Curious to know what you as a practitioner have found more effective? Bilateral or one side neeling?
In tcm college it seems to be very "For" bilateral needling. If you needle one side, needle the opposite identicaly.
I have noticed that alot of pratitioners dont practice this way? Very curious for your views on this? Why is it better/worse??
Comment by Chad J. Dupuis, L.Ac.
This would depend greatly on the case and your own particular style - there are no right or wrongs here. Obviously if someone has a local problem you use local needling and there is no need to distract the body with bilateral needling for those issues. If someone has all left sided problems you may work more on that side (or avoid it entirely allowing the energy from the right shift to the left). You may find an article I wrote on acupuncture point selection rules helpful.
Personally I needle bilaterally predominately for the systemic points and then focus the treatments with more local unlateral needling as appropriate.