“How long does it take for acupuncture to work for chronic back pain?”
I have chronic back pain and want to fix it. How long does it take for acupuncture to work for chronic back pain?
24 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.
The time for acupuncture to work for a condition will depend on how chronic the condition is and how well the individual responds to acupuncture. Sometimes one acupuncture treatment can be the cureall, or after 20 treatments. The practitioner should be able to guess the prognosis along with the progress. Check with your primary to see if alternative medicine is a good option.
Acupuncture treatment does help chronic low back pain. Most of the time it takes 4-6 treatments to feel the result. But in some cases, it takes longer.
It is difficult to set a time frame. If it is chronic that means the pain has been there for a long time so it will take time to see positive results.
One treatment to 30 treatments.
Hu Gi Acuherbs
480-857-1888
Hu Gi Acuherbs
480-857-1888
How long it would take to heal from chronic back pain depends on several factors, including on the age and level of health of the patient, as well as the skill level and consistency of care. Approximately 91% of my patients felt better immediately following the first treatment.
With consistent care, the majority of them recovered within 1-6 months of weekly visits, depending on the variables mentioned above. Six months are the extreme cases and more elderly and less healthy patients. The mean amount of time is somewhere between 1-3 months in my practice.
With consistent care, the majority of them recovered within 1-6 months of weekly visits, depending on the variables mentioned above. Six months are the extreme cases and more elderly and less healthy patients. The mean amount of time is somewhere between 1-3 months in my practice.
Hi, and sorry you have been experiencing pain for so long. There is no quick fix for back pain and there is no guarantee that acupuncture CAN help your back pain. It depends upon many factors; the root cause of the pain, what activities you are doing that may be contributing to or worsening the pain, how often you are on your feet or sitting for long periods, the quality of the footwear you wear on a regular basis, what you have tried insofar as other therapies. All of these can and do affect how bad or frequent your back pain is. Carrying extra weight, especially in the midsection can also be a problem in chronic back pain. I would suggest that you make sure you are not sitting or standing for too long, do some stretching during the day, make sure you are wearing shoes that have decent support, replace your mattress if it is more than 8 years old, drink PLENTY of water and work on your posture whether it be via specific postural stretches, yoga, tai chi. Try these things daily for two weeks and see if that doesn't help the pain. If the pain persists, see your PCP and or an acupuncturist. How each person responds to acupuncture and how quickly depends upon what you are doing (and not doing) to help yourself. Good luck.
A standard acupuncture protocol for chronic back pain is 10 treatments. I recommend 2x per week for a few weeks to see if any relief is obtained. As an acupuncturist and certified strength and conditioning specialist, I take an integrated approach to pain management which includes movement rehabilitation therapy such as leg lifts, seated internal knee rotations, and palloff presses to forge and strengthen the area for good.
It is very individual, depends on the previous health history, age, etc. The fastest, in my practice, were 2 treatments, but, sometimes it takes 5-6, before You see the difference, and up to 12, to see more permanent results.
High level Acupuncture will stop or greatly reduce the back pain upon insertion of needles.
Chronic implies there may be a causal factor.
If you hit yourself in the head with a hammer, Acupuncture can relieve the pain and help with healing.
However, if you continue to hit yourself the pain will continue because no time is left for the body to heal itself.
In that case the Acu treatment would be like Over the counter medicine, only allowed to treat the symptoms.
Chronic implies there may be a causal factor.
If you hit yourself in the head with a hammer, Acupuncture can relieve the pain and help with healing.
However, if you continue to hit yourself the pain will continue because no time is left for the body to heal itself.
In that case the Acu treatment would be like Over the counter medicine, only allowed to treat the symptoms.
It depends on many factors, such as how long you've had pain, the cause, what other therapies you are doing or are willing to do. Typically, long-term pain requires more treatments. Plan on an initial course of 12 treatments, ideally twice per week for 6 weeks. At that point, your acupuncturist will be able to give you a better idea how much acupuncture will be helpful.
It depends on how long have you been building up your back pain, usually, it takes around 5 treatments, but it really depends on the situation. I've experienced a patient taking about 20 treatments to reduce his back pain from level 9 to level 2. but he is a really rare case.
Depending on chronic your back pain is and depending on how well you take care of yourself. Some feel relief after the 1st, 2nd, 3rd or sometimes the last session, everyone is just different/
If your back pain is chronic, you will need multiple sessions per week for a period of time. Then you can decrease sessions to once a week once it is under control. You need a private consultation to discuss your pain issue.
How long acupuncture takes to treat chronic back pain depends on various factors: the severity of pain, length of pain, health history, and current lifestyle and health.
At Healing with Zen, we practice Balance Method Acupuncture which yields immediate results at the office. However it usually takes a series of treatments for the back pain to completely heal. Learn more here: https://healingwithzen.com/what-is-balance-method-acupuncture/
Here are some of our testimonials: https://healingwithzen.com/back-pain/
Hope this was helpful and that you give acupuncture a try!
At Healing with Zen, we practice Balance Method Acupuncture which yields immediate results at the office. However it usually takes a series of treatments for the back pain to completely heal. Learn more here: https://healingwithzen.com/what-is-balance-method-acupuncture/
Here are some of our testimonials: https://healingwithzen.com/back-pain/
Hope this was helpful and that you give acupuncture a try!
Usually 3-4 times (2 weeks ). We will give you an exercise program at home.
It can take 1 - 15 treatments or more. It depends on what is going on
Six visits are basic.
Everybody is different depending but you should expect to experience some type of relief after a few treatments
It depends greatly on the condition causing the pain, so it will need to be assessed.
Mr. Anthony James Lorenzo
Acupuncturist
1-3 months of weekly treatments, in my experience. But make sure you are actually experiencing REAL ACUPUNCTURE! Anything less would be you not really trying this system of healing. Find a fully trained professional in Chinese medicine, possessing a master's degree AND 5+ years experience in this field. Medical Doctors, Osteopaths, Chiropractors, and even Physical Therapists (dry needling) are able to do what looks like acupuncture (but isn't) with a couple weekends of training or less. Buyer BEWARE!
I think it might need 5-6 treatments.
There is no set answer for how long it takes acupuncture to work for any problem. Sometimes it starts helping right away, sometimes it takes several treatments to start seeing progress. I see patients twice a week until they are pain free between treatments, then once a week, then once every other week until they are pain free.
It depends. You've already said the pain is chronic - but are we talking about 2 years or 20 years? It also sometimes matters what's going on with your back that is causing the pain (disc degeneration, bone spurs, stenosis). I'm a pain management specialist with a doctorate in acupuncture (not a PT or DC - all I do is Chinese medicine). Typically, my patients are experiencing some level of pain relief at the first appointment. Other providers may vary, but I'd think your pain levels should be trending down after the 4th treatment at least.
