Questions and Answers

How long is a session?
Most sessions or treatments last 45 minutes to one hour, but the first session usually runs about 1 ½ hours to 2 hours due to intake and examination.

What does acupuncture treat?
The World Health Organization recognizes Acupuncture and Traditional Oriental Medicine’s ability to successfully treat over 45 common disorders such as:

What do the needles look like?
The needles are stainless steel filaform needles. The gauge size is 38-40 for those unfamiliar with the gauges, 13 acupuncture needles can fit inside of a hypodermic needle. They are 25-50 times smaller than a hypodermic needle and are very fine like a human hair. Needles are always sterile. We conform to strict OSHA guidelines.

What does acupuncture feel like?
Acupuncture does not hurt. Plucking your eyebrows has more discomfort than an acupuncture needle (especially the small ones we use). Most patients feel no sensation at all. Others feel pressure, heaviness or tingling. Usually there is deep relaxation that occurs during and after an acupuncture treatment lasting even up to a week afterwards. Side effects are sleeping better, improvement in memory and feeling calmer on a daily basis.

What is the difference between a Licensed and a certified acupuncturist?
Comparison of Licensed vs. Certified Acupuncturists

Certified Physician Accupuncturist

• Certified hysician or dentist acupuncturists (CAc) with 300 hours of training.
• Training which is often comprised of home study and video-taped lectures
• Minimal clinical experiences in acupuncture or no actual patient treatments before certification
• Not required to regularly complete continuing education courses.
• Only about 1,000 practitioners in New York (as of 5/24/00). Few actually practice acupuncture.

Licensed Acupuncturist

• Licensed acupuncturists (L.Ac) with an average of 2,700 hours of Master’s-level training
• Master’s level on-site training at a nationally accredited school or college of acupuncture
• Hundreds of hours of clinical experience and at least 250 actual patient treatments before licensure
• Required to pass the national certification exam in acupuncture in order to become licensed
• Required to do regular continuing education to maintain national certification.
• More than 2,300 L.Ac's, who can provide more patient access to quality acupuncture care

New York State allows physicians and dentists to practice Acupuncture with only 300 hours of training. This is a relic of 1974, when little was known about acupuncture practice and education. Thirty years later, minimum, entry-level standards of competence for Acupuncture have evolved, producing fully trained, effective acupuncturists. Why haven’t educational standards for physicians and dentists been updated to reflect current requirements? And why would anyone want to extend the same inadequate, outdated 300-hour requirements to other health professional? If someone, anyone, wishes to practice acupuncture or any other form of healthcare, they should be properly trained and prove their competency before treating the public. An Acupuncturist could not hope to practice Podiatry or Chiropractic with 300 hours of training and no standards of competency. Why would the reverse be different?

Information from ASNY website