Putting acupuncture sensations into words you can share

Did it hurt? Loved ones often ask after a first session. Describing what you actually felt helps both your treatment decisions and the conversations at home.

The question waiting for you at home

Walk back through the front door after a first acupuncture appointment and someone will almost certainly ask whether it hurt. Plenty of people expect a needle to resemble a flu jab. The descriptions Dr Christine Shen, Acupuncturist, actually hears in Lane Cove are far more varied: a fleeting prick, then perhaps heaviness, a tingle or a dull ache, while some people report barely any feeling at all.

Naming those feelings well pays off twice. It helps on the treatment couch, and it helps later when you explain the experience to someone who cares how you are travelling.

Speaking up in the moment

Many of us grew up believing that good patients keep quiet. Acupuncture asks nothing of the sort. Should a sensation become sharp, hot, upsetting or steadily stronger, tell Christine then and there instead of saving it for the end. Your comfort, and your willingness to keep going, is part of each choice made during a session.

A small vocabulary makes this easier. Words like dull, warm, heavy, buzzing or sharp send a clearer message than a polite smile, and they let you and Christine adjust things together rather than guess.

Remembering why you came

Sensations are only half the picture. There is also your original complaint and the difference you hope it might make to an ordinary week. Moving more freely through one particular chore, making sense of what is happening, or learning that another kind of assessment is warranted are all fair aims. Feel free to find out at what intervals progress gets reviewed, and which responses might lead Christine to change tack.

Translating it for family

Relatives whose only image of acupuncture comes from films can relax when they hear a plain account from you: what you felt, what you said, and how your words were received. Should you want to explore your own comfort level and circumstances, a time with Christine at the Lane Cove clinic gives room for exactly that kind of talk.