This is the million dollar question that I get everytime a new patients calls, and I am sure most acupuncturists do as well. It is a very good question and to be expected, as acupuncture is a mysterious, new treatment for most Americans.
The answer is…it depends.
What affects the number to treatments needed?
Are there any ailments that can be cleared up in only a few visits? Sure. An acute back spasm, neck spasm, or pinched nerve can be improved rather quickly. Knee pain can subside quite quickly, and certain types of headaches can clear up on the treatment table. Yet, other forms of these very same conditions can be very stubborn and can require perseverance to treat.
What kind opf things can affect the speed of recovery? The patients age and general health. How much bone and joint degeneration is present? How much inflammation is present in the affected area and the body in general. It also matters long you have had the condition? This would take in to account muscle memory, overcompensation around the injury, and muscle atrophy.
How many acupuncture treatments to expect?
My FAQs has an answer relating to this question, and many acupuncturist’s also answer this question, with a range of treatments, such as 4-10. Remember, this is a ball park starting point, because with in this range of treatments we are often able to see improvement and get an idea how long someone may need to be seen. Sometimes we may need to see a patient 2x per week for the first couple weeks initially. Yet despite this, there is still information circulating that have people expecting a 1 treatment miracle cure.
Lets take chronic low back pain as an example, since it is one of the single most common pain complaints. I think a lot of people have the expectation that since acupuncture uses needles, and their prior experience with needles is you go to the doctor, get a shot, and you’re done. Acupuncture is in fact an entirely different kind of medicine.
In the field of fertility, some of the latest studies are showing improved outcomes to IVF patients receiving several acupuncture treatments during the egg stimulation phase, or prior to embryo transfer, rather than only receiving acupuncture on the day of transfer.
It take patients to succeed.
Even after reading a lot of the information we practitioners provide, many people still approach acupuncture with “I’ll try it one time and see if it works” mentality. A one treatment cure is asking alot from acupuncture, and it’s asking a lot from your body that may have had a condition for years. One General rule of thumb is “one month of treatment for every year you have had the ailment.