You are probably used to going to your family doctor or walk-in clinic to get a needle. You will most likely be going so the doctor can take a sample of your blood. The needles they use are hypodermic needles, and are therefore hollow inside. The entire purpose of the needle is to enter your vein, so it can extract blood. The hollow aspect means that it is ripping through tissue, and it will cause pain.
Acupuncture needles are not hollow, they are very thin, about the size of your hair. The exact diameter is about 0.14mm to 0.30mm, and the average is about 0.20mm in thickness. This is extremely thin.
Acupuncture aims to insert the needle superficially and is not aiming to hit a nerve, vein or artery. This cause there to be a slight feeling when the needle is inserted, but none of our patients are in pain when they are receiving acupuncture.
During an Acupuncture treatment, we aim to get “Qi” sensations. Everyone feels Qi differently, but some common sensations include; numbness, tingling, heaviness, radiating energy, heat, cold, slight achiness. These Qi sensations are a good sign that things are working well.
The next time someone says that acupuncture hurts, ask them how many times they received acupuncture, and if it was performed by a trained Acupuncturist!
