Frequency of Treatments

How Many Treatments Are Necessary? The frequency of acupuncture treatment the clinic recommends is dependent on the severity of your symptoms, the duration of these symptoms, or the specific illness you desire to treat. See the scale below for guidelines. You may only need 1-3 acupuncture treatments if your complaint has persisted for a week or two, depending on the severity of your symptoms. If you have had an ailment for many years or decades, give yourself enough treatments to experience improvement - allow yourself at least 6 treatments at the recommended frequency to start with. Then we can re-evaluate based on your response. As you start to feel better, you can reduce the frequency of treatments. If your ailment is alleviated, just come in when you feel you need to, if you suffer a recurrence or if you are going through a stressful time. The acupuncturist will give you their best estimate of how long and often to come after your first treatment.

Keep in mind that acupuncture can be used to maintain wellness as well as treat illness.

How often should I come?

Using the scale of 1 to 10 to assess the level of pain or distress 1= lowest and 10= highest:

10 out of 10 on the pain scale or "At the end of your rope"
Every day until we see some change

7-9 out of 10
3 x week for 2-3 weeks then re-evaluate.

5-7 out of 10
2 x week for 2-3 weeks then re-evaluate.

Less than 5 out of 10
1 x week for 6 weeks

Mild/chronic issues
(you have had condition 3 mos-1yr)
1 x week for 8 -10 weeks then re-evaluate

Very long-term/chronic
2 x week for 10 weeks,
or 3 x week for 7 weeks
then re-evaluate.

Gynecological pain or Irregularity
Weekly until a normal cycle is established, then every other week until 2 ok cycles
then 1x month during the week before the problem week.

Chronic stress (and related symptoms)
1 x week until stress subsides

Chronic conditions with poor prognosis
1 x week indefinitely

Wellness and Prevention
1 x per week, especially before travel, during season changes, or times of higher stress