• Will My Health Insurance pay for Acupuncture?
• Is Acupuncture Safe?
• Will acupuncture fix my problem immediately?
• How does it work?
• Is acupuncture safe?
• What does acupuncture feel like/does it hurt?
• How big are those needles, anyway?
• Do I have to believe in acupuncture?

 

Will My Health Insurance pay for Acupuncture?
Some Insurance companies will cover acupuncture treatments. My office will contact your insurance company for you. We will also handle the billing to the insurance company.
The best way to answer this question is to read your policy and/or ask your agent or employer. If your insurance doesn't cover acupuncture, find out why not. More insurance companies are paying for acupuncture now, but if yours doesn't, you may be able to switch plans or companies.

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Is Acupuncture Safe?
Acupuncture is safe and without any serious side effects, one of the reasons for its acceptance. The stainless steel needles themselves are pre-sterilized, and they are disposed of after each treatment.
Acupuncture has been used by millions of Americans and is recognized by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The FDA regulates acupuncture needles as medical devices, and rates them in the category of "safe and effective." The National Institutes of Health finished a two and one-half year study of acupuncture, electrical acupuncture and microcurrent therapies last year, and published their Consensus Statement in November, 1977. The Consensus Statement from the NIH states that, "While it is often thought that there is substantial research evidence to support conventional medical practices; this is frequently not the case. This does not mean that these treatments are ineffective. The data in support of acupuncture are as strong as those for many accepted Western medical therapies. One of the advantages of acupuncture is that the incidence of adverse effects is substantially lower than that of many drugs or other accepted medical procedures used for the same conditions."

The complete document from the NIH may be found at: National Institutes of Health Consensus Statement on Acupuncture, 1997

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Will acupuncture fix my problem immediately?
Acupuncture is not a miracle cure, nor a "quick fix." Remember that acupuncture is addressing the underlying cause of a problem rather than fixing a symptom, therefore it takes time to have an effect. You may experience immediate results, especially if the problem is not too chronic, but you may not notice any progress until later in the course of treatment. It requires a trust and an acceptance of the process.

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How does it work?
Contemporary Western medicine has developed more than 17 different ways of explaining different aspects of acupuncture effects, but no unified theory. The traditional understanding of acupuncture provides a unified framework for clinical evaluation and treatment (the channel system, five-phase theory, yin/yang theory). Western and Chinese medicine agree on the fact that it really works, and that formal studies, using techniques ranging from blood serum analysis to MRI, have documented acupuncture's efficacy in ways that are compatible with Western scientific methodology. The outcomes of many studies suggest that acupuncture is more effective when applied by a skillful practitioner using traditional theories.

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Is acupuncture safe?
Yes, it is very safe when practiced by a qualified practitioner. Disposable sterile needles and clean needling protocols make the risk of infection negligible. With distal-point styles of treatment, risks are reduced to an occasional small bruise. Acupuncture, as practiced throughout North America, has one of the best safety records of any form of health care.

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What does acupuncture feel like/does it hurt?
A pinch, followed by "qi sensation," a feeling of warmth, or aching around the point, and often above and below it as well, along the course of the channel. Many styles of traditional acupuncture consider the qi sensation a prerequisite to effective treatment. Western research has so far supported this notion. Some people feel the insertion, some don't. The sensations of acupuncture vary widely among individuals.

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How big are those needles, anyway?
They're not very big. The typical Chinese fine needle measures .25 to .30 millimeters in diameter, and 30-50 millimeters in length. Acupuncture needles, unlike hypodermic needles, are neither hollow nor rigid, and the tip is shaped to increase the patient's comfort during insertion. It has often been stated that anywhere from half a dozen to a dozen acupuncture needles will fit inside the bore of a hypodermic needle; this depends, of course, on the diameter of all needles under consideration. Some Japanese-made needles are quite a bit finer than their Chinese counterparts. Interestingly enough, needle diameter has very little to do with insertion comfort; needling technique and needle tip shape are much bigger factors.

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Do I have to believe in acupuncture?
Acupuncture's theoretical models are not based on faith. Acupuncture works on horses, dogs, babies, and people in comas. Its world view arises from empirical observation, and the acid test for the validity of the view is the result of its application by skillful practitioners. Simply put: faith is not a requirement.

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