How Often Should You Do Acupuncture: A Practical Guide for Treatment Frequency
- Gavin Martin-Rentz
- Aug 1
- 11 min read
Updated: 4 days ago
How often you should get acupuncture and how many sessions depends on your specific condition and health goals. For acute issues like sports injuries, more frequent sessions several times a week may be necessary initially. For chronic pain, regular weekly or fortnightly treatments can help manage pain over the long term. This guide will help you determine the best acupuncture frequency for your needs.
Key Takeaways
Acupuncture treatment frequency varies by condition, severity and health goals. Weekly sessions are often recommended, though twice weekly may be helpful initially for acute or severe conditions. Ideally as symptoms improve, visits can be spaced out gradually towards a maintenance routine or tapered off completely.
Regular acupuncture sessions offer cumulative benefits, including pain relief, emotional stability, and restoring balance to overall health, with maintenance sessions recommended for long-term wellness.
The effectiveness of acupuncture can be monitored through symptom relief and improved well-being; treatment plans should be personalised and adjusted based on patient response.
Understanding Acupuncture Frequency & Phases
Acupuncture treatment can generally be broken into three key phases: the Relief Phase, where we focus on easing symptoms; the Healing Phase, where we address the underlying causes; and the Maintenance Phase, where we work to sustain your results and overall well-being. Understanding these phases helps set clear expectations for your treatment journey.
Relief Phase
This phase of acupuncture treatment is all about seeking relief from intense and/or frequent symptoms. If you're in constant pain, suffering with daily symptoms that aren't going away, or have an acute injury or illness, this is typically where we'll start. Sessions are closer together, 2-3 times per week or more, to build up the cumulative effect of acupuncture relatively quickly.
In most cases, if the acupuncture is working for you, things will stabilise within weeks of beginning treatment and we can move into the next phase. Severe cases or circumstances may require us to maintain a higher frequency for longer.
Healing Phase
This is time for us to work on supporting your body's ability to heal, repair, and self-correct. The body can get trapped and held in illness configurations. Our job is to identify the underlying imbalances maintaining that internal environment and work towards restoring a healthier body ecology. Treatment frequency can vary from twice weekly, to fortnightly, with weekly being most common.
This phase is the most variable as some mild conditions only need a few weeks to months of treatment before no longer requiring treatment, but more chronic and severe conditions may take years to change substantially. Throughout, it is important to check in with your progress and make sure treatment is adjusted as needed.
Maintenance Phase
Many people who have gone through either of the previous phases like to keep acupuncture as part of their regular self-care with maintenance appointments. This can help with prevention and maintaining the improvements already gained.
Athletes and high performers may also like to incorporate acupuncture for their recovery and to support performance optimisation. It can also be for chronic cases that will need ongoing management of symptoms with a personalised treatment plan.
Frequency will depend on the person and their goals. Usually anywhere between weekly to monthly, or just as needed. This would be ongoing, for as long as the person finds value in the treatment sessions.
It's important your acupuncture practitioner has a plan and process for you to go through. During the course of treatment there should also be certain markers and signs that you can both track to tell you whether or not acupuncture is working for you, and if your sessions need any adjustments.
Determining Your Acupuncture Treatment Frequency
Acupuncture treatment frequency is influenced by several factors, including the type and severity of your condition. Generally, how many treatments you require varies widely based on individual responses and specific health conditions. During the initial phase of a typical treatment, clients typically have one acupuncture session per week, and sometimes two per week, depending on how your body responds.
Understanding your treatment frequency is crucial, whether you’re facing acute conditions needing more frequent treatments or chronic conditions requiring long-term personalised treatment plans. Here are the specifics for each scenario to help determine the best approach for your needs.
Acute Conditions and More Frequent Treatments
Acute conditions such as sports injuries often do best with acupuncture two to three times per week. This frequency helps to manage inflammation, promote faster healing, and aids overall recovery. Depending on severity of the injury, 4-6 sessions are often sufficient for noticeable improvements (though more may be needed for maximum benefit). As pain alleviates, the frequency can gradually decrease, moving towards maintenance sessions every few weeks.
Severe episodes of pain such as sudden lower back pain, frequent migraines or intense pelvic pain also do well with a period of treatments closer together until there is a reduction in severity and symptom recurrence. Once things are more manageable, dropping to a weekly rate of treatment can help to address underlying imbalances and continue to improve while decreasing the likelihood of future aggravations.
Chronic Conditions and Long-Term Plans
A sustained approach is necessary to manage chronic conditions with acupuncture. Chronic pain or long-term health issues often require consistent treatments for significant improvement. Initially, one to two sessions per week for 4-6 weeks help establish how you respond and whether acupuncture will be a good fit for you.
From there, a longer term treatment plan can be made based on your condition and how you respond to the early treatments. Usually weekly sessions will work best to make steady progress.
For chronic conditions, it’s fair to gauge things on a seasonal basis - i.e. how you respond over a 3 month cycle of regular treatment. It’s good to have check points like these, even if a healing phase of active treatment ends up continuing for longer. As long as you’re continuing to improve and receive benefits from sessions, it’s good to keep going.
Maintenance and Preventive Care
Regular acupuncture sessions benefit maintenance and preventive care, even without acute or chronic conditions. Monthly or seasonal sessions help keep on top of pain management by preventing symptom recurrence and supporting general health.
Most maintenance sessions are suggested every four to eight weeks depending on the person’s health, goals and lifestyle. This approach supports overall wellness and can address minor issues before they become significant problems, akin to a tune-up for your body.
How Many Sessions Are Typically Needed?
The number of sessions varies significantly based on the condition and its severity. For chronic conditions, one to two sessions per week over several months are generally recommended for lasting results. Most patients will feel some benefits after just a few sessions, often noticing effects within 4-6 sessions.
More acute injuries may do better with more frequent sessions initially, such as 2-3 sessions per week to expedite healing and help symptoms improve. Many injuries will improve significantly within several weeks. The benchmark would be to look for improvements within 4-6 sessions to know that it’s working for you, adjusting frequency as the injury heals and improves.
What to Expect During and After an Acupuncture Treatment
During your first acupuncture appointment, you will discuss your condition with the practitioner, who will examine your body to identify the appropriate acupuncture points.
A typical session can last up to an hour, though follow ups may be shorter. The needles used are sterile, disposable, and almost as thin as a human hair, minimising discomfort. Your acupuncturist inserts these very thin needles at varying depths, targeting strategic and specific points throughout the body. While some patients may experience mild discomfort during the insertion of acupuncture needles, others hardly feel them at all.
Common sensations include:
Dull aches
Tingling
Deep heaviness
Numbness
Muscle twitches
After the session, it’s common to feel deeply relaxed, looser and lighter. Some acupuncture points used may still feel a little achey, but any tenderness typically subsides within 24-48 hours. It’s best to take it easy for the rest of the day. Drinking plenty of water, while avoiding unhealthy foods and alcohol can help maximise the benefits. Many patients report feeling calmer and more energised following their session.
The Benefits of Regular Acupuncture Sessions
Regular acupuncture sessions provide cumulative health benefits that can enhance overall wellness. Frequent treatments can support recovery speed and pain relief for acute injuries. Additionally, acupuncture work promotes emotional stability by fostering relaxation.
The combination of pain relief and emotional balance contributes to supporting your overall health.
Physical Health Improvements
Acupuncture treatments are commonly used to assist with pain relief, stress reduction, improved sleep, gut health, and enhanced energy levels. Depending on what you’re coming in with, your acupuncturist will tailor a plan to best support your whole body, rather than just a series of symptoms.
Below are some examples of improvements that patients may experience after treatments:
Overall less tension and pain felt in the body
Better quality sleep and increased energy levels
Improved body temperature regulation
Digestive health improvements
For women, fewer menstrual cramps and reduced PMS symptoms
Emotional and Mental Well-being
Acupuncture works to lower stress levels by promoting relaxation and countering the body’s stress response. This can help regulate neurotransmitters like serotonin and dopamine which have positive effects on mood.
Breathing may also become easier, with deeper and more relaxed patterns reported after acupuncture sessions. With less tension in the body, there is also often less tension in the mind.
Overall this can have a significant impact on emotional and mental health.
Long-term Health Benefits
Benefits will vary from person to person, however, over time, the goal is to help regulate and support the bodily systems - nervous system, immune function, hormonal balance. This helps support you to feel more vitality and resilience to the stresses of life.
Regular maintenance sessions can lead to long-term benefits and reduced risk of symptom recurrence.
Personalised Treatment Plans with a Licensed Practitioner
Seeing a licensed acupuncture practitioner will work with you to develop a personalised treatment plan that addresses your individual health needs. Before starting acupuncture, a practitioner will thoroughly assess the client’s condition, and tailor the approach accordingly.
Personalised treatment plan should consider:
Specific pain conditions
Health challenges
Health goals
The client’s lifestyle
Individual response to treatment
Identifying contraindications and paying close attention to how someone responds, ensures that acupuncture treatments are as safe and effective as possible for each client.
Integrating Acupuncture with Other Therapies
Acupuncture can be combined with other treatment options to enhance overall health outcomes. For instance, integrating acupuncture with things like traditional Chinese medicine or phototherapy can optimise effectiveness.
It is also possible to combine acupuncture with other physical therapies such as massage, chiropractic, osteopathy and physiotherapy. Many patients find these combinations work well for physical issues and provide much needed relief of chronic pain like back pain, or neck pain, or broader myofascial pain. Working in conjunction with a counsellor, psychologist or therapist will better support mental emotional concerns. You can get a referral for multiple sessions of these treatment options from a healthcare provider once carefully evaluated.
Combining acupuncture with other therapies offers a holistic approach to health care, allowing the strengths of different approaches to work together. This integration allows patients to benefit from both traditional Chinese medicine, traditional acupuncture, and other alternative medicine practices.
How to Tell If Your Acupuncture Treatment Is Working
Typically you will experience early signs of improvement if acupuncture is going to be helpful for you. Some general signs of effective treatment include reduced pain intensity, better sleep quality, more regular digestion and improved mood.
Ideally your practitioner will set clear expectations and have specific symptoms to track together from the beginning of your treatment plan. Some may experience immediate improvements, while others may require several treatments before any benefits are experienced.
When to Adjust or Stop Acupuncture Treatments
Treatment frequency and approach should be adjusted according to how someone is responding. If things are going well, treatments can be spaced out further, moving towards more of a maintenance rhythm. If progress has stalled, different clinical strategies or increasing the frequency may be appropriate.
If there hasn’t been expected improvements within a series of sessions, then the acupuncture may not be the right fit for you at that time. It’s not to say acupuncture doesn’t work at all for you, but it may not be the right tool needed for you at the time. Effectiveness can also vary from one acupuncturist to the next, which can be another thing to consider.
Summary
Acupuncture offers a versatile and effective treatment option for a wide range of health conditions. To find out if it will work for you, it does require committing to a series of sessions at the right frequency. By understanding how often you should get acupuncture, you will set yourself up to achieve the best possible outcome.
Whether you’re addressing acute or chronic conditions, or simply maintaining your health, regular acupuncture sessions provide numerous benefits. Personalised treatment plans, developed with licensed practitioners, ensure that your specific health needs will be met.
Frequently Asked Questions
How often should I get acupuncture for chronic pain?
For chronic pain, it is generally recommended to start with a series of 10-12 acupuncture sessions. These would ideally be at least weekly, if not twice per week to help gain initial momentum for the first few weeks. Most people will feel signs of improvement within the first 4-6 treatments, if not sooner. Treatment should continue as long as you’re still making steady progress and finding value in the treatments.
How often should you get acupuncture for anxiety?
For anxiety it would be recommended to come in at least weekly in the beginning. You should feel beneficial effects early on within the first 4-6 sessions. From there, further treatment will depend on the severity of anxiety, how much stress there is to manage in your life and how well you respond to acupuncture.
How often should you get acupuncture for fertility?
To support fertility, it is best to start with weekly acupuncture appointments. If you are seeking acupuncture to help with IVF implantation in particular, ideally you would have a session beforehand and another afterwards, each within 24 hours of implantation if possible.
Overall, supporting fertility can take time, since egg maturation and sperm development work on 3 month cycles. This means that changes made today to support your health will have the biggest impact on your fertility in 3 months time. That’s not to say other effects and benefits of treatment can positively impact fertility sooner, but it’s good to keep this in mind and stay consistent.
What should I expect during my first acupuncture session?
Expect a thorough consultation around your health concerns and history, followed by assessments such as palpation for areas of restriction, checking the pulse at the wrist and perhaps looking at your tongue. Treatment involves the insertion of fine acupuncture needles into specific areas, usually followed by a period to rest and relax. Your practitioner should explain to you the process so that you understand what is going on and what to expect.
How do I know if my acupuncture treatment is working?
Your practitioner should set up expectations of what to track and pay attention to between sessions to gauge your response. If you are seeing positive signs of improvement such as pain relief, less tension, improved sleep, more relaxation, more regular digestion, then it is a good sign you’re responding to the treatments.
Can acupuncture be combined with other therapies?
Absolutely, acupuncture can be effectively combined with various therapies like herbal medicine and phototherapy to improve health outcomes. Other therapies such as massage, chiropractic, osteopathy, physiotherapy, counselling and psychology are all complimentary as well. This integrative approach can provide significant benefits for patients.
When should I stop acupuncture treatments?
You should stop acupuncture treatments if your symptoms do not change or improve within the expected time frame, which is 4-6 weeks of regular treatment for most things. For more chronic and internal conditions it’s best to give at least 10-12 weeks of regular treatment to gauge your response.
If you're looking for a practitioner to guide you through each of these treatment phases, our team at the Bondi Junction acupuncture clinic offers personalised care plans tailored to your condition and goals.
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