Acupuncture: Why You Shouldn't be Afraid of Getting Poked

I remember reading a research report recently or a news article about why most people would not go get acupuncture even if they knew it would help them and the number one reason cited was because of the word needle. Now in this video I want to show you why that fear is unfounded. Hey guys I'm Dr. Alex Hein author of the health book Master of the Day and doctor of acupuncture and Chinese medicine. So before we jump into this video there are two very important links right below. The first is if you'd like to become a patient of mine locally in Los Angeles or virtually via telemedicine you can reach out and contact my private practice right below this video and the second is that I've put together a free guide which is four daily rituals that can potentially help you add years to your life with traditional Chinese medicine. Those are right below this video. So acupuncture sounds scary but it really shouldn't and it is true that there are many different kinds of acupuncture that range from more intense, very strong orthopedic acupuncture that people use for severe joint pain and there's very gentle acupuncture that you mostly don't even feel at all, more Japanese style acupuncture. I'm on the more gentle side in particular, both sides have their value but in general this idea that acupuncture is jabbing dozens of needles into your body and it's a horribly stigmata like experience is just not true. So for many patients that I see, the ones that are new to acupuncture that have never been exposed that are worried about it, I've never once heard them say that was worse than what I thought it would be and more interestingly most of them fall asleep. So between 50 and 75 percent of my patients end up falling asleep during the day getting an acupuncture treatment. So you think if it's something that's that painful you sure as hell are not gonna fall asleep and you probably will not even feel relaxed but a high percentage actually end up falling asleep from the relaxation of the acupuncture. Now what's also interesting is just how small these acupuncture needles can be. So some of these are as small as a human hair. I'll show you here. Just look at this tube. You almost can't even see the needle inside the tube. It's so small and it's bendable right so it's not like a hollow syringe like this designed to draw blood or draw fluids but is tiny bendable needle and even just putting this in for example to my own hand right right here on this table, tap it into my own hand. I'm not stimulating it or putting it in further but you can just see how easy that was for it to go in and some people we leave it like that and some people we just put it in a little bit further until it sticks up but very mild I didn't even feel anything not even a pinprick. So interestingly enough the fear of acupuncture is interesting because what acupuncture really helps with a lot very quickly is conditions related to the nervous system. Some conditions like anxiety or depression or insomnia that have a nervous system link responds very very quickly to acupuncture as well as functional conditions like GI disorders that are functional in nature can respond very very quickly. Now I thought I would share a little case study of a woman that was coming to me for what would consider extreme form of anxiety which was panic attacks. Now you would think that someone scared of acupuncture would not get acupuncture for panic attacks but I want to demonstrate just how effective it can be especially for something like this that's physiological in nature. So this woman was in a severe car accident and afterwards developed severe anxiety. The anxiety progressed to the point of developing panic attacks. She was having panic attacks, issues sleeping. This woman had started off by taking antidepressants and benzodiazepines. I think she was taking Xanax at the moment and what happened was she took them for three months and was concerned that not only were the symptoms not gone they were quieter which she was grateful for but she was having some sensation of alternating depression and anxiety and had concerns long-term about having to take these medications. She took herself off them without her physician's discussion or approval and began to have very scary withdrawal symptoms and that solidified for her that she never wanted to take them again. When she came to me she was again having those panic attacks and having insomnia every single night sleeping less than five hours per night. Her first treatment with acupuncture was a longer treatment and she was shocked when she fell asleep on the table and she said she hadn't felt that kind of calm in several weeks certainly not without any medication in her system. So utilizing a combination of acupuncture and Chinese formulas within 30 days she stopped having her panic attacks. Now her anxiety and the panic was not cured by any means but within another 30 days she was sleeping at least eight hours per night again. For the average night she wasn't having insomnia and even though within a week stretch she wasn't having perfect sleep every single day her sleep was regular enough that the edge had been taken off and she was no longer in a state of acute fear. So one would think that something that sounds as scary or sounds as traumatizing as getting needles in your body would not be helpful for something that's panic and anxiety but these are some of the fortes of traditional Chinese medicine in my experience and conditions you should consider for treatment. That is my two cents on acupuncture and how scary it really is in reality. There are two other related videos on this topic right over here for you guys and I have some important links right below this video.