The Answer to Your Question(s) About Acupuncture: It Depends…

by Ollie Zaverey, LAc.

Sarana Community Acupuncture, October 2025

Acupuncture, as a medicine, is incredibly flexible and infinitely customizable. In terms of giving acupuncture treatments, this is one of my favorite things about it! In terms of the questions we get from patients, however, this is one of the most challenging things. Since this medicine is a collaborative effort between the patient and the practitioner—and since health goals and bodies are constantly changing—there just aren't a lot of universally true answers. In fact, nearly every question can best be answered with “it depends…”

How is it going to feel? It depends… Will it hurt? It depends… How long should you rest after the needles are inserted? It depends… How long will it take to feel an effect? It depends… How often should you come in for treatments? It depends… How long will the effects last? It depends… What is that point for? It depends… How does it work? It depends…

(For that last one, as Pam mentioned in her August post [insert link], we may not understand all of the physiological mechanisms of how acupuncture works but we can say with confidence that it does work.)

What does it depend on? There are many factors but the critical ones, at least in my opinion, center on that collaborative relationship between patient and practitioner. 

If you’ve spoken to me about acupuncture, you’ve probably heard me say “there are as many styles of acupuncture as there are acupuncturists.” Even acupuncturists who practice the same style, or learned from the same school(s), will gravitate towards different aspects of the medicine—including different techniques. Not to mention that we are constantly expanding our knowledge as practitioners and the Continuing Education topics that appeal to each of us are different!

To give a specific example, Katie and I trained at the same schools, at roughly the same time. We both started at ACTCM in San Francisco and then transferred to AIMC in Berkeley. And anyone who's gotten treatments from both of us knows that we are very different practitioners. (Our newest acupuncturist, Natalie, also went to both of these schools. She and I were in the same cohort and yet our styles are totally different!) This is because, regardless of the style of acupuncture being practicised, each acupuncturist’s personal combination of knowledge and experience plays a role in our interpretation—and application—of acupuncture theories and techniques.

These differences aren't only true of acupuncturists, they're also true of the people receiving acupuncture. Which can be a challenging—or even frustrating—experience for someone deciding if they want acupuncture. Especially if they’re coming to acupuncture after trying other things, they're probably hoping for specific answers. 

There are, of course, general guidelines that inform how we respond to these questions, even if there aren’t precise answers that are true for everyone. Still, though, being told “we can’t tell you why or how but we promise it works” isn’t super reassuring for folks, and even less so for those who have had limited success with other medical interventions.

Which brings me back to the reason we can’t give specific answers, namely that everybody—and every body—is unique. Acupuncture is at its best when it recognizes—and honors—that uniqueness. 

Acupuncture is a holistic medicine, in other words it’s treating the whole person from an understanding that everything in our bodies is connected to everything else. Even if we’re working on a specific part of the body, e.g. a sore knee, acupuncture treatments are based on the fact that the knee is connected to the rest of the body. Which may seem obvious! After all, many of us learned some version of “Dem Bones” as kids, so we know the knee bone's connected to the leg bone.

However, many medical approaches to a sore knee focus on the local musculoskeletal implications, without considering the rest of the person. That sore knee may change how the person walks, which impacts other muscles, tendons, and joints—and not only in the affected leg. There may be an inflammatory response, which impacts the flow of blood and nutrients, both locally and in the rest of the body. The pain / discomfort may disrupt the person’s sleep, or their daily activities, which will impact not only their body but other aspects of their life. And these are only a few of the things that might arise from the same sore knee.

Because of this, if I’m treating 12 people with sore knees, I’m going to give 12 different treatments. While there will likely be some overlap in the point combinations I choose, the differences are important. The variations will depend on how (and why) each of those 12 is experiencing knee pain, and the context of those experiences (e.g. how frequently, for how long, etc.).

Plus, how each person responds to the treatment—and the things that happen in between treatments—will inform their subsequent treatments. So, even if the 12 start on similar healing paths initially, they’ll each move in their own direction, based on what their individual body needs, and on how those needs evolve.

That ability to incorporate multiple aspects into a single treatment, combined with the ability to adjust from one treatment to the next, is one of the most powerful aspects of acupuncture, and one of the reasons the medicine can be so effective. The more we learn, both as patients and as practitioners, the better we can work together.