Have you tried it? Why?

Did it help?

How many appointments did you have before you noticed a difference?

Did it hurt/make things worse?

Let's discuss.

I've been trying it for the past month and half. I do it for my headaches, they have not gone away but have noticed that they have not been as intense as they once were. It does not hurt, its a very small poke, the person I go to only puts the needles in the ear, which I found odd but stuck with it hoping it would help. I almost feel like I am paying to take a 20 minute nap because as soon as I am left in the room alone, I doze off Not sure that I will continue with this?

I haven't but been thinking about it for stress relief.

jone70 said:

Have you tried it? Why?

Did it help?

How many appointments did you have before you noticed a difference?

Did it hurt/make things worse?

Let's discuss.

i tried it way back when. it helped the symptoms but not the underlying cause of the pain. in fact, because it helped alleviate the symptoms, it delayed me from getting treatment for something i should have had treatment for straight away.

Thanks for the responses. My friend has been having neck and shoulder pain for almost a month. The doctor told him that it was a muscle strain, probably from a muscle spasm. The doctor said to take Tylenol and Advil, ice pack, etc. but nothing is really helping and he is in a lot of pain. I thought maybe acupuncture would help. Even if it doesn't, my thought was there was no harm in trying it.

jone70 said:

Have you tried it? Why?

Did it help?

How many appointments did you have before you noticed a difference?

Did it hurt/make things worse?

Let's discuss.

Swear by it. Have used acu and TCM for everything from chronic pain to compulsive behaviours, calming down my nervous system and everything in between. I go once a month and am currently focusing on repairing my digestive system after 15 years of self-punishment. It's certainly not a quick fix - the results are cumulative and kind of creep up on you. I've found auricular acupuncture to be really effective but, as with most things, you've got to find a good practitioner and commit to them.

Am very wary of self-medicating. I believe that every time you pop a pill you're effectively tellling your body to 'shut up'. Acu brings whatever needs to be cleared right up to the surface so it's quite normal to feel worse before you feel better.

And, no, it doesn't hurt. Just a slight burning sensation at the more sensitive points.

jone70 said:

Thanks for the responses. My friend has been having neck and shoulder pain for almost a month. The doctor told him that it was a muscle strain, probably from a muscle spasm. The doctor said to take Tylenol and Advil, ice pack, etc. :blahblah: but nothing is really helping and he is in a lot of pain. I thought maybe acupuncture would help. Even if it doesn't, my thought was there was no harm in trying it.

I get massage and that seems to work for that. When they apply pressure to the armpit it releases the muscle under the shoulder-where you cant massage otherwise. It cured that issue completely. (about 3 massages once a week.) But if you do a lot of lifting, it may require continued work-just depends on their lifestyle. But exercise and stretching is key to keeping the body well.

While some studies have found some small benefits to acupuncture, the effects tend to disappear when more rigorous trials are performed. The treatment seems to behave as most alternative modalities do; the closer you look at the practice, the more the effect diminishes. While it's not impossible that there's some efficacy to the practice, the most reasonable position right now seems to be that any benefit gained is from the placebo effect.

http://theness.com/neurol...a-placebo/

http://www.painjournalonl...8/abstract

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.g...MC1371348/

http://www.quackwatch.com...s/acu.html