In order to get the best treatment outcomes with acupuncture, especially in cases of chronic problems, it’s important to receive frequent treatments, 2 to 3 acupuncture treatments per week, in many cases. This is particularly true at the start of treatment.
In China, patients are often treated daily for several days in a row at the outset, with treatment frequency gradually diminishing as the patient heals. In the US, that frequency is not often possible, because of cost and time, but I am finding that for the majority of people, twice a week is often necessary.
I know this sounds like I am espousing a practice-building technique, and it certainly does increase traffic in my business, but in truth, I am finding it is also the way to have greater treatment success for all kinds of problems ranging from asthma to migraines to pain syndromes.
So instead of spreading 10 treatments over a 10-week period, it is more effective to have 10 treatments in a 5-week period. It costs the same, and the results are faster and last longer, in my experience.
It just makes sense. Most patterns of disharmony, which lead to pain and illness, pain, has been established or in the process of developing for a relatively long time before I get a call for help. And since the goal of most acupuncture treatment is to address the root cause and not just treating symptoms, it takes longer for that deeper healing to occur.
Consider this analogy: Would you only exercise once a week if you expected to make marked changes to improve your health? Or would you only eat a healthy diet one day a week if you wanted to improve your health? Or take a supplement one day a week? Probably not, right? Acupuncture is no different. Diet, exercise, herbs, vitamins are more like acupuncture treatments in their regulatory effects.
When a push towards balance is accomplished with one acupuncture treatment, to make real and lasting progress, it is best to give a second push in that direction before the first push has diminished, thereby creating a cumulative effect, one treatment building upon the next.
No doubt, each person is different in their response time, and some may and do get a cumulative benefit over several once-per-week treatments. For those who do not though, it may only be the result of a too-low frequency of acupuncture that is the basis of treatment failure, and not the acupuncture itself.