Stephen S. Rodrigues, M.D.
5445 La Sierra Drive, Suite 102
Dallas, TX 75231
214-572-0333
http://www.drstephenrodrigues.com/biography/
Transcript: How does acupuncture feel?
The acupuncture needle is a fine, thin wire made out of stainless steel. They’re specially designed with a nose cone tip so that they don’t cut the tissue. They tease through the tissue to affect the healing response.
Not like a hypodermic needle that has a hollow core that has a sharp tip to it so it actually slices through the tissue. Although you can do acupuncture with a hypodermic needle, the acupuncture needle is in most cases a much better tool.
Most people ask “well what does it feel like?” As the needle pierces the skin, you feel a little prick like a little mosquito bite. Some people say “uh it is nothing” and some people might say “it is pretty uncomfortable”. But 90% of the time, most people say “oh that’s nothing”. Once the needle goes into the muscle, then you might feel an ache. Some people say that “it’s very relaxing”, other people say that “it is uncomfortable” because the muscle will fight the trigger for the muscle to relax. So the needle will reprogram the muscle to tell it to reboot, relax, and for some people that’s uncomfortable because it is unfamiliar to them because they’ve been so used to having the muscle being tight and tense that a relaxed muscle is foreign so they might say it’s uncomfortable.
Sometimes people will say “wow that really hurt”. I call those zingers. Zingers just happen. Some people are full of zingers and other people have no zingers at all. If I take my hand off of the needle, the zinger goes away and the needle quiets down.
Once the needle is in place, you don’t notice anything at all. You don’t even notice that the needle is there.