Neck & back pain

Some practitioners will perform a somewhat "light" treatment during the first visit to test your response to acupuncture in general. This could explain the difference between the two treatments and the second may have just been too strong. By the 3rd or 4th treatment your practitioner should be honed in on what you need and what works best for you - so try at least 2 more treatments. With a condition such as neck and back pain, your first few treatments can be a little up and down. Generally, with proper treatment you should feel better for the first day or longer after the first few treatments, then after that you should feel better for 2-3 days or longer and so on until your condition is fully resolved. With most cases of pain, by the 5th or 6th treatments at the latest you should have improved noticeably. If you haven't, keep in mind that there are differences among practitioners as well as different styles of acupuncture and some work better for certain people than others do.

With regards to the diarrhea and other changes, these can happen during treatments as the body is treated systemically. Side effects with acupuncture (except from over/improper treatment) are relatively uncommon and rarely last beyond the first 3 treatments if that. If you continue to feel bad after subsequent treatments be certain to communicate this to your practitioner as most have the ability to adapt the treatments until they are working well for you.

Neck/Back pain are very commonly treated with acupuncture and generally respond very well, so you should be doing well by your 4th or 5th treatment.