Going from Frustrated to Empowered Patient– A Guide to Partnering with an Acupuncturist and Herbalist on Your Path to Wellness
Photo by Ferry Suputra
I am in my 7th year of practice (at the time of writing this), and throughout my education and practice, I have been most interested in helping people whose signs and symptoms add up to gobbly-gook in conventional medicine, or are unable to be diagnosed, or are diagnosed but don’t have a solid treatment plan, or have a treatment plan that require medications with difficult side effects, or whose only solution in conventional medicine is surgery.
If you have ever tried to piece together a diagnosis or a treatment plan from Reddit, then you might know something about not being sure of what is wrong with you, or not liking your treatment options.
If you have been sick for a long time, it is normal to be weary of trying one more approach! With this article, I want to explain our process, so that you can know what to expect before you take the leap. Traditional East Asian Medicine (or TEAM, the English term for acupuncture, moxa, and herbal medicine) has a lot to offer you.
First things first, how do we even figure out what is not working in your body? How do we know how to give you a good treatment?
Well, let’s hear it from someone who has gone through the process. In the words of an actual patient, “Ann is a healer who listens to her patients talk more intently than many classic western doctors. She then listens to the body through touch/ sight…” I love this description, because it sums it all up so accurately. Without ever having read the ancient medical texts from millennia ago, this patient listed all three methods of diagnosis listed back then: questioning, touch, and observation.
We ask a lot of questions because your subjective experience is important. For example, when I ask about body temperature, I will often hear something like, I get warm, but I don’t ever actually have a fever. Your subjective experience is just as and even more important to us than external measurements. If someone had a measurable fever, but felt cold and shivery (something we have all probably experienced at least once in this lifetime), we choose different herbs and points than if the person felt warm. I can’t be inside your body, and so your experience of it is very valuable information to me.
Touch means that through palpation and pulse taking, I can determine answers to which parts of your body are most affected, and how they are affected. Dry skin is important information, as is sticky moist skin, as are cold feet or hot feet, a tight and painful epigastrium or a soft squishy one. The speed of your pulse and its height at different positions is also meaningful.
Observation means looking at your tongue, noticing your coloring and the texture of your skin, are you soft-spoken or does your voice carry?
As you can see, like conventional medicine, we begin with gathering evidence. Luckily, because our process was developed thousands of years ago (and used continuously since), we don’t need to rely on labs or imaging, although I always find these results interesting. We can get to work right away, with the information presented in your body at that moment.
How long will it take to feel better with acupuncture and herbs?
Again, in the words of a patient “I was able to feel the benefits after my very first session with Ann.” I like to look for immediate feedback after needle insertion, because this helps me confirm my diagnosis.
Typically during a session you will feel relaxed. Some people fall asleep and don’t know where they are when they wake up, some people report being in an in-between state where you are aware of your surroundings and also sort of dreaming, some people just feel very calm but also alert. Typically the treatment continues to unfold over the next 3 or 4 days, and so we know the maximum result after you leave the treatment room, but you should expect to feel better when you are leaving. Maybe your rash feels less hot and prickly, or your stomach cramps have relaxed, or your pain is 50% better (or even gone). Just this morning a patient said to me, “it’s funny how sometimes when you get up from a treatment, it feels like you are waking up into a different day.” He went on to explain that even the external world feels different, not just his internal experience.
Very occasionally, people get amazing results with 1-3 treatments, but typically for long standing issues I tell new patients to expect 12 visits. Then if we only need 6 or 9, everyone is happy. Initially we start with appointments close together, every 4-7 days. I like to wait until we are having symptom resolution for the entire time between sessions before spreading them out. As you feel better, I say “Come back in two weeks”, “Come back in three”, “Come back in a month”, to eventually, “I think you are fine. Go on your merry way but come back in at the first sign of things getting worse.”
The medicine is in the dose – we have to apply the right amount of influence for YOUR BODY, and I can only know that through YOUR FEEDBACK. You are the expert on your body. Actually, your body is the expert on you!
Again, pulling from the descriptions from real live patients: “she can sense the patient's fear or unwillingness to go deeper, and can pivot to make them more comfortable by trying a different approach that is just as effective - if not more effective because the patient is comfortable and open.” Every one’s experience is different, and it is my job to assess your individual response, and stay the course or pivot accordingly.
What happens during an acupuncture or herbal treatment, exactly?
From a patient: “Ann provides care by talking, touch, needles, etc. She also casually teaches sometimes while doing the treatment.”
This is accurate! If you are taking herbs, I will need to find out about your experience of taking them and check the symptoms I expected to change so that I can monitor their efficacy and change as needed.
I will then check your tongue, pulse, and/ or abdomen, and based on what is most pressing that day, choose a treatment approach. Usually I work in sets of 4 needles. Some of those needles are barely noticeable, and some go into uncomfortable spots. After the needles are in, I check to make sure your symptoms are responding. If we are not sure, I come back after 5 minutes to make sure. If I am not pleased with your results, I will change the needles.
Then you rest on the table for about 25 minutes. Depending on the weather and your own desire, you may have a heat lamp on your feet.
This is an important place to repeat that you should feel comfortable on the table. I was recently having a difficult time assessing if a patient was responding well to a treatment. She seemed uncomfortable to me, but when I asked her, she denied any difficulty. When she said “I can muscle through”, I knew without a doubt I should change the needles. We are so used to medicine coming with painful or difficult side effects, or blaming ourselves or our bodies for not feeling well, that patients have a hard time knowing themselves what is appropriate. You should not be “trying to relax” on the table, but instead, “relaxing”. I switched her needles and she was no longer efforting, just resting.
Sometimes guasha (scraping of the oiled skin with a special tool to relieve pain and tension), cupping (using vacuum pressure on oiled skin to relieve pain and tension) or moxabustion (the warming of certain areas of the body or certain acupuncture points using the heat from burning mugwort) are also relevant to your diagnosis, and we may spend a few minutes at the end doing on one of these. Scroll down on this page to see images of these modalities.
What will it feel like to receive acupuncture?
Well, first of all, expect weird things! You may just feel slightly relaxed, or be focused on a needle sensation, but sometimes people have old memories resurface, feel the urge to cry without knowing exactly why, see a particular channel outlined in a color, see colors or lights, have visions, or just start snoring. Here is a link to a broader discussion of what could when your body is healing.
Another important thing to keep in mind is that body and mind aren’t separate – it is not unusual for improvements in one arena to affect another. I am always intrigued to see how much someone’s life can change when they start to feel better. Not just in the obvious ways that a healthy body can more easily socialize and do meaningful work, but also serendipitous encounters and events.
What about herbal medicine?
I don’t always prescribe herbs, but when I do it is because I think they will get you better much faster and more thoroughly than not taking them. Herbs are especially important and helpful for a variety of pregnancy issues.
I always tell my patients that when taking herbs they should feel better or feel nothing. If something gets worse, stop taking the herbs and reach out.
Herbal medicine has strange and different flavors. Sometimes people are able to pick out individual flavors (cinnamon, ginger, celery are some of the ones I hear), or describe them as “earthy”. Interestingly, the most bitter herbs do not taste so bitter to people who need them, and typically the flavor becomes more palatable in a matter of days as your body starts to realize the help it is getting. But I also have one beloved patient who describes the experience as akin to “licking sand”. It really depends! But here’s the for sure thing —- if you don’t take them they won’t work. :)
Are you sure acupuncture and herbs can help me?
Well of course not! I can never promise results. BUT I have seen so many people get better from difficult illnesses using the various modalities of Traditional East Asian Medicine (TEAM) — why shouldn’t the same be true for you? Here is an article that answers this question more thoroughly.
Your body can make great medicine with the life force that is flowing through it, and TEAM has a long history of effective and wonderful capacity to heal. Of course, the weakest link in this equation is always myself.
When I am unable to get the results that I would like, your lack of response is valuable information and helps me to refine my diagnosis. If I am still unsure, I consult with my teachers or refer out to a more senior or more specialized practitioner.
I have seen through teachers’ case studies and my own practice how much patients can benefit from Traditional East Asian Medicine (TEAM). Remember this option when you are contemplating your own healthcare needs.
If you came to this article seeking answers for a current illness or symptom and live in the Los Angeles area, I would love to help you.