About Seeing Results

How long will it take to see results?

I usually need 3-5 treatments to determine if a course of treatment will help a patient. Some patients respond quickly while others take considerably longer when their overall state of health is poor and the condition complex.

The three main factors that affect recovery speed are type of disease, your goals and individual responsiveness to my work.

Type of Disease

Initially, the nature of your disease is the most significant factor in a prognosis for treatment duration. In general, acute problems have short treatment courses (1-5 sessions), while chronic disease with multiple complications may take months of continuous treatment.

Your Goals

Are you open to the treatment you really need? You may want to rid yourself of neck pain, but the problem may be a “pain in your neck” of another kind. In that case, some lifestyle or behavioral changes might be needed. If you cannot decrease the stress in your life that caused or exacerbates the problem, then it is important to plan on long-term maintenance rather than hoping to cure what ails you. To take control of your well-being, adopting appropriate lifestyle suggestions from Chinese medicine’s health cultivating wisdom may be important to speeding up your recovery and maintaining your well-being.

Individual Responsiveness to My Work

Results depend on whether or not my approach and skills are a good fit for you and your condition. In Chinese medicine, both the treatment and who treats you are important: one acupuncturist might not be a good fit whereas another will be just what you need. Not all conditions are treatable by Chinese medicine and not all patients respond well to it. In case of a good fit, changes in your condition will come quickly, even if full resolution requires a longer treatment plan.

Example Treatment Courses

What about pain conditions?

Many people with uncomplicated musculoskeletal pain (e.g., neck, back, shoulder and leg pain) will only need a few treatments to reduce or eliminate pain, while those with more serious pain problems (e.g., herniated disks, trauma, postoperative complications, and fibromyalgia) would need treatment courses ranging from three weeks to three months. Any pain condition that is complicated by stress or chronic internal medicine disease (e.g., autoimmune disease, diabetes mellitus, gastrointestinal and gynecological related disease) most likely requires multiple follow-up sessions.

What about reproductive health issues?

Patients with gynecological conditions, male/female infertility, or ED may see results in a few sessions, but usually require three- to six-month treatment cycles to restore reproductive health.

What about recalcitrant and complicated conditions?

Those with undiagnosable or incurable conditions within conventional medicine (e.g., involve mental-emotional trauma, Lyme complications, hemiparesis from stroke, and autoimmune disease), can take three-to twelve-month treatment courses to substantially improve or resolve the disease. Some patients come to me for regular maintenance as either they have complicated conditions that are difficult to treat or they find themselves in a situation where aggravating factors are impossible to remove.