Feeling Cold during or after treatment

As we know acupuncture has a number of well understood effects on the body. One of these effects is relaxation. We do not, however, understand all of the mechanisms involved and the effects of acupuncture are likely different depending on the needs (or current state) of the patient.

It is not uncommon for patients to get cold during the treatment, particularly so if you are using strong "heat reducing" points (perhaps LV 2, or HT 8 as examples). Whereas other patients could get very warm from the treatment when we use "tonifying" points (CV 6, ST 36 as examples) or depending on their underlying condition.

The cool temperature that happens with some patients is likely due to vasodilation (a relaxation of the blood vessels) - this causes blood pressure to drop (which we know happens in most cases) and the body temperature will lower. Vasodilation can happen in specific areas/organs or systematically so different points on people with varying conditions will likely lead to a stronger response in some cases than in others. For now, suffice it to say that this is normal - but you would want to watch closely which patients this happens to and what points you are using to see if you can use this response to developing better point choices...