Conditions Often Treated with Acupuncture:

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• Polycystic ovary syndrome (Stein–Leventhal syndrome)

• Postextubation in children

• Postoperative convalescence

• Postoperative pain

• Premenstrual syndrome

• Prostatitis, chronic

• Pruritus

• Pulmonary heart disease, chronic

• Radicular and pseudoradicular pain syndrome

• Raynaud syndrome, primary

• Recurrent lower urinary-tract infection

• Reflex sympathetic dystrophy

• Renal colic

• Retention of urine, traumatic

• Rheumatoid arthritis

• Schizophrenia

• Sciatica

• Sialism, drug-induced

• Sjögren syndrome

• Small airway obstruction

• Sore throat (including tonsillitis)

• Spine pain, acute

• Sprain

• Stiff neck

• Stroke

• Temporomandibular joint dysfunction

• Tennis elbow

• Tietze syndrome

• Tobacco dependence

• Tourette syndrome

• Ulcerative colitis, chronic

• Urolithiasis

• Vascular dementia

• Whooping cough (pertussis)

• Abdominal pain (in acute gastroenteritis

       or due to gastrointestinal spasm)

• Acne vulgaris

• Adverse reactions to radiotherapy and/or chemotherapy

• Alcohol dependence and detoxification

• Allergic rhinitis (including hay fever)

• Bell's palsy Biliary colic

• Breathlessness in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

• Bronchial asthma

• Cancer pain

• Cardiac neurosis

• Chloasma

• Cholecystitis, chronic, with acute exacerbation

• Cholelithiasis

• Choroidopathy, central serous

• Color blindness

• Coma

• Competition stress syndrome

• Convulsions in infants

• Coronary heart disease (angina pectoris)

• Craniocerebral injury, closed

• Deafness

• Depression (including depressive neurosis and depression following stroke)

• Diabetes mellitus, non-insulin-dependent

• Diarrhoea in infants and young children

• Dysentery, acute bacillary

• Dysmenorrhoea, primary

 

 

Risks and Complications

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulates acupuncture needles for use by licensed practitioners, requiring that needles be manufactured and labeled according to certain standards. For example, the FDA requires that needles be sterile, nontoxic, and labeled for single use by qualified practitioners only.

Relatively few complications from the use of acupuncture have been reported to the FDA, in light of the millions of people treated each year and the number of acupuncture needles used.

 

What to Expect From a Visit

Acupuncture needles are metallic, solid, and hair-thin. People experience acupuncture differently, but most feel no or minimal pain as the needles are inserted. Some people feel energized by treatment, while others feel relaxed. Improper needle placement, movement of the patient, or a defect in the needle can cause soreness and pain during treatment. Treatment may take place over a period of several weeks or more.

 

Treatment Costs

Ask the practitioner about the estimated number of treatments needed and how much each treatment will cost. Some insurance companies may cover the costs of acupuncture, while others may not. It is important to check with your insurer before you start treatment to see whether acupuncture is covered for your condition and, if so, to what extent.