How Often Should I Get Acupuncture?

I'm often asked “How often should I get acupuncture?"

For most people, the answer is once a month - this keeps the body balanced and healthy throughout the year.

However, almost all new patients come to the clinic with an ache or pain, be it physical, emotional or mental. These blockages almost always take a bit of work to get unstuck so I usually recommend 2 treatments a week for 2 weeks and review then - most often stretching to weekly treatments until the issue is resolved. This can be a few weeks for a new injury, or longer for chronic, long standing conditions.

But most people don't know that acupuncture and chinese medicine works best as a preventative and maintenance medicine - just like a good diet and exercise. In this case, the ‘how often and when’ answer is quite different…

If someone wanted to get acupuncture once a year, I would suggest that person decides which season one struggles with most, or enjoys the least and then I suggest that that person gets a treatment at the start of that season.

This is because often that will be the season that corresponds to the element most out of balance or most deficient within the body and giving that element a transformative boost at the start of the season can have a dramatic effect.

If choosing to get Acupuncture about 5 times a year, I'd recommend a treatment at the start of each season. (Yep, Chinese Medicine has 5 seasons!) Acupuncture is about transformation and allowing the qi of one element to foster another. Each season corresponds to an element so supporting the natural transformation of energy with the changing seasons can pay great dividends to the body, soul and mind.

For patients getting monthly treatments, choosing the best time is a more personal thing. Maybe the end of the month is normally stressful, or the middle of the month is when there's actually a bit of free time. For women, sometimes the best time can be based on her cycle.

Monthly treatments are, in my opinion, the ideal way to keep healthy, catch issues before they arise or become a big issue. It's one hour a month of blissful relaxation devoted to helping every other aspect of one's life.

Finally with patients that have gotten help with chronic or long term ailments, the process is to stretch the time between appointments so that the ailment is managed. This can take a bit of time, but usually stretches to monthly appointments within a couple of months meaning mobility and quality of life has been restored and is now being maintained.

How often do I get acupuncture? Generally, once a week.

And the best time to add acupuncture to your health and wellness regime? Well… now!

Questions or Comments? Please feel free to reach out to me on 0864059898 (whatsapp, messages and calls) or rory@roryryanacupuncture.ie (email) www.roryryanacupuncture.ie (online booking)