First treatments side effects?

Comment by Chad J. Dupuis, L.Ac.

There is a pattern we call liver qi stagnation in Chinese Medicine which can lead to anxiety, mood disturbances, etc. Treatments may free some of this "energy" up and most often this will lead to people feeling calmer, but very occasionally the symptoms can worsen for a short period and possibly lead to headaches, irritability, etc. (somewhat rare though). I would of course discuss this with your practitioner and go from there. That said, not that you should expect to have your pain gone by now, but you mention two things that seem entirely inconsistent - in one hand you mention that the benefit of treatment is great but then you say I did not notice any effect on my back.... Pain is usually somewhat trivial to treat with acupuncture and people will generally respond well. Side effects from acupuncture are most often from overtreatment (excessive needles, strong technique, too strong electro, etc.). I mention all of this for you to realize that for pain within 3-7 treatments at the most you should be quite a bit better (regardless of the pain or the intensity) - so if you are not you might want to consider seeing someone else particularly if the headaches, etc. continue. No judgement on your current practitioner, but those techniques may not be exactly what you need.

Comment by Archived User

What I meant was no possitive effect for my back upon the second treatment and that is when the headaches and mood swing came into play.

The first treatment was just this side of a miracle.

My energy is way up and my pain minimized a great deal.

I was in a bad place before hand..no energy too much pain lower back right hip.

I apolagize for the confussion.

I am very appreciative of my Doctor.I

just think the second treatment was too soon ,,,,4 days after the first.

I cancelled my third treatment till I can figure out what was going on./settle down?

Comment by Archived User

The back pain usually treatment on back of UB channels, and this channels is through back of head connect to both eyes, if the pracitiioner only do back treatment, the sick energy go up to head and eyes may cause headache and eye pain, my suggestion is after back treatment, then do front needle on Li4 and Lv3 to lead the head Chi down to the hands and feet then out of body.

Comment by Archived User

My doctor did a pretty thorough consultation.

However the treatment area was limited to the Buttock region.

And yes my eye (right) was in pretty severe pain causing quite the headache.My treatment (most)and pain was right side..hip lower back.

I phoned and cancelled my third appointment, when asked why I told the truth, headache and was told was not caused by treatment. That was the assistant speaking.

Either way (and the headache is back) the headache must be gone before further treatment is to continue. Unless I am being treated for headache.

I am not prone to headaches I am one who feels that headache is usually caused by imbalance of some kind...usually small and easily fixable...I cant seem to rid myself of this one...usually muscle tension....sometimes just washing my feet...but rare enough to say I cant really put a time frame of when my last headache was...never mind one that was three days long.

So far the headache is at a minimal.

I like to take a moment to thank everyone for their input.

THANKS!

Comment by Archived User

What a shame you are having such side-effects! I hope it doesn&#39t put you off having further treatment.

Does your current acupuncturist take your pulses, and do they take them many times during treatment? If they are they will feel what is going on with your energy and treat right away. One of the many great things about being an acupuncturist is that I can respond quickly to my patient and sort things out much faster than when I was a nurse. So, if the first treatment &#39free&#39d up&#39 (as Chad explains) some stuck energy, it will show in your pulses and can be treated immediately. It certainly sounds like liver qi stagnation to me, especially with the eye involvement and being one-sided. This condition gives a very distinct pulse reading, and your practitioner will spot it right away.

If your practitioner does not take pulses, or check your tongue, I suggest finding another one ASAP. Ask them what type of acupuncture they practice, and if they are LAc (US) or LicAc (UK). You may have seen a physiotherapist or other western trained practitioner, and they do not do Chinese Medicine, but simply needle certain points according to a guide book. Therefore, they will not read pulses/tongues, nor will they understand things like liver qi, or releasing energy to go berserk around your system!

I hope you get sorted soon, and that you continue to have positive experiences with acupuncture. Good luck!