Dr Stephanie H. Lipnicki, DACM, LAc

Whenever I am asked the question - how long will it take for me to feel better - I have SO many answers for that. Usually 20 visits is the answer, but why?

What factors play into how long it will take to get better?

Length of the chief concern.

If someone has had an issue for 10 years, and they are coming for pain, and their pain is a 10 out of 10, I often use the calculation of 1 month for every year that something has been going on. Does it always take 10 months - no, but I like to set goals that patients can achieve.

Now, this does not mean that the patient won’t feel relief after a few visits, but it might take 10 months to get to the point of switching to maintenance.

In the beginning a patient may need to be seen 2x a week if their pain is a 10 out of 10 for the first month. Then in the next month, we reduce frequency to 1x a week for the next 4 weeks. Then in the next 2 months we do every other week. Some patients may need to continue 1x/ week for 2 months before they can reduce frequency to 1x a week.

In time we work to taper off to once every 3 weeks and eventually maintenance of 1x a month.

Typically the initial investment in a patient's health is about 20 visits:

8 treatments in month 1

4 treatments in month 2

2 treatments in month 3

2 treatments in month 4

3 treatments in months 5 and 6

1 treatment in month 7

= 20 treatments

Then we are often able to switch to 1x a month and stay on a maintenance plan.

So yes, in the first year of treatments, you are investing more in your health (around $3750 and up - around 25 treatments - less financial investment if you do packages).

Basically the investment in yourself is $11 a day for the first year of care.

In subsequent years, the investment drops. If you decide with your practitioner that 2x a month is your ideal maintenance, without a package the investment in yourself drops to under $10 a day (again less financial investment with a package).

If you do 1x a month maintenance, your investment in yourself, less than $5 a day! AND like before, even less if you purchase a package (sorry really don’t want to sound sales-y but I want to break down care in terms where patients can see they are worth it!).

What else plays into how long it takes to get to maintenance?

Age: Yes, age plays into this. Let’s face it, as we age, healing slows down. Acupuncture definitely jumpstarts healing, but the older a patient is, the more visits it might take to get to the point of maintenance.

Age + Length of Time of Chief Concern: Yes, if we add these variables it will play into the healing time.

Lifestyle/ Homework: If I ask patients to avoid certain foods, toxins, do certain exercises, or stop something harmful and they don’t want to, that can impact their healing. I can’t be more invested in patients’ wellness than the patients. This isn’t a judgment. I can offer advice and patients can take what they want and use it, or not take whatever advice I give. I just like to be clear that it might impact the course of healing.

Connection with Practitioner: Don’t think this matters? It does. Some of the experience of healing relies on whether or not you feel a connection to the Acupuncturist. If you don’t connect with me, and feel like you are being well taken care of that can impact the healing process. That’s one of the reasons that I explain to patients EVERY pin I put into my patients is put in with love. And that impacts the healing.

At the end of the day, I tell patients that if you are only going to do 20 visits, use those 20 visits as close together as possible to maximize the results of the treatments.

And go for the package! INVEST in your health. Your body will be there long after that expensive handbag! And by all means do both. Take care of your health and wellness so you can get the expensive bag and enjoy both!

I hope this info gives you an idea of what investing in your health looks like. I hope it answers the questions as to why a lot of Acupuncturists will say it takes 20 visits to get to the maintenance point.

And if you are ready to take the next steps, contact me and book a consultation or your first appointment on the path to wellness.

Schedule Yourself Now!

See you on the treatment table!

Dr Stephanie