It is routine that needles are retained in the body for a period of time after the insertion in order to produce a better effect. The question is do we need to manipulate the needles during this period? I have observed several practitioners doing acupuncture and had ever talked with some of them; very few of them do so. If so, then what is the reason to retain needles in the body?
According to the ancient acupuncture books, the effect of acupuncture is in most part depending on the manipulation of needles. By manipulating the needles, practitioners could generate different degree of stimulation intensity and quantity, which may produce different signal input to the body and thus generate completely different results. This in this respect, a practitioner should manipulate the needle according to the patient’s constitute, age, disease course, the patient’s endurance to the stimulation and the acupoint localization. A strong constitute person will respond well to a strong stimulation while an aged, thin lady will most likely respond to a mild, gentle stimulation. Strong stimulation also may work well for an acute pain, while for a chronic pain; a mild stimulation is more appreciate. However, it is quite difficult to standardize the needle stimulation as each practitioner has different levels of training and each possesses his/her own way to manipulation the needles. But there is a simple way for each practitioner to follow. Each practitioner can generally divide his/her own stimulation into three levels, the mild, the moderate and the strong stimulation level. For a mild stimulation, it is generally manipulated slightly, slowly and gently for a short period of time after the needle being inserted and DeQi feeling attained. It is especially applicable for treating patients with insomnia, chronic fatigue syndrome, depression and anxiety, etc. For a strong stimulation, needles must be moved in a big magnitude for a longer time with a strong force in a quick way to enable the generation of strong feelings. People of trigeminal neuralgia, sciatica or acute low back pain and Parkinson’s disease can benefit from this modality. The moderate level of stimulation can be manipulated in the way between the above-mentioned two kinds of stimulation.
Another important thing that may affect the stimulation intensity is the selection of needles. Usually a thick needle will produce strong stimulation intensity, while a thin needle produce lower intensity. Besides, the amplitude, angles, and frequency of needles manipulation also matter.
When I just started my practice, I was confused by the fact that the treatment effect in my hands was not as good as that in other experienced practitioners even if I put needles in the same points as they did. It took me several years to realize that the real difference lies in the way of needle manipulation. Therefore, it is important to know how strong, how long, how well and how to manipulate the needles.
