Jeff Rippey

The "how long" question is a fair one. The problem is: even if you were right in front of me and I was able to ask all the questions I'd need answered to treat this pain, I still couldn't tell you how many treatments might be required until we were several treatments in, and I could see how you were responding.

Acupuncture does not work like conventional medicine. I can give you a ball-park figure, but those numbers are based on statistics and might not represent your particular case. In other words, you could take more treatment, you could take less, or you could be one of the 5'ish% for whom acupuncture doesn't work.

Speaking very generally, and assuming you're seeing a board certified, state licensed acupuncturist (as opposed to someone who is using 'acupuncture' under the scope of some other medical license), you might be looking at 10-12 treatments. If you're not experiencing some change after treatment 3 or 4, you might be in the 5% who don't respond to acupuncture. Again, you might go longer or you might go shorter. If you're not seeing an actual acupuncturist, all bets are off as to timeline.

First question: have you been to your primary care provider and/or a GI specialist and have they ruled out more serious issues for this condition?

If your answer is "no", then your PCP or a specialist should be your first stop. There are some serious conditions, that fall outside the scope of acupuncture treatment, which could be causing this issue. Get those ruled out first.

If you've been to your primary care and/or a specialist and they can't figure out what's going on, then, yes, acupuncture is usually effective in the treatment of nausea/vomiting.

Yes, acupuncture is completely safe for migraines, and very effective as well. I do a lot of work with migraine and I'm typically very successful at getting patients where they want to be in terms of pain/headache management.

Trying to explain the how or why of acupuncture is very complicated. The basis of Chinese medicine is holism or systems theory. The basis of most modern biomedicine is reductionism. Trying to reconcile one in terms of the other is a square peg-round hole proposition.

Acupuncture has been shown to have a multitude of effects in living organisms. One of those is the down regulation of the immune system with an overall lowering of systemic inflammation. Since sinusitis is an inflammatory condition affecting the sinus membranes, lowering inflammation in general can often have a beneficial effect.

If you've visited your primary care physician or an ENT and ruled out more serious issues, yes, acupuncture can often help resolved ear pain.

I work a lot with both type 1 and type 2 diabetics. If your provider is a nationally board certified and state licensed acupuncturist, yes, it's very safe. Potential patients are looking for a provider with at least 2 credentials:

1. A Dipl AC or Dipl OM through NCCAOM.
2. An L.Ac. or R.Ac. practice license issued by the state.

If your provider doesn't have both of these, you are seeing someone who did not attend and graduate from an accredited program for Chinese medicine.

I've seen a few studies showing acupuncture can be beneficial in children with delayed development. Working with young children, especially with needles, can be tricky, though. You are going to be looking for the following alignment of skills/training:

In this case, it's going to be important that you see a nationally board certified acupuncturist. You want someone with an NCCAOM credential and an L.Ac. or R.Ac. practice license through your state. Without those two things, there's no guarantee your provider attended and completed an accredited program of Chinese medicine. Right now, there are a lot of providers who are offering 'acupuncture-like' services under the scope of some other practice license (like a DC or a PT).

Ideally that person has done a lot of work in pediatrics. Even better if they have some experience treating developmental delay in children. Unfortunately, in the world of Chinese medicine, there's no specific pediatrics sub-specialty - though some practitioners do move in that direction.

If I were in your shoes, I'd go to NCCAOM.org and use their 'Find a Practitioner' lookup to get a list of local providers. Then I'd start calling around to see if anyone on that list either works with kids or knows someone who does.

The answer, unfortunately, is: it depends.

Where, exactly, do you experience the pain? How long is 'chronic'? Is the pain radiating or fixed? What makes the pain better/worse? Do you have any conventional diagnosis or the results of any imaging? Are you seeing a board certified and state licensed acupuncturist or someone who is attempting to apply needles to your problem under the scope of some other medical license? Does your provider specialize in pain management or are they more of a generalist?

As you can see, this isn't a straight-forward question and doesn't have a straight-forward answer. What, exactly, your problem is and what kind of provider you choose to see are going to have an effect on how many treatments you might be looking at.

Speaking very generally, acupuncture has a dose dependency and is typically a front-loaded process. This means that more treatment, to a point, will usually yield better results. Front-loaded means your provider will see you more often initially and then taper off as you begin to get sustained results.

A usual course of therapy might be somewhere around 8-10 treatments. You should be noticing a difference after treatment 3 or 4 - sometimes earlier. Keep in mind, these are average numbers. Your particular case might take more, or it might take less.

Acupuncture can be a very effective way to manage hypertension (high blood pressure). Depending on where your blood pressure averages right now, you may want to integrate acupuncture with more conventional prescription medication.

Acupuncture will act over the long run to move your body towards better homeostasis, which often results in blood pressure normalization. Prescription meds will bring your pressure down right now. If you're super high, using the meds as a bridge is the best way to go.

If you want to try acupuncture for your leg cramps, go to NCCAOM.org and use their Find a Practitioner lookup to find a board certified, state licensed acupuncturist in your area.

For one - I don't use a lot of acupressure. In my experience it's not as effective or as comfortable as acupuncture (using needles).

For two - there are 6 primary channels and 5 extraordinary vessels running on the legs. Your question has given me no idea of the location of your cramping relative to these structures, so I have no way of providing you anything that might resemble useful information.

Acupuncture is generally pretty good with nausea and vomiting. That being said, if this is a new occurrence, I'd strongly suggest starting with either your primary care or a GI specialist. There could be something serious going on which might fall outside the scope of acupuncture treatment.

Once you've ruled out other issues, then take a look at acupuncture.

Yes, acupuncture is an excellent choice of treatment for any kind of pain - including shoulder pain.

Usually, yes, acupuncture can help with sprains and strains.

Yes, acupuncture can typically help to lower high blood pressure. This is a case where combining acupuncture and conventional medicine can often produce superior results.

The acupuncture treatment effect can take a few weeks to kick in, so you may want to consider short term use of prescription medication to get your pressure down in the short term. Acupuncture will then bring the pressure down over the long term and you can wean off the drug. In order for this approach to work, your primary care provider will need to be on board so they can manage the prescription side.

Usually, yes, acupuncture can help with weak muscles. You likely won't notice immediate results, but given a few weeks of treatment, patients can typically tell the difference. Very helpful if you integrate acupuncture with some sort of weight training or athletic/personal trainer in this case.

There is no safe pressure point/acupuncture point that causes immediate loss of consciousness. If you want to try acupuncture for insomnia, find a local licensed acupuncturist. NCCAOM.org. hosts a 'Find a Practitioner' lookup which can be used to find board certified acupuncturists in your area.

Usually, yes, acupuncture can help with neck spasm and pain. Please make sure you're seeing a board certified and state licensed acupuncturist. At a minimum, your provider should have either a Dipl AC or Dipl OM national credential AND an L.Ac. or R.Ac. state practice license.

If your provider is a nationally board certified and state licensed acupuncturist, yes, acupuncture is usually very safe. If your provider is a PT, chiropractor, or some other provider who did not attend and graduate from an accredited program for Chinese medicine, then maybe/maybe not.

The other thing to keep in mind here is not all acupuncturists will place needles in the local area. In other words - acupuncture can treat back pain without having to place needles in your back.

Acupuncture has a fairly good track record for helping folks with stroke recovery. I've done a fair bit of this kind of work, and usually get good results for patients. There's one big caveat to this: the amount of time elapsed between the stroke and the start of acupuncture treatment is important. The shorter that time span is, the more likely acupuncture will provide good results. The longer that time span is, the more likely acupuncture is going to be of little benefit.

Generally speaking, if stroke patients come in to see me inside 3 months from the event, I can usually get things headed in the right direction. Between 3 and 6 months things get dicey. After 6 months, I usually see very little, if any, improvement.

In cases like this, it's extra important to make sure your friend is seeing an actual board certified and state licensed acupuncturist rather than some other provider who is offering 'acupuncture-like' services under the scope of some other practice license. They want a provider who, at minimum, has a Dipl AC or Dipl OM national credential AND an L.Ac. or R.Ac. state practice license.

Yes, acupuncture can be an excellent treatment choice for sciatic pain.

Please make sure you're seeing a board certified, state licensed acupuncturist. You want a provider with a Dipl AC or Dipl OM national credential and an L.Ac. or R.Ac. state practice license.