People are often not comfortable with the idea of “needles”. It’s totally understandable since a common experience with needles is through a nurse either pushing or pulling liquids from our body, and those needles can hurt! However, there is a big difference in the type of needles used by nurses and the kind used in acupuncture. Needles used to take a sample of your blood, for example, are thicker, hollowed-out needles that come to a very sharp point as they are designed to puncture through the tough walls of our blood vessels. Acupuncture needles are solid and much thinner, in fact, in some cases, they are not much thicker than an average human hair. Being much thinner makes the needles both flexible and much less likely to cause pain as they are carefully inserted. Acupuncture needles are also not sharp or pointed, their tip is only slightly tapered. This means that an acupuncture needle does not tear nearly as much and easily as a nurse’s needle. This is why needles can be inserted at depth with no loss of blood. They are designed to slide into muscle painlessly, not blood vessels.
The usual concern is that when you get acupuncture, it will feel like needles on your body (which is a perfectly reasonable assumption). However, this is not the case at all as most people find treatments very rejuvenating and refreshing! Professional acupuncture is completely safe as the practitioners are trained to painlessly insert the needles into muscle and away from potentially painful or dangerous areas. This means that there is virtually no chance of any adverse effects or inadvertent injuries. The painless and completely safe insertion of the needles into specific areas of your body is a very effective way to treat a variety of medical problems such as pain, muscle weakness or spasms. Patients are often very surprised to learn that not only is acupuncture painless, safe and effective at treating many conditions, it is also very relaxing and enjoyable! Experience the benefits of acupuncture today!