Frequently Asked Questions

Most people find acupuncture much more comfortable than they expected. Sensations may include mild pressure, heaviness, warmth, tingling, a dull ache, or a brief prick at insertion.

Treatment intensity is adjusted to your comfort level. A strong sensation is not always necessary for a treatment to be useful.

Many patients feel relaxed, heavy, warm, or sleepy. Others notice subtle changes in breathing, muscle tone, pain sensitivity, or body awareness. Depending on your goals, we may also look for changes in movement, sensation, coordination, or symptom intensity before and after needling.

From a Traditional Chinese Medicine perspective, acupuncture helps regulate the movement of qi, blood, and organ-system patterns. From a modern physiology perspective, acupuncture may influence local tissue signaling, peripheral nerves, spinal cord processing, endogenous pain modulation, autonomic tone, and brain networks involved in pain, stress, and body awareness.

Our clinic uses both frameworks: the traditional pattern helps guide the whole-person picture, while anatomy and neuroscience help refine treatment strategy.

No. A positive mindset can help any treatment experience, but acupuncture is not presented here as a belief-based therapy. We focus on careful assessment, appropriate treatment selection, measurable patient goals, and reassessment over time.

Your first visit usually includes a detailed health history, discussion of your goals, review of relevant medical diagnoses or imaging when available, TCM assessment, and a focused functional or neurologic screen when appropriate.

Treatment may include acupuncture, manual techniques, electroacupuncture, scalp acupuncture, moxibustion, or education depending on your presentation and comfort level.

That depends on the condition, how long it has been present, your overall health, and how your body responds. Acute issues may need fewer visits. Chronic pain, neurologic symptoms, digestive patterns, hormonal concerns, and autoimmune/inflammatory presentations often require a more structured plan.

The goal is to reassess regularly rather than keep treating indefinitely without a clear purpose.

Many treatment plans begin with weekly visits, especially for chronic or complex conditions. Some acute or highly active symptoms may benefit from closer spacing early on. As symptoms stabilize, visits are often spaced farther apart.

Wear comfortable, loose-fitting clothing that allows access to the arms, legs, abdomen, back, neck, or scalp depending on the treatment. Shorts or loose pants are often helpful. Draping is used when needed for comfort and privacy.

Most patients do best with hydration, a normal meal, light movement, and avoiding unusually intense exercise immediately after treatment. Some temporary soreness, fatigue, or symptom fluctuation can occur, especially after deeper musculoskeletal or neurologic work.

The clinic is designed around an integrative model: Traditional Chinese Medicine, functional anatomy, segmental relationships, peripheral nerve pathways, and additional contemporary frameworks are considered together. This can be especially useful when symptoms involve pain, nerve irritation, altered sensation, stress physiology, movement, digestion, sleep, or autonomic regulation.

Neurofunctional acupuncture is a physiologically informed style of treatment that considers how acupuncture stimulation may interact with muscles, joints, nerves, spinal segments, autonomic pathways, and brain-body regulation. It does not replace TCM diagnosis; it adds another layer of clinical reasoning.

Yes. TCM remains central. Tongue, pulse, channel palpation, symptom patterns, temperature, digestion, sleep, stress, menstrual history, pain quality, and constitutional tendencies can all shape the treatment plan. The difference is that these findings are also considered alongside anatomy, neurology, and functional assessment.

When relevant, care may include a focused screen of sensation, movement, coordination, balance, pain distribution, or functional tasks. This is not a replacement for medical neurology, emergency evaluation, diagnostic imaging, or physician care. Concerning findings are referred out appropriately.

Scalp acupuncture uses specific treatment regions on the scalp, often selected for neurologic or functional goals. It may be considered for nerve-related symptoms, movement concerns, headache patterns, post-stroke support, or sensory changes when appropriate.

Electroacupuncture applies gentle electrical stimulation through acupuncture needles. It allows stimulation parameters such as frequency and intensity to be adjusted more precisely than manual needle stimulation. It may be used for pain, muscle guarding, nerve irritation, and certain functional patterns when appropriate.

Moxibustion is a traditional heat therapy using processed mugwort near acupuncture points or body regions. In a modern clinical context, it may be used for warmth, circulation-oriented goals, sensory stimulation, digestive patterns, menstrual concerns, or certain chronic pain presentations. Smoke, odor, respiratory sensitivity, pregnancy status, and burn risk are considered before use.

Not necessarily. Treatment is selected based on your presentation. Some visits may use only manual acupuncture. Others may include scalp acupuncture, electroacupuncture, moxibustion, movement assessment, palpation, or patient education.

Common areas include chronic pain, neck and back pain, headaches, migraine patterns, nerve pain, neuropathy symptoms, stress and anxiety-related patterns, sleep disruption, digestive complaints, hormonal and reproductive health concerns, and supportive care for autoimmune or inflammatory conditions.

The clinic does not claim to cure these conditions. Care is individualized and often works best as part of a broader medical and lifestyle plan.

Acupuncture may be used as supportive care for stress, anxiety patterns, sleep disruption, tension, emotional regulation, and nervous system balance. It is not a replacement for psychotherapy, psychiatric care, medication management, or crisis support when those are needed.

The clinic may support patients with menstrual cycle concerns, PCOS-related patterns, fertility support, menopause symptoms, and stress-related endocrine patterns. Acupuncture is best framed as supportive care, not a guarantee of pregnancy or a replacement for reproductive endocrinology, OB-GYN care, or appropriate lab evaluation.

Acupuncture may be used to support pain, stress regulation, sleep, fatigue, quality of life, and inflammatory symptom patterns. It should not replace prescribed medications, rheumatology care, endocrinology care, or monitoring for autoimmune disease activity.

Acupuncture is generally considered safe when performed by a trained, licensed clinician using sterile, single-use needles. Like any intervention, it has risks, including soreness, bruising, bleeding, dizziness, faintness, skin irritation, or rare complications. Your health history helps determine what techniques are appropriate. Licensed acupuncturists (LAc.) have at minimum 2000 hours of training, which covers rigorous instruction in both Eastern medical theory and Western biomedical sciences, followed by extensive hands-on clinical internships.

Yes. Acupuncture is commonly used alongside conventional care. It should not be used to delay diagnosis or treatment for serious symptoms. You should continue prescribed medications unless your prescribing clinician tells you otherwise.

Pregnancy requires specific precautions. Some points and techniques are avoided or modified. Always inform the clinic if you are pregnant, trying to conceive, undergoing fertility treatment, or there is any possibility of pregnancy.

For those taking blood thinners, treatment plans may be modified and additional cautions are taken regarding needle size, manipulation technique, etc. Blood thinners, bleeding disorders, low platelet count, immune suppression, implanted devices, seizure history, and certain cardiac or neurologic conditions should be disclosed before treatment.

Our practice has elected to not work directly with insurance companies as it greatly limits our ability to deliver tailored treatment plans that speak to the unique needs of our patients. If your insurance covers out of network acupuncture services, they may cover all or a portion of services from Anjou Acupuncture. Our administrative staff can provide you with specialized bills called “Superbills” that include diagnostic codes and associated practitioner information required for insurance reimbursement.

Generally speaking, appointments last anywhere from 45 to 90 minutes depending on the scope and treatment goals of the day.

Bring a medication and supplement list, relevant diagnoses, recent imaging or labs if available, the names of key providers involved in your care, and a short list of your top treatment goals.

You can schedule through the online booking link, call the clinic, or use the contact form.