TCM is a monthly column where Jon Hanlon, a Chinese medical practitioner, explores an aspect of Chinese healing practices.
The number-one question that people ask me about acupuncture is, “Does it hurt?” Nearly everyone is at least a little nervous when they come for their first treatment. Equally, just about everyone is pleasantly surprised when I put the first needle in and they barely feel a thing.
The second most common thing I hear from new patients is that they don’t like needles. Me either! I hate having blood drawn and getting injections, but I do like acupuncture. The needles used for the latter are much thinner, and because nothing is injected, the sensation is totally different.
So what does it actually feel like? Here is my usual spiel, which every new patient gets: “You will feel a pinch or a prick when a needle goes in. Then you may not feel anything at all. Some points may have a heavy feeling or a dull ache. These are all normal responses to acupuncture. You should not feel a sharp or stabbing feeling. If you do, tell me and I will fix it so you are comfortable.”
I typically then distract them with chitchat and pop in the first needle. Virtually everyone then noticeably relaxes, since the reality of acupuncture is nothing like the jabbing pinpricks that they were expecting.
In my first years of practice, I used to swear up and down that acupuncture isn’t painful. And while it is true that most points I needle do not cause discomfort, some can be sore. That is the dull ache that I tell my new patients about. In Chinese, the ache is called deqi, which literally means that the qi has arrived at the acupuncture point, and thus the treatment is working.
Regarding needle phobias, the vast majority of people get over this once they feel for themselves that acupuncture is actually pretty comfortable. Childhood memories of dental visits and vaccinations fade away and we continue without incident.
During the thousands of acupuncture treatments I have given, only once has someone refused to try it out. She had a very high-pressure job and was struggling with neck pain and insomnia. The first thing she told me was that she wasn’t going to be able to go through with acupuncture because she hated needles.
Her phone kept ringing throughout our consult and she answered several times. Finally, I suggested that she try one needle to see if she could get past her fear.
It turns out she was right. She started yelling for me to stop before I had even opened the needle. At this point she got another phone call and took a notebook out to start taking memos. I gave her a glass of water and then left her and moved on to my next patient. She paid on her way out and I never saw her again.
I believe it is the only time I have ever been paid for not giving someone acupuncture, but it definitely was not because acupuncture is painful.
Jon Hanlon is a Chinese medical practitioner, raised in the US, trained in Australia, now healing the sick in Guangzhou. You can contact him for a booking on 185 0202 5594 or jon@guangzhouacupuncture.com
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