There are two options at Adam Acupuncture for a first visit: a 1.5 hour full medical history with an acupuncture treatment, and a 1 hour herbal consult. They are pretty much the same up until the treatment phase – the herbal consult is writing a formula and the acupuncture is a physical treatment.
Before your appointment:
Wear comfy clothes and arrive 15 minutes ahead of time if you haven’t printed out your paperwork
Updated Covid-19 Procedure:
During the current Covid situation, we’re having patients wait in the car until their appointments and text when they arrive. As you enter your temperature will be checked. I request patients print and fill out the intake form ahead of time if possible to decrease time in the reception area as this are is shared with four other practitioners and we’re trying to minimize everyone’s exposure.
Intake:
After your paperwork is finished we will start the initial intake process. This can take up to an hour depending on how complex the case is and how long of a history you have. Unless your situation is a relatively simple musculo-skeletal condition, this will be a detailed intake where I will ask about all of your systems even if they might not seem related to the reason you’re coming in. This is because often there are connections in Chinese Medicine that aren’t seen as interrelated in Western Medicine. I will also do one of the more unique Chinese Medicine diagnostics – tongue diagnosis. There is a surprising amount of useful information on the tongue that gives an idea of what’s going on on the inside. If you are coming in for an herbal consult only, I will take your pulse sitting down, and the intake will be mostly complete.
Treatment:
Herbal Consult: I will write your formula and send it to the local herbal pharmacy to be filled at which point you can pick it up or have it direct shipped.
Acupuncture: You’ll position yourself on the massage table either face up, face down, or side-lying while I wash my hands. When I return, I will take your pulse at a variety of locations primarily wrist, neck, and feet and also palpate any channels that are appropriate to either your condition or the information from the pulses. After the assessment, I will perform the actual treatment using one or a variety of modalities: acupuncture, moxibustion, tui na (Chinese Massage), or others.
During the treatment phase of the appointment, the majority of the session will be acupuncture needles inserted at either standard acupuncture points or in specific tissue areas that need intervention. The needles themselves aren’t completely painless, but it feels very different from a hypodermic needle. There is sometimes a quick pinching sensation on the initial insertion, and after that there shouldn’t be any stabbing or stinging sensations. Sometimes there will be sensations with treatment including a heaviness, achiness, tingling, or a moving sensation along the limbs. Patients often describe it as being more similar to getting a deep tissue massage than being poked with a needle.
Rest/Relax:
Once the needles are in, there will be a period of 5-30 minutes where the needles stay in and you rest on the table. I know it may sound dubious that you will relax and rest with tiny needles in your body, but it’s a pretty consistent response. See the how acupuncture works for an explanation.
All set:
After the rest period, I will remove the needles. If another insertion is indicated, we will adjust your position and repeat the treatment phase. If not, you’re all set. We’ll debrief, take care of payment and rescheduling, and you’re on your way. It’s not uncommon to be a little bit light headed after a acupuncture, so I recommend moving slowly and taking it easy for a little while after the first treatment until you get used to how your body responds.
If you have any questions, feel free to contact me.