Expert: R. Scott Malone L.Ac. - 2/16/2008

Question
I had my first acupuncture session last week. Im going back next week. On some of the websites about it, it often states 'results often seen after the first visit' To me I would think anything health related would take more time than that to see real effect. So far any effect has been marginal, and I don't want to be discouraged. Can you tell me does it often take multiple visits to begin healing.

Answer
Hello Todd,

In my practice I run a series of five initial visits.
Everybody is different, and people respond to treatment differently.
Often there is marked improvement with the first visit, but there are times where the real shift doesn't take place until that fourth or fifth visit. Five visits gives me time to see how the patient responds to treatment, so I can make a proper prognosis.
5 visits also lets me know if I can help the patient at all.
If there is no result in 5 visits, then I try to recommend someone else for them to see. I use herbs in conjunction with acupuncture, and sometimes it takes a week or so to tweak the formula for the patient as you see the response to it.

Feel free if you have any further questions.

R. Scott Malone L.Ac.