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To schedule an appointment with Dr. Hanson ND LAc, acupuncturist in New York City, please call 917-267-WELL or email drjaredhanson@gmail.com.

Acupuncture Treatment FAQ

Alternative Medicine and Natural Health

Each appointment begins with a discussion. At the first treatment, you will be asked a number of questions about your condition and also a number of questions about you as a person. If it is a return visit, the discussion will focus on your reaction to the previous treatment and how your condition has improved or changed since then. Your tongue will be inspected and your pulse at the wrist will be analyzed. Different acupuncture points on your body may be gently pressed to see if they are tender. Effective treatment with acupuncture requires an appropriate Traditional Chinese Medical diagnosis and these steps are all important in determining an accurate TCM diagnosis.

For the treatment itself, you will either lie on your back or stomach, or if the condition involves pain or loss of function in the musculoskeletal system you may be asked to move the painful part while needles are placed in other parts of the body. Patients remain clothed.

Where are the needles placed?

There are hundreds of acupuncture points on the body. Some have been known and used for thousands of years, while others have been discovered more recently. Points are selected based on each individual case. Generally, 10 – 15 points are needled during an individual treatment, though often less may be used.

The needles are generally retained for 15 to 20 minutes. The entire process is scheduled for one hour to allow time for the initial discussion and the insertion and removal of the needles.

Acupuncture needles are completely sterile and used only once. The needles themselves are incredibly thin, much thinner than the needles used to give a shot or take blood. In fact, they can actually fit inside the bore of those needles. They are also quite flexible and will not break.

Because the needles are so thin, they do not hurt when inserted. There is a sensation associated with acupuncture needles, known as “de qi”, that is considered therapeutic. In other words, the treatment is more successful when the patient feels this sensation. While not painful, this sensation can at times be surprising and often travels down the limb. Patients feel very relaxed during and after an acupuncture treatment.

This varies from patient to patient and depends, in part, how severe the condition is and how long the patient has been suffering from it. Often pain or other symptoms will be noticeably relieved during the treatment after the needles are inserted. Acupuncture treatments act cumulatively, each treatment building on the effect of the previous treatment.

Within Traditional Chinese Medicine, there are several needle-less techniques that work with the same points as acupuncture. These include moxibustion, which uses burning herbs to warm the points prom a distance; gua sha or scraping, in which a special tool is scraped painlessly across the energetic channels of the body; and tui na or massage of the points. TCM also has an entire system of herbal medicine that works with the same medical theory as acupuncture.

As a naturopathic doctor as well as an acupuncturist, Dr. Hanson can recommend a number of other natural therapies, such as homeopathy or nutritional supplements, to work synergistically with the acupuncture treatments. Often this combination is more effective than either treatment alone.