Frequently Asked Questions Kat Delse, L.Ac. (707) 775-8311
Answers to the most commonly asked questions.
Learn, Grow, Heal
Questions on this page:
1. How are acupucture and herbal medicine helpful for infertility and other women's hIssues?
2. Why do you combine acupuncture with Reiki?
3. Does acupuncture hurt?
4. How many treatments will I need?
5. Tell me about acupuncture for headache relief?
6. Can acupuncture help me quit smoking?
7. Will acupuncture help my cold or flu?
1. How Are Acupuncture and Herbal Medicine Helpful for Infertility and other Women's Health Issues?
Unfortunately, outside of hormones (like birthcontrol pills) and surgury, Western Medicine has few tools at their disposal to help women regulate their menstrual cycles and maintain healthy ovulation. IUI and IVF can be helpful in helping a woman conceive, but many women find this costly and not always effective, especially if there are difficulties maintaining pregnancy.
Fortunately, traditional Chinese Medicine has helped women regulate their cycles and get pregnant for millenia. Look at the huge population in China! Part of this phenonomena is that they understand the nature of reproduction. Acupuncture and herbal medicine are very useful in helping to regulate blood flow in the uterus and can be helpful for many conditions such as amennoreah, PMS, dysmennoreah, premature ovarian failure and habitual miscarriage just to name a few. These methods work naturally and can easily be combined with western medicine treatments when necessary.
Studies have shown IUI and IVF to be more likely to be effective when combined with acupuncture. If you are planning to undergo these often costly procedures, it makes sense to give acupuncture a try.
2. Why do you combine acupuncture with Reiki Energy Healing?
I have three main reasons for offering Reiki healing with my acupuncture treatments. The first and foremost is that it works! I find I get even more effective results combining the two practices than using acupuncture alone. The second is that I find most people want to be touched. Acupuncture needling involves only a little touch and people find it soothing and healing to be touched in a light manner. They also often appreciate that I stay with them and don't leave them alone with needles in their bodies. Of course, if you feel uncomfortable about this light touch, it is always your right to say so and to refuse it, but I find most people absolutely love it. The third and final reason I use Reiki is that I myself love it and feel it opens up deeper channels of connection and healing with my patients. I am feel blessed to be able to offer them a spiritual doorway to healing as well as a physical and emotional one.
3. Does Acupuncture Hurt?
As an acupuncturist, I am constantly asked by friends and prospective clients, "Does acupuncture hurt?" To answer that question lets look at the anatomy of the acupuncture needle and how patients tend to experience them.
Acupuncture needles are fine, sometimes as thin as a human hair. This is extremely thin compared to the needles used to give shots and injections. Additionally, acupuncture needles are often inserted with the help of a plastic guide tubes and techniques meant to penetrate the skin painlessly.
After inserting a needle, I will often hear the question, "Is it in yet?" or the remark, "I didn't even feel that!" Additionally at the end of the treatment patients will usually tell me, "That didn't hurt at all like I thought it would. In fact," they say, "I feel incredibly relaxed, energized and vibrant." I can see the benefits in their faces. They have an ease and a glow to them I didn't see before the treatment, not the face of someone who has just experienced a painful medical procedure like getting a shot.
So no, acupuncture doesn't hurt... in fact it can take away your pain and discomfort!
4. How many treatments will I need?
Clients new to acupuncture often wonder: "How long do I have to return to treatments before I feel better?" Although this is a great question, the correct answer usually is: "It depends." One of my teachers in Grad School told us that the correct answer to many questions about acupuncture is "It depends." While at the time I thought he was just being smart, over time I've come to appreciate just how individualized an art acupuncture is and how this answer reflects that truth. So although there in not one cookie cutter answer to this question, we can talk about general principles that affect how quickly a person will heal. Here are a few.
1. A person should (and always does in my practice) receive some benefit even from one treatment. It may not be completely the desired end result, but they should walk away a little more relaxed, a little less in pain or somehow one step forward on their path to healing.
2. Treatments build on the previous results assuming they are spaced closely enough together. Thus, people should receive greater results after say three treatments than just one.
3. Generally, the longer one has had an illness or a pain, the longer it will take for it to respond to treatment and be healed. Thus, acute illnesses will heal quicker than chronic problems.
4. Young people generally heal quicker than older people.
5. People of strong constitution may return to health quicker, but people of delicate nature may respond well to the subtle nature of acupuncture.
6. People who have other forms of support: family, friends, community, or other health practitioners may heal quicker.
7. People willing to make changes in diet and lifestyle or take herbs along with coming for acupuncture tend to respond faster.
As you can see, there are many factors that will affect the number of treatments needed for acupuncture. In addition, people often find that once their initial goal for treatment has been met there are other issues that they would like to address. So the process can continue on in deeper ways and begin to address underlying deficiencies and patterns of psychological and spiritual imbalance.
5. Tell Me About Acupuncture for Headache Relief?
Did you know acupuncture and Chinese Herbal Remedies can be very effective in relieving headaches? Many Americans suffer from chronic headaches that can benefit from the wisdom of Chinese Medicine. Just as there are different types and causes for headaches in western medicine, there are various differentiations for headaches in Chinese Medicine. Some causes and related conditions include:
1. Dehydration
2. Stress and Tension
3. Menstruation related
4. Fatigue and or not enough sleep
5. Common Cold
6. High Blood Pressure
7. Tumors
In order for a practitioner of acupuncture and Chinese medicine to best help you it may be helpful for you to reflect on the following questions and come prepared to answer them.
1. Which part of the head is the pain located in?
2. What time of day or circumstances does it arrive?
3. What seems to be helpful to alleviate it? What have you tried that doesn't work?
4. What is the quality of the pain? Does it feel dull, sharp, throbbing, fixed, moving, numb, empty?
All of this will be useful information to share with Kat when you come in for acupuncture.
6. Can Acupuncture Help me Quit Smoking?
Acupuncture and Herbal Medicine can be very helpful as part of an intention to completely quit smoking. Although I have heard reports of people who totally quit smoking after one of two acupuncture sessions, generally I believe it takes more of a commitment and the following of a more comprehensive program to follow through on one's intentions. Generally I would recommend 2 treatments a week for two weeks, followed up by 3 treatments spaced a week apart and then monthly treatment for several months afterward. Such a process helps the person to quit and stay off of it, despite inevitable stresses that would cause him or her to relapse. This article will help people to understand the process of quitting smoking with acupuncture.
Here is a brief overview of how acupuncture can be helpful:
1.Specially chosen points can help interfere with messages sent to the brain demanding more nicotine, thus eliminating cravings (even in cases where the person had no intention of quitting and didn't know such points had these effects).
2. Acupuncture can help minimize symptoms of withdrawal and help ease the detoxifying process so that the body can gently rid itself of the toxic substances.
3. Acupuncture can help ease the nerves and strengthen the will power which greatly helps the person to exist without their addictive substance.
In addition to complying to an acupuncturist's treatment regimen and perhaps taking herbs to further help the body to detox and heal, the following suggestions can be helpful to his efforts to quit smoking.
1.Set a morning appointment when possible. Refrain from smoking upon awakening, or for at least five hours before the treatment. Acupuncture seems to work best when the person is in detox.
2. Have a support person that you can call when difficult emotions surface during the process of quitting.
3. Have an affirmation to help cement your intentions such as "I lead a healthy life and only take in that which will heal me."
4. Ask other smokers to refrain from smoking in your presence or offering cigarettes.
5. Drink water to help you detox. Water has also been shown to be helpful for quitting, as dryness can cause cravings.
6. Eliminate sugars and eat lots of fruits and vegetables. Blood sugar imbalances only aggravate withdrawal symptoms and increase your likelihood of reaching for a smoke.
7. Avoid coffee as this can also be drying.
If you can make it through the first 24 hrs after acupuncture without smoking you have a 90% chance of being successful with the program. To do this, avoid carrying cigarettes or having them available and avoid situations that will cause or allow you to go purchase more of them.
7. Will Acupuncture Help My Cold or Flu?
Acupuncture and particularly Chinese Herbal Medicine can be useful to alleviate symptoms of colds and flus such as sore throat, head and body ache, chills, fever and stuffy nose. In addition, it may speed the time of recovery, particularly if you have it treated early. One of my teacher's once likened acupuncture to a push that progresses the natural river like flow of the body forward. If you are already sick, it may help to push the illness through its course quicker to your recovery.
That said, however. the best time to address cold and flu symptoms with Asian Medicine is at the very first hint you are getting sick. Oftentimes when I see people at the "hint of a sore throat, slightly run down energy phase" at the beginning of an acute illness, I can actually prevent them from getting a full blown cold.
Acupuncture and herbal medicine can also be used to strengthen the immune system so you don't get sick as often in the first place. It works great as preventative medicine, particularly if you find that you are more susceptible to illness than others. Acupuncture and herbs can build the defensive energy around your body making you more impermeable to pathogens.