Why Consistency Matters: The Journey to Lasting Results with Acupuncture
When starting acupuncture, many people wonder, ‘why is the recommendation for weekly treatments for 1-3 months to see the best results?’ The answer lies in both the ancient principles of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), its understanding of the complexity of human health, and modern scientific understanding of how acupuncture works. Put simply, true healing is a process, not a quick fix.
In conventional medicine, health is often viewed as binary: you're either healthy or dealing with a diagnosable issue in a specific system, organ, or body part. However, TCM sees health as a spectrum. It values the subtle signs and symptoms we often overlook—those little messages from your body that conventional tests might dismiss as "normal." For example, you might notice a phlegmy cough after certain meals or experience bloating before your period. These seemingly minor issues indicate an imbalance in one or more organ systems. Left unaddressed, these imbalances can gradually progress into more significant health challenges.
Acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine Can Help
Acupuncture and TCM approach health holistically, offering treatment for everything from the smallest discomfort to complex conditions. Whether you have a minor cough, metabolic dysfunction, hormonal imbalances, or a major illness, Eastern medicine sees every symptom as an opportunity to restore balance and promote wellness. Therefore, acupuncture and TCM treats everything under the sun, while also improving your immune system and relieving stress if chosen monthly for wellness reasons.
The level of intensity, frequency, and length of time you have had your symptoms and/or conditions dictates how often and how long you may need to receive acupuncture treatments before seeing the results you are looking for. Results may be seen as early as 1 treatment/session, but lasting results are best when continued weekly or biweekly for 3-12 months depending on your condition and health goals. Once you have met your health goals, you can come once a month for wellness. The good news? It’s natural, effective, and provides long lasting results over time.
Let’s explore why consistency and time are essential for your healing journey with acupuncture.
Acupuncture Promotes the Gradual Restoration of Physiological Homeostasis
Your body experiences imbalances as subtle signs of discomfort. We often dismiss these signs because of daily lilfe demands, but when we listen, we become aware of what the body has been trying to tell us for years. This lack of balance, or homeostasis, is what acupuncture aims to treat.
Acupuncture stimulates the nervous system at specific points that lie on meridians, or channels, throughout the body, connecting many body parts and organ systems. Neurotransmitters are released and the body's natural healing processes take place during your sessions. These changes take time to essentially reroute the nerve pathways to promote proper functioning of all physiological systems that effect the body, mind and spirit. These changes have to be reinforced week to week or month to month to be most effective as each treatment builds upon the physiological effects of the previous one. The consistent, repeated stimulation helps "train" the body's systems (e.g., nervous, endocrine, metabolic, and immune systems) to maintain balance and function optimally without external input.
Acupuncture Promotes Tissue Healing Over Time
In cases involving acute or chronic pain, inflammation, or injury, the body needs consistent support to reduce inflammation, enhance blood flow, and encourage nerve regeneration. For pain, acupuncture can be compared to physical therapy, where repeated sessions are needed to build muscle strength, improve joint function, or restore mobility.
Acupuncture modulates inflammatory markers (e.g., cytokines) to promote natural healing and decrease inflammation over time. Increased circulation to affected areas helps deliver oxygen and nutrients for tissue repair, which is a gradual process. For nerve-related conditions, healing involves the slow repair of nerve tissues over time.
Acupuncture Promotes Neural Plasticity and Habit Formation
Acupuncture works to rewire pain pathways and form healthier patterns in the body. Chronic conditions often involve maladaptive changes in the brain and spinal cord, a phenomenon known as central sensitization, where the nervous system becomes overly sensitive to pain signals. Regular acupuncture treatments help "reset" these pathways over time, reducing pain and promoting healing.
Additionally, acupuncture stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system, encouraging a state of relaxation and reducing stress. With consistent treatments, the body begins to adopt this restful state as its new baseline, supporting long-term well-being.
Acupuncture Promotes Regulation of Qi Flow
In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), the root of all diseases, ailments, and symptoms lies in disharmony within the flow of Qi and blood. Chronic conditions often stem from deep-seated imbalances that require time and consistent effort to address. Regular acupuncture treatments gradually restore the smooth flow of Qi, which moves all other functions in the body and strengthen the organ systems, to promote overall balance. Consistent weekly sessions are crucial for reinforcing these changes, preventing the body from slipping back into its previous state of imbalance.
Sessions are Personalized and Dynamic
Acupuncture is a dynamic process that meets you exactly where you are—whether you're navigating different phases of your cycle, recovering from a stressful week, or processing a traumatic event. Weekly sessions allow the practitioner to adapt treatments based on your progress, addressing evolving patterns of disharmony as they arise. This cumulative approach not only targets immediate concerns, but also strengthens and stabilizes weakened systems, such as Qi or blood deficiencies, while also draining or reducing anything in excess, such as an external pathogen invading the body, phlegm, or stasis. By building on each treatment and treating the person as they are in that moment, acupuncture helps establish lasting balance and resilience in both body and mind.
Typical Timeframes:
Acute Conditions: 1-4 sessions
Chronic Conditions: Require longer treatment due to deeply ingrained patterns of dysfunction, scar tissue, or long-standing inflammation. May see relief as early as one session, but most significant results will be seen by treatment 4 to 10 at a weekly basis.
Hormonal Conditions: Conditions such as fertility issues, PMDD, endometriosis, adenomyosis, PCOS, and other related conditions typically require weekly treatments for 1 to 9 months or longer. Symptoms will drastically improve within 1-3 cycles, but fertility journeys may take up to a year and may change in frequency.
The weekly frequency ensures the effects are compounded while allowing the practitioner to fine-tune the approach for the best outcomes. After the initial phase, maintenance treatments every 2-4 weeks may suffice to sustain progress. One thing is certain - the relaxation and ease you’ll experience during and after is always worth it.
