Many people do not know that you can do very effective acupuncture treatments without ever using needles.
Since the most common reason people avoid trying acupuncture is fear of it being painful, then everybody should know that this is entirely avoidable.
You can stimulate acupuncture points with finger pressure (acupressure), warming, ultrasound (I wrote the first paper on this back in 1973), infrared light, electrical stimulation, and, my favorite method, low intensity laser.
None of these methods involve anything penetrating the skin, except for sound, electricity or light, and are completely pain-free. Like all acupuncture, needle-free acupuncture tends to be deeply relaxing, stress relieving, and has the same effects as traditional needle acupuncture.
The key expertise in acupuncture is to determine WHERE to stimulate – and that is determined by a good history and Chinese medical exam which involves looking at signs involving subtle facial colorations, the sound of the voice, certain odors, and feeling your pulses in twelve different positions on the wrists.
Once the treatment pattern is selected, it doesn’t matter how you stimulate the points, as long as they are well-stimulated.
In my experience, needles, ultrasound and laser are all equally effective, and laser and ultrasound are completely painless – I can treat infants and children, extremely sensitive people, and people who have fear of or bad experiences with needles, without even a hint of discomfort.
If you, or someone you know wants the many benefits of acupuncture without risking a painful needle, have them give me a call at (415) 925-8600 to talk about completely painless, effective but needle-free acupuncture.
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