“How long does acupuncture take to work for back pain?”
I am a 34 year old male. I want to know how long does acupuncture take to work for back pain?
25 Answers
We start with 6 sessions at 2x a week for 3 weeks. Everyone responses differently to treatment but usually expect you to be 30-40% better by the 6th session. Then we will taper down to every other week, so on and so forth.
It depends. Sometimes it works in 1 session sometimes it takes many
Mr. Anthony James Lorenzo
Acupuncturist
Let's define "to work." In my mind, that means you have had no symptoms of back pain for many months. I would personally expect changes after 1-3 treatments, but I had an amazing teacher. For this to hold and you to remain symptom-free, I would expect it to take minimum of 4-10 treatments...and then, you will likely need to come back if/when your symptoms return indefinitely.
The amount of sessions it would take depends on the length of time you've experienced back pain, along with the severity of pain, the quality of the pain, or whether or not there are other factors or co-morbidities involved. For more chronic conditions, it will take more sessions than an acute flare-up in some cases. In most cases, I advise patients it may take anywhere from 5-8 sessions to begin to feel some shifts. This could be a change in pain quality, intensity, location, etc. Like any other medical modality, acupuncture typically does not cure conditions overnight. Try to remain patient and give it a few sessions.
It is so hard to answer that. people are different with different causes for back pain and different severity. So, best-case scenario one session. I had only 2 in my entire career that got better after one. For most people, it will take 5-15 sessions.
Depends on the severity, generally can be immediately feel improvement next day.
Acupuncture, massage and herbs work right away for your back pain and gradually better, you better try!
Acupuncture, massage, and herbs work right away for your back pain and gradually get better. You better try!
In my experience, acupuncture and the treatments are individualized for the patients. Not every patient experiences or presents the same exact symptoms and so does not receive the same exact treatment. Because of this alone, everyone experiences acupuncture relief differently and the effects may range from within the hour to within the week. Some patients have told me they feel sore for a few hours then the relief comes for their back pain treatment and others have told me it takes a few days. It may also depend on the methods of treatment, like if fire cupping was added to the acupuncture treatment, then the patient may feel sore for a couple more days - especially if they did not keep hydrated. Generally speaking, most back pain relief from acupuncture is experienced around treatment visit number 5-8. Complete relief may not be felt, but at least a significant decrease in pain level and increased flexibility. Please consult your primary to see if you are a good candidate for alternative medicine and ask your acupuncturist what kind of prognosis to expect.
Live Happy,
Michael
Live Happy,
Michael
The root cause nature of back pain is very important to know. Some people can have back pain because of a sprain others could have the chance of this disease.
Hello - depends on severity, chronic or acute, lifestyle etc. In general you should get some relief after 2 or 3 sessions…but again, depends on variables as stated above.
There isn’t a set amount of time every patient and condition is different, most patients feel some type of relief within 3-5 treatments
Depending on your symptoms and how long do you have back pain history. Normally, back pain level reduces within 12 acupuncture treatments.
Good Morning,
How long acupuncture will take to clear a condition is dependent upon several factors:
1. how long the condition has been present
2. how your energy responds to treatment
3. how often treatment is given
I would have to evaluate you and see what the root cause of your symptoms are, and address any blocks to the flow of energy, then decide which pathways to treat and see how your body responds to treatment. Most people at least will see a shift in their symptoms in 10 treatments. Again, I treat the whole patient, not just the symptom, and your back pain may be different from someone else's, so your response may be different as well
Hope this helps,
Jean Donati
How long acupuncture will take to clear a condition is dependent upon several factors:
1. how long the condition has been present
2. how your energy responds to treatment
3. how often treatment is given
I would have to evaluate you and see what the root cause of your symptoms are, and address any blocks to the flow of energy, then decide which pathways to treat and see how your body responds to treatment. Most people at least will see a shift in their symptoms in 10 treatments. Again, I treat the whole patient, not just the symptom, and your back pain may be different from someone else's, so your response may be different as well
Hope this helps,
Jean Donati
Acupuncture is a process. How long before the patient will feel the result from acupuncture depends on the severity of the pain/symptoms. Usually we recommend on course of treatment to get the better result.
Being 34 years old, you could expect to recover with relatively few acupuncture treatments. However, other things need to be taken into consideration such as the severity of the pain, the duration of the pain, frequency etc. along with your general overall constitution. If I had to hazard a guess, I would say somewhere between 4 and 12 treatments.
Have a beautiful day!
Master Gina Musetti, L.Ac.
Have a beautiful day!
Master Gina Musetti, L.Ac.
A lot of times, you can feel the improvement right after treatment. Depending on your condition, you might feel a little worse, like soreness.
It all depends... your age, other health conditions, the length of time you've had it all play into how long it takes to get relief. You should plan on a minimum of 6 treatments.
Rawls Whittlesey, L.Ac.
Rawls Whittlesey, L.Ac.
Lejla Fazlicic
Acupuncturist
Pain relief starts fairly soon and some long lasting results are usually achieved after 8-10 treatments.
All the best.
Dr. Leila
All the best.
Dr. Leila
It very much depends on your case an its severity. It can take 2 sessions, it could take 20, but I would say 4-6 is an average.
That depends how long your back pain has been in existence. The longer you have had it, the longer it will take to resolve. However, if you're not feeling some relief or changes within 5-8 treatments, I recommened trying a different practitioner or a different style of acupuncture.
For acute pain, immediate, but chronic pain, it depends.
For back pain, acupuncture one session takes 45 minutes. Probably 1-3 sessions is enough.
Every person is different. The longer you've had a problem, the longer it takes to correct. You are pretty young, though, so the chances are it would work for you fairly quickly. But don't be surprised if your practitioner wants to see you twice a week for a number of weeks.
The 'how long' question is a good one, but it's almost impossible to answer.
A lot will depend on how long the patient has experienced back pain, whether or not the patient is seeing a licensed and board certified acupuncturist vs someone providing 'acupuncture-like' services after taking a weekend seminar, how good your provider is with pain conditions, what exactly is wrong with the back/spine and is causing the pain, and so on. In order to provide a relatively accurate estimate, I'd have to actually see the patient, review any imaging/testing, and go through my intake process.
Speaking generally, and assuming the provider is an actual board certified and state licensed acupuncturist, patients should be noticing a decrease in pain somewhere between the 3rd and 5th treatment. A complete course of therapy might be something like 10 treatments, after which the pain should be reduced to the point that it has minimal effect on the patient's day to day life.
Once this point is reached, the pain typically stays reduced for several months. Sometimes we hit the nail on the head and the pain goes away and stays away for a fairly long time. Again, without seeing and treating the patient, there's no way to predict what might happen.
If the patient isn't experiencing any change by the 3rd or 4th treatment then we have three possibilities:
1. The person providing the acupuncture doesn't have a good enough handle on the problem and they should re-evaluate their diagnosis.
2. The patient, unfortunately, falls in to that portion of the population who tend not to respond well to acupuncture. Studies show that roughly 5% of the population are in this pool. We don't know why it happens but it does, and the only way to find out is to try acupuncture and see what happens.
3. Whatever is causing the back pain isn't amenable to acupuncture. There are a few structural issues, particularly in the low back, which don't respond well to acupuncture. I've never gotten good results for patients with laminectomy that has later become unstable. Sometimes the degeneration is just too advanced and there's not a lot acupuncture can do.
A lot will depend on how long the patient has experienced back pain, whether or not the patient is seeing a licensed and board certified acupuncturist vs someone providing 'acupuncture-like' services after taking a weekend seminar, how good your provider is with pain conditions, what exactly is wrong with the back/spine and is causing the pain, and so on. In order to provide a relatively accurate estimate, I'd have to actually see the patient, review any imaging/testing, and go through my intake process.
Speaking generally, and assuming the provider is an actual board certified and state licensed acupuncturist, patients should be noticing a decrease in pain somewhere between the 3rd and 5th treatment. A complete course of therapy might be something like 10 treatments, after which the pain should be reduced to the point that it has minimal effect on the patient's day to day life.
Once this point is reached, the pain typically stays reduced for several months. Sometimes we hit the nail on the head and the pain goes away and stays away for a fairly long time. Again, without seeing and treating the patient, there's no way to predict what might happen.
If the patient isn't experiencing any change by the 3rd or 4th treatment then we have three possibilities:
1. The person providing the acupuncture doesn't have a good enough handle on the problem and they should re-evaluate their diagnosis.
2. The patient, unfortunately, falls in to that portion of the population who tend not to respond well to acupuncture. Studies show that roughly 5% of the population are in this pool. We don't know why it happens but it does, and the only way to find out is to try acupuncture and see what happens.
3. Whatever is causing the back pain isn't amenable to acupuncture. There are a few structural issues, particularly in the low back, which don't respond well to acupuncture. I've never gotten good results for patients with laminectomy that has later become unstable. Sometimes the degeneration is just too advanced and there's not a lot acupuncture can do.
