Revisiting the question of acupuncture, what has your recent experience been?

I have two friends who have had acupuncture. Totally opposite results.

One swears that it worked well for her and she got whatever relief she was after.
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The other – two sessions, she found it uncomfortable and waste of her time.

I have never done it myself, but given my friends’ experiences, I probably won’t.

My own (totally unhelpful) sole experience was on a blind date with a Chinese acupuncturist in West Hartford, set up by another Chinese friend. (I only agreed because I like the friend in the first place, and I respected her attempt to get us together.) The evening was a bust, because the acupuncturist speaks barely a word of English, though she seemed pleasant enough, and my friend assured me that she was an MD in China, but the certification doesn’t travel and she could not afford to re-certify here. So the friend had to join us on the “date” and it was … just weird.

But for an acupuncturist to have an office in the center of West Hartford speaks to some degree of financial success, at least… That real estate isn’t cheap.

Pretty much everyone I know who has tried it (three people) said it didn’t work, and one person said it caused her a lot of pain. All of them tried it because they had friends who said it helped them. What to make of that I don’t know. I guess if it makes you feel better it works.

I have had success with it in the past (a few years ago). Not a miracle cure, but a definite alleviation of the pain and I slept better for about a week after each treatment.

I’ve used it when I can afford it or insurance will pay. The acupuncturist I use has a number of certifications and continues her education as there are an endless choice of forms and techniques.

I have used her successfully for a modified NAETS treatment that was successful. I had food allergies to coconut and egg. And these were allergies not just sensitivities. I now can eat both items.

Sometimes I do feel pain at site of needles. She has offered to adjust the position to get to the point from another angle. I refuse. I find at the end of the treatment they needles once acutely tender have loosened up. Gotten all “noodle-y” I see or feel improvement in what she happened to be treating if only just better aligned..

Which some would say is a meaningless claim but I compare it to the time I was hospitalized for high potassium and low sodium. These imbalances were life threatening yet I had no idea what was wrong or how to fix it. I just felt very and increasingly unbearably “off”. So when she works on things like meridian s I have a similar result of feeling inexplicably better.