Is acupuncture supposed to give relief right away?

My previous acupuncture story is at https://www.healingwell.com/community/default.aspx?f=16&m=3015018

I went for a second round today which was pretty awful. The previous round was frontal, although my nerve pain is from my neck (see the fractured neck novel at the above site). Today's was face down on the most uncomfortable exam table. I couldn't find a tolerable position for my face in the hole in the hard-padded headrest.

After the first half dozen needles my leg started spasming. All but one of the needles hurt. The ones in my hands had to be taken out. I should have asked for one in a foot to be taken out.

This time the doctor hooked me up to something that made a tapping feeling in mid to lower spine area.

I could not relax the entire 15 minutes because of needle pain and muscle spasms.

One of the needles in my ear gave me some bleeding that got all over my white (of course) shirt. Fortunately they had some hydrogen peroxide.

Someone asked me if I felt relief. No. Was I supposed to? When is it supposed to start?

I wonder if something like dry needling, or trigger point injections may work better for you?? It's a thought, it's certainly something to look into.

I've had extensive experience with acupuncture, from a number of different practitioners, across a span of several years. Sometimes they used moxibustion, sometimes they ran a current through the needles,....but in almost all cases, because in Chinese Medicine, acupuncture is performed along meridians and is designed to release blockages in the flow of chi,...the placement of the needles may seem unusual to those of us more accustomed to Western Medicine. (Like the needles they place in our hands, ears, feet....)

I've never had any problems with any of the sessions. Sure, occasionally a needle may elicit some minor blood droplets here and there, but nothing alarming.

There are patterns they follow with needle placement that often to us, make no logical sense. But they're following a completely different approach because in Chinese Medicine, diseases and pain are caused by blockages of that energy, and their goal is to free that up, and encourage the flow.

I mentioned trigger point injections and dry needling because acupuncture (in my case anyway) did not do much of anything to directly affect muscle spasms. (Whereas the aforementioned will address them specifically and directly).

For the most part I found acupuncture relaxing and in some cases, it seemed to temporarily reduce some of my pain in some areas. I've been to some great ones, and have a number of friends who swear by it in terms of helping them with some chronic pain issues....but like anything else, it does take a commitment of several sessions on a regular basis, in a timely fashion....not one or two, and not one every once in a while (at least until after you get stabilized).







M.

Ouch! Aaagh. Ooh! Horrible pain, spasms all night. Back pain, throbbing where the electrical stimulus was placed down spine. Bad enough to overpower melatonin for sleep, Vicodin. Maybe I found out when the effects kick in.

Pain MUCH worse this morning. Fingers weak, lips numb (what's that about?). Neck pain to shoulder, legs more spastic, burning. The places where some of the needles were placed, hands, feet, ear, feel like the needles are still there. And this is 10 AM, after morning tramadol should be working.

I'm debating what to do. I can call the clinic and ask if this is a reaction. Should I cancel next month's appointment? I really wanted to give this a good try, although I can't afford much more.

Alcie, I had traditional Chinese method done with the needles & it was painless to me. I did not have pain when the needles went in they were so tiny. To me the being wiped down with alcohol once the needles were out was the worse part. My dr told me if there was no difference after 3 treatments then it was not going to work for me. I was being treated for a neck injury. I actually learned how to relax while getting a treatment & sometimes fell asleep. If you are having severe spasms, I wonder if trigger point injections would help?

I hope you get some help with this.

Thanks to all. I truly appreciate the advice and stories.

The doctor is Chinese, in major university medical center rehab unit, referred by a rehab doctor in different hospital but same group. Her specialty is acupuncture, for which I pay out of pocket because Medicare doesn't shell out a dime.

The first time she spent a few minutes telling me that acupuncture works by causing release of endorphins. She said I should try at least 3 times. I'm thinking not, at this time. This time I couldn't get even close to comfortable, mainly because the head rest did not adjust to anything that worked for my still very painful neck and the face hole hurt my face. She spent only a few minutes pushing in the needles and was called out to another patient. She never did come back. There's only some sort of assistant who takes out the needles. I complained of pain and spasms, but was ignored.

I did a lot of reading today and found that pain, even severe pain, and spasms are not unusual side effects. I also called the doctor's clinic, but she only works 2 days a week. Maybe, as some of you have experienced, this just isn't a procedure for everyone.

This evening the pain from the needles is still more than unpleasant. The ear that was bleeding is burning. Overall pain is still worse than before getting stuck, and leg spasms are making it much more difficult to walk than even what I have from breaking all those vertebrae. I'm having new needle-like stabs in the trapezius.

So, another hope for a little relief is in the can.

I made an appointment with my neurosurgeon to see what he has to say about pain, spasticity and spasms worsening, and if my syrinx needs another look, and to maybe schedule gamma knife for the meningioma.

Gotta keep on going and going like the Energizer bunny. Hope my batteries don't run down.