You may feel a dull localized ache or a referred dull achy sensation along the common referral path of the affected muscle. This is an excellent response! When needling the motor point the patient may feel a ‘twitch’ response which is excellent. This is the motor point relaxing or the trigger point releasing and alleviating pressure on the nerves. It can be instantaneous.

You will likely feel very relaxed and peaceful. Acupuncture releases endorphins from the brain as a side effect of treatment. These are both helpful for alleviating pain and have a relaxing effect. For the treatment of musculoskeletal pain, after the first session you may feel the area that was treated to feel heavy and for some people light and airy. The area could have a temporary overall dull ache that may last 24 hours. You should find with progressive treatments that your flexibility should increase, the muscles should feel stronger, your posture and your sleep should also improve as your pain diminishes.

Chinese cupping is the application of cups (plastic or glass) to the skin surface using either heat or a vacuum device to suck up the skin, fascia and superficial muscle layers. When using Chinese cupping there may be red markings or superficial bruising following the application of the cups. This does not hurt, and in fact feels quite good afterwards. At most you will feel a slight sensitivity to the skin briefly afterwards. If you have an issue with the temporary markings, then please communicate this with your practitioner. Cupping stimulates both the lymphatic system and blood circulation and can help with releasing tight muscles and the fascia. It has been used for thousands of years to stimulate the immune system and to alleviate cough, difficult breathing, shortness of breath, asthma, wheezing, phlegm or sputum in the lungs, common cold & flu and a tight or sore chest.

Electric- acupuncture is frequently used in conjunctions with musculoskeletal treatments or for conditions associated with the nervous or circulatory system. Acupuncture is applied as per the usual and small electrodes are attached to the shaft of the needle via a TENS machine. A current goes through the needle into the affected muscle or joint. This feels like a 'buzz' or 'vibration' and does not hurt. Often, the muscle will bounce around when there are 2 connected needles in the same muscle. This is quite effective for pain and weak and malfunctioning muscles.

Infrared therapy is the use of infrared rays via a specialized lamp to warm, stimulate repair of connective tissues and promote blood flow. It feels so very nice and warm like a heat bag but a much deeper affect.

The number of treatments required will depend on how long you have had the condition for, the type of work you do and how consistent you are with your treatment. In general, for musculoskeletal conditions the average amount of sessions required can commonly be 4-10 sessions with several fortnightly follow up sessions. For internal health conditions, it can take anywhere from 5-10 weekly sessions with some maintenance sessions possibly required in fortnightly then monthly intervals.