Unusual Acupuncture feeling - head rush

[Babooshka40]

Hi

I am new here, and hope I am able to explain myself ok! I have recently started acupuncture again from my anxiety and panic attacks as well as my migraines and my first session last week, I had a large number of needles in my head and neck, which is fine (ive had it before so knew what to expect).

this was on Tuesday, on Sunday afternoon while sitting watching a film, I experienced what can only be described as burning/stinging eyes, then about an hour later, a huge, scary head rush coming up from my ear area, both sides, heading to the top of my head, it was like a head rush that you get when you stand up too quickly but it was about 10 times stronger, and inside my head/brain travelling up.

I spoke to my acupuncturist today, on my second session and she laughed because I said the GP had never heard of it and was referring me to a neurologist - she said it was the toxins, leaving the body and that she had experienced it many times before, she said some people feel it running down their legs/ or feel like they have cut themselves, and some feel this headrush - she said the chinese call it 'the evil leaving the body'

can anyone else relate to this, or reassure me that she isnt mad? cos before I spoke to her , I was convinced that I had a brain tumour/epilepsy!!

thanks

[David- Maldon]

Acupuncture can sometimes initiate different feelings in the body, which folk interpret in different ways. When we needle a patient we often look to stimulate some sense of "flow" or movement at or around the needle site, or extending away from the insertion. I've met some highly sensitive people that feel this flow along the entire channel pathway, but not everyone feels the same thing.

This flowing feeling has been known to carry on after treatment for some people, but usually subsides in a few hours; I've not heard of this "rushing" feeling happening several days after treatment. I'd be very unlikely to describe this as "toxins leaving the body" as this is the kind of language a well trained practitioner is unlikely to use. I'd probably describe it more as the body "rebalancing". Unless it happens again, I wouldn't worry too much. Some people get a rushing feeling during the treatment, but this is sometimes related to anxiety or low blood sugar levels.

It could be worth chatting to other practitioners in your area. Personally, if I were treating someone for anxiety, I'd be using few needles, and going quite slowly.

Hope that helps.

[dragon_healer]

Originally Posted by Babooshka40

Hi

I am new here, and hope I am able to explain myself ok! I have recently started acupuncture again from my anxiety and panic attacks as well as my migraines and my first session last week, I had a large number of needles in my head and neck, which is fine (ive had it before so knew what to expect).

this was on Tuesday, on Sunday afternoon while sitting watching a film, I experienced what can only be described as burning/stinging eyes, then about an hour later, a huge, scary head rush coming up from my ear area, both sides, heading to the top of my head, it was like a head rush that you get when you stand up too quickly but it was about 10 times stronger, and inside my head/brain travelling up.

I spoke to my acupuncturist today, on my second session and she laughed because I said the GP had never heard of it and was referring me to a neurologist - she said it was the toxins, leaving the body and that she had experienced it many times before, she said some people feel it running down their legs/ or feel like they have cut themselves, and some feel this headrush - she said the chinese call it 'the evil leaving the body'

can anyone else relate to this, or reassure me that she isnt mad? cos before I spoke to her , I was convinced that I had a brain tumour/epilepsy!!

thanks

The idea of 'toxins leaving the body', is not a part of chinese medicine, though many western practitioners speak this way because of the influence of naturopathy, homeopathy etc on chinese medicine in the west. The business of 'evil leaving the body', has nothing to do with this. Evil and True are poetic, metaphorical descriptions of health and ill-health. I have never the phrase Evil leaving the body, but if it were to be used, it would be used in the context of sweating to relieve a fever for example. After giving diaphoretic herbs, the patient would sweat and the fever would subside, and the so-called Evil (the Cold and Wind, which is thought to have 'invaded' the body, is thought to have left the body through the sweat). The problem with the traditional terminology in the modern world, is that it sounds like the raving of a lunatic. However, this terminology when properly applied, leads to the treatment that relieves the complaint, so it doesn't really matter ultimately how it sounds, just how it works.

Your practitioner probably used too many points on your legs and not enough on your arms, or too many points on your head etc. which is what caused the side-effects that you describe.