Acupuncture is an ancient Chinese art that involves the stimulation of points within the body with the use of needles. Do you wonder how this works or what it can do for your health concerns? Read on into this article and find out more about this holistic approach to curing a number of illnesses and ailments.
You need to eat a healthy snack a few hours before your acupuncture treatment. You might feel dizzy if you have an empty stomach for your treatment. Avoid eating a large meal since laying down on your stomach might be very uncomfortable. Talk to your acupuncturist if you are not sure what kind of healthy snack you should have.
Expect to feel a sensation of heaviness or lightness in different areas of your body. This is entirely normal and is caused by the stimulation of your nerves. You should focus on this sensation and relax as much as you can. You should not fight these sensations to get the most out of your treatment.
Be sure you wear comfy, loose clothing to your acupuncture sessions. Your acupuncturists needs to be able to reach the areas that are bothering you. There are also group acupuncture sessions, and if you attend one of these, you need to wear clothing.
If you’d like to get more out of your acupuncture sessions, start cleansing. A good cleanse will free your body of toxins, which means acupuncture will be more effective. During this time, you may also want to detox from substances like alcohol. Ask your acupuncturist to recommend a good detox diet.
Make sure the acupuncturist you go to performs painless acupuncture. Painless treatments are very popular in the U.S. but pain can actually play a part in relieving your stress or treating your health problem. You should not try these treatments until you know more about acupuncture and are ready to try a more advanced treatment.
Do you need your daily caffeine fix? If you have an acupuncture session scheduled, you may want to hold off on the coffee for a little while. Because coffee is a stimulant, it will raise sympathetic nerve activity. Acupuncture strives to do the opposite. You don’t want to work against yourself!
Have a basic understanding of what acupuncture treatment looks like before taking part of it. Typically, you will undergo approximately twenty sessions before really seeing results. If you cannot commit to the entire treatment series, you might be wasting your time, as no benefits will be seen. Make sure that this time commitment will work for you before signing on.
Make sure your cell phone is shut off well before your appointment begins. You want to be able to focus on your session and nothing else. Phones will only get in the way of that. While you may think putting your phone on vibrate is enough, hearing that someone’s trying to get in touch with you can still be very distracting.
If you want to get the most out of your acupuncture sessions, take steps to improve your diet. Eat more whole foods, and do your best to eliminate processed sugar. Replace coffee with tea, and drink plenty of water. Acupuncture releases toxins, and bad foods will only bring them back.
If you are receiving an acupuncture treatment and notice that pain persists for more than two minutes after a needle is inserted, speak up. Sometimes a needle can hit a spot in the body called a nerve meridian. When this happens, the result is discomfort and pain. The practitioner might need to remove the needle and try again in a different spot.
Avoid drinking alcohol for at least several days after having acupuncture treatments. When you have this type of procedure done, it releases a lot of toxins into your body. These toxins sometimes cause the body to become dehydrated, and having alcohol in your system will only make the situation worse.
If you are really tense about acupuncture, consider looking for a practitioner that offers “community” sessions. These are acupuncture sessions where multiple people are in a room receiving treatments. Some people find this community aspect very relaxing. Don’t worry: Any consultation is done in private before the sessions, so medical histories are not shared among the group.
Some individuals experience a sensation of floating during an acupuncture treatment. This comes from the body falling into a deep state of relaxation and meditation, and it is perfectly normal. Just take the time on the table to enjoy the relaxing benefits of this therapy, and do not try to fight this floating feeling in any way.
Let your acupuncturist know about your medical history. He or she will be able to customize your treatment in function of your history and needs. You should also give your acupuncturist more details about the medication you are currently taking or used to take. Take the time to put together a list of the medical events your acupuncturist needs to know about before going to your first appointment.
So now that you have a more comprehensive overview regarding this traditional approach to Chinese medicine, perhaps there is a way that acupuncture can be used to help you or a loved one. As with any medical procedure it is important to do your homework first. However, keep an open mind to non-Western approaches to healing, you may be surprised what it can do for you.
