There are two essential parts of extended medical treatment. The treatment needs to work, and we must stick with it long enough to see results. No matter what we’re pursuing, from weight loss to strength gain, persistence is what matters. The same can be said of receiving acupuncture treatments. Your first visit is just the beginning of the road. Only continued visits over time will produce lasting and meaningful results.
Exploring The Benefits Of Acupuncture
Think of acupuncture as you think of antibiotics. Whether you’re sick or have an infection, it’s essential that you complete the full course of treatment. If you were instructed to take antibiotics for ten days and only took them for one, the infection was likely to continue. Even an improvement in our condition is no indicator that it’s safe to stop. The full course of treatment must be followed to ensure that the infection is defeated.
Acupuncture has been an effective way to treat various conditions and maintain good health for thousands of years. Throughout this time, one thing has remained certain. Only persistent treatment on a regular schedule will produce the benefits this treatment can provide. As a result, it’s essential that anyone seeking acupuncture treatment be ready to complete the course of treatment suggested by the practitioner.
.Just as with the antibiotic treatment mentioned earlier, the course of acupuncture treatment will vary. Some factors that come into play are:
- The age of the patient
- The severity of the condition
- Other health conditions the patient has
- The progress observed in the patient
The duration of treatment matters because the benefits of acupuncture are cumulative. Each treatment expands on the results of the one before it. Most patients will report that they’ve experienced an improvement in their condition for a few days following the treatment. After this time, their symptoms will begin to return. This isn’t a sign that the treatment is ineffective; in fact, it’s quite the opposite. What it indicates is that continued treatments are necessary to produce lasting results.
As the course of treatment continues, the severity of the condition being treated will lessen. Symptoms will begin to appear less frequently, with a rise in symptom-free days. Eventually, these patients will experience a full recovery. Just as chronic conditions tend to set in overtime, it will take time to properly address them. Acupuncture doesn’t aim to produce immediate, short-term results. The goal is lasting relief and improvement of health.
Acupuncture is a standard part of medical treatment in China. Many of those undergoing treatment in that country will receive daily treatments for a couple of weeks, which completes their courses of treatment. American patients tend to find this less practical and so receive treatments once or twice a week. This can still produce significant results; it just takes longer to achieve them. A general rule when determining the length of treatment is one month for each year that the condition has been present.
Consult Your Acupuncturist To Learn How To Begin
Acupuncture is an effective method of treatment that has been a mainstay of Eastern medicine for millennia. While it is relatively new to Western medicine, it has quickly gained a reputation as a safe and effective mode of treatment for certain conditions. Speak to your acupuncturist to determine if it’s right for you.
