First Acupuncture Session

geode

Congratulations! You have decided to put your health first and have committed to your first acupuncture appointment. There are a few things that you may do to make the process go more smoothly.


If you are taking medications and/or supplements, please bring a list. This list should include: name of product, amount being taken, reasons why, and how long you have been taking them. Please note there is also a section on our health history form for this information.


If you have laboratory reports that are relevant to your complaints, please bring them. Some examples may be: blood test results, hormone levels, or X-rays. In many cases, a doctor’s summary of an x-ray is sufficient.


If there is enough time beforehand, you may request that we mail you your health history form. If you fill it out beforehand, you can simply bring it into the office the day of your first appointment. Having your forms ready will save you 10 - 15 minutes on the day of your appointment. Or, you may arrive 10 minutes early to fill out your forms. (Please note that this may not be possible if you are our first appointment of the day. We recommend that you confirm to make sure this is possible.)


If you think that your insurance may cover acupuncture, we can check for you. In these cases, please bring in your insurance card(s).



Please allow about 2 hours for your first session. There are three major steps. (Follow-up sessions are about one hour long.)


First, there is an in-depth interview about your main complaint(s). People usually enter with a main complaint and perhaps a secondary complaint or two. The practice member is asked various questions about the main complaint, including when and how it began.


Second, there is a complete health history interview that takes up to an hour to complete. This is to familiarize your acupuncturist with how your body typically functions. Another benefit is that you may find that acupuncture can be used to help with other complaints that you didn’t know could be addressed. Since acupuncture is about returning a body to a natural state of balance, several complaints often are addressed within the context of a treatment series. People often think that it is normal to have periodic discomfort in their bodies and/or emotions. Acupuncturists liken these symptoms to a car with a ‘funny noise’. And, just as your car often functions better when it has periodic tune-ups, people often find that various minor bodily discomforts clear up during their treatment cycle.


Third is the actual acupuncture session. This part of the appointment will become familiar, as this is what happens during follow-up sessions as well. The acupuncturist feels the pulse in the Traditional Chinese Medicine way. This means the practice member places both hands palm up on the table, while the acupuncturist uses three fingers on each side to feel the pulse. After this, the acupuncturist looks at the tongue. These two pieces of information are often very important to help the acupuncturist develop an accurate picture of the state within the body. After this, the practice member is asked to prepare herself or himself for acupuncture.



Directions