| Many patients seeking acupuncture therapy have numerous important
questions. Please talk with your primary physician and acupuncturist prior
to initiating any therapy. Question: Is there any risk of acquiring a disease from
acupuncture, such as infection, Hepatitis B, or HIV?
Answer: Anytime a needle pierces the skin there is a small risk
of infection. Since acupuncture needles are small gauge and solid, they
pose an extremely low risk of transmission. Furthermore, most
practitioners use single-use disposable needles, or at the very least,
autoclaved solid (metal only) needles. Discuss this with your
acupuncturist, as they should not re-use needles.
Question: Will I bleed or bruise?
Answer: Bleeding is a possibility if the needle comes into
contact with a capillary or larger blood vessel. Applying pressure
superficially generally stops the bleeding promptly. Occasionally, a
bruise develops a few days following acupuncture. This is not harmful and
will self-resolve.
Question: Will acupuncture interfere with any other therapy or
medications?
Answer: No. Acupuncture should not interfere with any
other therapies.
Question: Will the needle placement hurt?
Answer: Some people feel a small pinch at insertion, but
otherwise no. Many people do not feel the needle penetrate at all.
Question: Are there any serious side-effects?
Answer: Acupuncture is normally a safe, effective, economical
therapy without complications but some serious side-effects have been reported, especially
with the previous use of long needles (greater than 1 inch). People have
suffered joint infections, internal bleeding, and collapsed lungs as a result of
over-insertion. However, most practitioners use short needles to reduce
the occurrence of such side-effects. Acupuncture is not advised for patients
with a completely empty or full stomach, pregnancy, or cardiac congestion as
this may lead to fainting, vomiting, abortion, or cardiac arrest.
|
