“Is Acupuncture Safe?”

© 2020 by Dr. David B. Meredith, D.Ac.

Another very common question I get – possibly out of some form of "needle-phobia"– is: "Is acupuncture safe?"

Worry not! Not only is acupuncture safe when performed by a trained and licensed practitioner, it's long been proven to be safer than most medical interventions, as this article on WebMD summarizes.

The most common complication I've personally seen with an acupuncture treatment is a tiny drop of blood when the needle is removed. Very occasionally, there will be a bruise. Even less likely than that is a residual ache, and even that is almost always gone in a few minutes. These are all so easily addressed that they're barely worth mentioning except as an attempt to be as thorough as possible in the answer. 

Further, acupuncture tends to rely on the holistic concept that the body is self-regulating. Western medications introduce a possibility of unpleasant side effects that is foreign to acupuncture. The healing from an acupuncture treatment is healing, if only incrementally; it's not generally considered possible for there to be accompanying negative effects, and almost all unexpected results are actually beneficial, such as improved sleep or a calmer mood. 

In the United States, acupuncture is heavily regulated. By the time an acupuncturist inserts their first test needle, they've had two years of schooling. By the time they are licensed, they have thousands of hours of training and practice. The odds of any lasting harm done are vanishingly small in the hands of a licensed acupuncturist. Any rumors to the contrary are almost always through the use of acupuncture needles by other professions, such as under-trained physical therapists or chiropractors performing "dry needling."