Acupuncture didn't work the first time. Any point in continuing?
December 1, 2015 3:59 AM Subscribe
I got acupuncture for my chronically itchy skin and it was an unpleasant experience. Should I keep with it?
I have painfully itchy atopic skin and am doing all I can with the help of dermatologists and allergists, but I decided to give acupuncture a try in case it could help with a neuropathic element and because I'm sick of steroids.
I had heard acupuncture was relaxing and not painful, but that wasn't my experience at all; though the place I went to has uniformly good reviews and the practitioner seemed very confident, the needles kept hurting after they were in and I felt very physically uncomfortable. I had trouble sitting still for such an extended period and occasionally I would move a little and they would hurt more. It was a pretty excruciating hour, and I never got any of the euphoric or pain-remitting feelings people describe, either during or afterwards.
I know acupuncture is controversial and some people think it doesn't work at all, others think it works exactly as described, and still others think it works sometimes due to placebo or gate control theory, and I don't really want to start big arguments over that here. I am interested in your opinion on this: since I had a miserable experience my first time, is it worth continuing with the treatments? The clinic recommends several weeks of therapy before you see an effect, but I'm slightly disinclined to believe that when I got nothing good out of the first visit.
I have painfully itchy atopic skin and am doing all I can with the help of dermatologists and allergists, but I decided to give acupuncture a try in case it could help with a neuropathic element and because I'm sick of steroids.
I had heard acupuncture was relaxing and not painful, but that wasn't my experience at all; though the place I went to has uniformly good reviews and the practitioner seemed very confident, the needles kept hurting after they were in and I felt very physically uncomfortable. I had trouble sitting still for such an extended period and occasionally I would move a little and they would hurt more. It was a pretty excruciating hour, and I never got any of the euphoric or pain-remitting feelings people describe, either during or afterwards.
I know acupuncture is controversial and some people think it doesn't work at all, others think it works exactly as described, and still others think it works sometimes due to placebo or gate control theory, and I don't really want to start big arguments over that here. I am interested in your opinion on this: since I had a miserable experience my first time, is it worth continuing with the treatments? The clinic recommends several weeks of therapy before you see an effect, but I'm slightly disinclined to believe that when I got nothing good out of the first visit.
Not with this practitioner. Part of the experience is that you're comfortable, if you're not, then it's not going to work for you.
Find another clinic, and see if it's better, if it's not, then perhaps this isn't the therapy for you.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 4:30 AM on December 1, 2015 [1 favorite]
Find another clinic, and see if it's better, if it's not, then perhaps this isn't the therapy for you.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 4:30 AM on December 1, 2015 [1 favorite]
Not with that practitioner.
Generally, acupuncture shouldn't hurt: I sometimes get points that feel unusually warm or a little tender, but it's more 'oh, that's interesting' and definitely not 'ow'.
Look for someone who will let you have a phone and headphones (listen to music, a podcast, audio book) while you're having the treatment: I find that helps a lot with being able to sit still for me. (Though minor movements shouldn't hurt as long as you don't actually nudge the needles, generally.)
I don't generally get euphoria or anything like that, but it doesn't hurt, and the stuff we were treating feels better afterwards. (I use it mostly for mitigation of symptoms for low-grade chronic stuff.)
posted by modernhypatia at 5:54 AM on December 1, 2015 [1 favorite]
Generally, acupuncture shouldn't hurt: I sometimes get points that feel unusually warm or a little tender, but it's more 'oh, that's interesting' and definitely not 'ow'.
Look for someone who will let you have a phone and headphones (listen to music, a podcast, audio book) while you're having the treatment: I find that helps a lot with being able to sit still for me. (Though minor movements shouldn't hurt as long as you don't actually nudge the needles, generally.)
I don't generally get euphoria or anything like that, but it doesn't hurt, and the stuff we were treating feels better afterwards. (I use it mostly for mitigation of symptoms for low-grade chronic stuff.)
posted by modernhypatia at 5:54 AM on December 1, 2015 [1 favorite]
Did you communicate your discomfort? Just wondering. If you did I'm surprised they didn't make adjustments to the needles or your posture.
I would try the same person again but that's just to control the variables in your question. You want to know if acupuncture is helpful and switching people may create a different (perhaps better or worse) experience. If you go to another place, mention your discomfort and difficulty laying still for an extended period. The person I see does hour long appointments but they're split between front, back, and light massage which leaves about 15-20 minutes in any particular position.
If you try this person again and don't get better results, then I would try someone else (at least one time) to see if you have a better experience. If someone else is better for you then I'd still give it a few sessions to see results.
posted by toomanycurls at 8:12 AM on December 1, 2015 [1 favorite]
I would try the same person again but that's just to control the variables in your question. You want to know if acupuncture is helpful and switching people may create a different (perhaps better or worse) experience. If you go to another place, mention your discomfort and difficulty laying still for an extended period. The person I see does hour long appointments but they're split between front, back, and light massage which leaves about 15-20 minutes in any particular position.
If you try this person again and don't get better results, then I would try someone else (at least one time) to see if you have a better experience. If someone else is better for you then I'd still give it a few sessions to see results.
posted by toomanycurls at 8:12 AM on December 1, 2015 [1 favorite]
I see several different practitioners depending on who is available at my healthcare center.
The more traditional ones may use thicker needles that you'll feel more. Some use thin needles you won't feel at all. Each practitioner has a completely different style. As a masochistic Chinese person I'm ok with the thicker needles that do sometimes hurt ;p
Definitely try someone else.
posted by raw sugar at 2:32 PM on December 1, 2015
The more traditional ones may use thicker needles that you'll feel more. Some use thin needles you won't feel at all. Each practitioner has a completely different style. As a masochistic Chinese person I'm ok with the thicker needles that do sometimes hurt ;p
Definitely try someone else.
posted by raw sugar at 2:32 PM on December 1, 2015
n=1, everyone's different; I get electroacupuncture for chronic pain related to tendinopathy (in multiple places, I've been doing it a while with one practitioner). It stings a bit just on initial placement, and there's like a tingling when the charge goes through, but it's not painful. When it has been painful, my PT's changed the insertion point or depth, because it's not supposed to hurt. I don't remember feeling immediate euphoria or pain relief after a single session - if anything, I've felt uncomfortably jangly - but over about 8-10 of these sessions (plus trigger point massage), chronic pain was significantly reduced in my peroneal tendon and brachioradialis. (That arm later flared up again after too much load, but those sessions took care of pain for about a year.)
(I guess the rough idea is that electroacupuncture might "retune" pathways that respond hypersensitively and inappropriately to any stimulus with nocioception [and not only perpetuate nocioception in a very localized area, but spread it to surrounding cells] by changing the voltage across calcium channels. I just had a quick read on the neural approach for atypical dermatitis, sounds like it could maybe work in a similar way?)
I've also had non-electroacupuncture in the past, by different practitioners, and don't remember any even medium-term reduction in pain, though the sessions themselves did typically feel more pleasant [little stings and then mild analgesia - I think just because of increased blood flow & some kind of psychological contrast effect, but there's data out there that says it can help. (For me, electroacupuncture > regular acupuncture by miles. I think it's mainly the electricity. But anyway.)
tl;dr - try another practitioner (and maybe try electroacupuncture).
posted by cotton dress sock at 5:44 PM on December 1, 2015
(I guess the rough idea is that electroacupuncture might "retune" pathways that respond hypersensitively and inappropriately to any stimulus with nocioception [and not only perpetuate nocioception in a very localized area, but spread it to surrounding cells] by changing the voltage across calcium channels. I just had a quick read on the neural approach for atypical dermatitis, sounds like it could maybe work in a similar way?)
I've also had non-electroacupuncture in the past, by different practitioners, and don't remember any even medium-term reduction in pain, though the sessions themselves did typically feel more pleasant [little stings and then mild analgesia - I think just because of increased blood flow & some kind of psychological contrast effect, but there's data out there that says it can help. (For me, electroacupuncture > regular acupuncture by miles. I think it's mainly the electricity. But anyway.)
tl;dr - try another practitioner (and maybe try electroacupuncture).
posted by cotton dress sock at 5:44 PM on December 1, 2015
Oh also - if you were dehydrated on that day (e.g. went out the night before), that could have contributed to more pain than would have happened otherwise.
posted by cotton dress sock at 5:56 PM on December 1, 2015
posted by cotton dress sock at 5:56 PM on December 1, 2015
Did you tell the practitioner that you were uncomfortable? I always do (the second a pin goes it!) and she moves the needles. She also leaves me with a buzzer in case I get uncomfortable at some point. If you did speak up and the practitioner told you that was normal then absolutely go somewhere else.
posted by Toddles at 6:42 PM on December 1, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Toddles at 6:42 PM on December 1, 2015 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: It was kind of a weird situation because I was in a quiet room with other people and it was unattended for a while. I felt like I only had a chance to bring up the discomfort at the beginning, but it all happened too fast and my brain works slow sometimes. Probably being able to communicate more easily with the practitioner would help? I really appreciate all the suggestions here!
posted by thetortoise at 6:59 PM on December 1, 2015
posted by thetortoise at 6:59 PM on December 1, 2015
Response by poster: I'm thinking, given all the feedback here, maybe this sort of community setting isn't a great idea for someone with communication difficulties and that I should try a practitioner who is able to work with me more individually? (I especially appreciate the suggestion of electroacupuncture, which I hadn't considered before.)
posted by thetortoise at 7:12 PM on December 1, 2015
posted by thetortoise at 7:12 PM on December 1, 2015
No problem :)
maybe this sort of community setting isn't a great idea for someone with communication difficulties and that I should try a practitioner who is able to work with me more individually?
Yes, I think that could help. Maybe you could call (this place or another) and ask for a private session?
I think it'd be awkward with a lot of people in a room - I've lucked out and only been alone or in a room with one other person. Also, most practitioners explicitly asked me to tell them if anything hurt. I have been left alone, and once had to shout for the person to come back (which was awkward for me!), but they did. It's hard to know what to do the first time you go, though, and it's definitely unsettling to have someone hovering over you and putting needles into you. That does get easier, as you get to know the practitioner a bit, and become familiar with the routine. Good luck, I hope you find something that works!
posted by cotton dress sock at 8:26 PM on December 1, 2015
maybe this sort of community setting isn't a great idea for someone with communication difficulties and that I should try a practitioner who is able to work with me more individually?
Yes, I think that could help. Maybe you could call (this place or another) and ask for a private session?
I think it'd be awkward with a lot of people in a room - I've lucked out and only been alone or in a room with one other person. Also, most practitioners explicitly asked me to tell them if anything hurt. I have been left alone, and once had to shout for the person to come back (which was awkward for me!), but they did. It's hard to know what to do the first time you go, though, and it's definitely unsettling to have someone hovering over you and putting needles into you. That does get easier, as you get to know the practitioner a bit, and become familiar with the routine. Good luck, I hope you find something that works!
posted by cotton dress sock at 8:26 PM on December 1, 2015
what the... are you getting acupuncture in a group? that is really not how it is supposed to work. you're supposed to have a long pre-session with your practitioner talking through your symptoms and habits, and they'll do things like examine your tongue and pulse to figure out which pressure points to stimulate.
posted by raw sugar at 8:33 PM on December 1, 2015
posted by raw sugar at 8:33 PM on December 1, 2015
« Older How can I learn to accept that perfect is the... | Living in the world of 20-30 something players Newer »
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by listen, lady at 4:29 AM on December 1, 2015 [1 favorite]