r/acupuncture

As the existing model of acu education falls apart, I'm wondering what practitioners think an ~ideal~ future model would be?

Hypothetically, if costs were reasonable and the same per credit/energy/time spent, do you think a:

vocation model: shorter education timeline, less didactic classes, more in-person experience, more business-forward

or

grad school model: longer timeline, deeper into theory/history, perhaps more complex disease/illness training, prep for white-collar environment (not entrepreneurial)

would be ideal for the current and future state of acupuncture work in the US?

Patient perception seems to be changing post-covid, so the latter professional grad school model seems more appropriate now than ever. Would love to hear thoughts, thanks!

My husband and I went for our first Saahm appointment yesterday. We both have continuing pain from a car accident 16 years ago. Most of my pain is left sided migraines, neck pain and right ear tinnitus. I also tend to be stressed out and have a trauma background that I’ve already done a lot of emotional work on. My husband has low back and hip pain, neuropathy, and anxiety.

During the session, my pain kept . . . shifting. I thought that was strange, but I kept my acupuncturist informed as the pain sensations slowly moved. The migraine is usually behind my left eye, shifted to more forehead, top of my head. The tinnitus shifted from right ear to left, slowly back and forth. The neck pain mostly alleviated during the session, but came back this morning.

During the session, the bottom of my left foot had brief pain, then I felt pain in my left knee. I also tend to be high stress, and toward the end, I felt my body trying to relax, but my mind seemed to impede the relaxation. Right after that, I began feeling nauseous and lightheaded. The needles came out shortly after, as the session was over. It was 2.5 hours for the initial session.

I didn’t know what was happening in my body. My husband started with much more pain than I have, but didn’t seem nearly as affected by the treatment in terms of shifting pain, nausea, etc.

When I got home, I just felt tired. This morning, I have terrible nausea, pain on the right temple, right tinnitus (less than yesterday), neck pain, and low back pain. We are supposed to go back in 2 days for a second treatment. I’m so sick today, I’m wondering if 2 days is too soon. I also feel like crying.

Am I just sensitive to acupuncture? Is this a common reaction?

Has anyone tried acupuncture to help alleviate or cure their chronique fatigue?

Looking for a top notch acupuncturist who works with pediatric patients in the Bay Area. Appreciate any leads, more so better if you have had personal experience.

Thank you!

It makes me dizzy once I get to the 2.5 hour mark after eating and nowadays it makes my right testicle feel discomfort/numb sorta until I get enough glucose/carbs in.

I'm not entirely sure if it's with or without low blood sugar or a relative drop in blood sugar since I don't have a CGM and haven't pricked myself a lot with a blood sugar tester, but the 5 or so times I checked I was above normal blood sugar range when I was having symptoms.
I read that there are many causes of this issue and not just due to insulin, such as metabolic issues or gastric bypass surgery. I read some people have fixed it or improved it by taking kefir to help with gut bacteria or some nutrition that they found out they were missing like a sodium deficiency or dysautonomia.
I believe my issue stems a lot from my sleep apnea and Upper Airway Resistance Syndrome (UARS) which causes both sleep (and daytime) breathing issues, knocking me out of deep sleep (microarousals) and stressing my body.

Does it make sense to see a TCM Dr. about this, or rule out causes from the Western medical perspective first especially if I have government coverage where I live? Or would TCM be a lot quicker to know once they diagnose my pulse, tongue, etc?

Please and thank you for any advice.

Practitioners, which needle brands are your favorite and why?

I’m newly licensed and am accustomed to using Wabbo, DBC, and Peace because those are what my school provided. I’m curious what else is out there :)

Lately my face just looks exhausted all the time, skin feels dull, kinda puffy, and I’m starting to notice fine lines more than before. I’ve already spent way too much on skincare and facials, but nothing really lasts.

Some friends here keep telling me cosmetic acupuncture is super popular in SF and way more natural than jumping into Botox/fillers. Curious if it actually improved anyone’s skin texture/glow or if it’s mostly hype.

Would love practitioner recs around Mission too if you’ve had a good experience.

https://preview.redd.it/l1u01vzhek0h1.png?width=1830&format=png&auto=webp&s=acf670db0d0a32f3f110ab24bd20bf6b433d0f65

Hi!

I had a fertility acupuncture session today. I am on my third IUI, about 12 days after the trigger shot and 11 days after the IUI. I am currently taking progesterone during the two week wait.

My practitioner told me today that my pulse was slippery, but that my liver pulse wasn't super low (but wasn't not low/wasn't indicating getting my period either). Once she placed needles, she felt it moving lower.

What do y'all think?

I am considering my options to start in the summer or fall due to the Grad PLUS loan being pulled after July 1.

But, I want to ask anyone here what advice do you have for an incoming student that would be jumping in quickly. Are there any study supplies or things that helped you?

Any advice for the first year?

Last July I was attacked by someone who kicked a door into my body at full force at work, I was on worker’s comp for awhile and diagnosed with whiplash and a concussion. I’ve since ended my worker’s comp case and have been pursuing acupuncture treatment through my own insurance. I have chronic pain in my neck, shoulders and back. My neck pain is so bad it causes migraines.

I’ve been seeing the same acupuncturist twice a week for a month and half and my pain has only stayed the same or worsened. My first appointment was excruciating to the point I couldn’t even take a full breath and my acupuncturist didn’t make adjustments during the session when I informed him. He keeps telling me I will feel worse and then better after treatment but I never actually feel better and I’m getting tired of going there for seemingly no help. I’ve previously done acupuncture many years ago after a car accident and it really improved things for me so I’m confused as to why it’s having the opposite effect now. He seems confused that I’m not having any improvement but isn’t really offering any feedback or solutions to the problem. Should I look for another acupuncturist? This isn’t normal right?

Hello!

I am a medical student in China!

For the TCM (traditional Chinese medicine) course final we have to give a 5 minute presentation on a topic related to TCM!

I was looking for a novel topic to work on for my presentation!

Drop your suggestions here!

So i had a bad acid trip 4 months ago. Had panicked and hospitalized for a day. After which i couldn't sit infront of pc, mobile or anything. I think it's not just pc, mobile, etc but they are the main triggers. Is that the acid trip associated dopamine with panic, iam not sure. But everytime i use mobile, pc, etc i feel the stress, irritation and have to stop it. Also i can't do any hard effortful tasks. I think the common theme is any tasks that require controlling your thoughts bring out the symptoms. My body wants to be automatic, connected to that oneness and not want to feel seperate i guess.

Someone here recommended me to try acupuncture. Acupuncture is cheap at my place so i decided to give it a try. I had my first session yesterday. It seemed to calm my body more than any meds can. It seems that i can tolerate using devices more now. It hasn't cured me fully yet but i can definitely see improvements.