What Happens During a Full Acupuncture Treatment?

You’ve maybe read the benefits of acupuncture and interested to get one.  However, you’re wondering what happens during a full acupuncture treatment? To give you a snippet, will show you what a full acupuncture session would look like here at Evergreen Rehab and Wellness.

And for today’s post will give how Shawn Tjen, one of our registered acupuncturist provide treatment to his patients.

By the way in this post, we will only discuss the type of treatment being applied. Also, take note that the type of treatments may vary depending on your condition.

A Quick Background about Shawn Tjen

Shawn Sungwoon Tjen is a licensed Acupuncturist and Chinese Medicine Herbalist under CTCMA of British Columbia.

But did you know that he majored in Computer Science at Simon Fraser University and worked in a company for 7 years as a software developer?

When he was working as a developer, he suffered from lots of physical pain and work-related stress. His grandfather was an active Korean Medicine doctor in South Korea back then, so he recommended Shawn to jump into a different path to become a healthcare practitioner to know more about his body and help people who are in a similar situation. So, he decided to follow the same path with his grandfather and completed a 4-year Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioner program at the International College of Traditional Chinese Medicine of Vancouver (ICTCMV) in 2014.

In 2012 while he was a Chinese Medicine student, Shawn started an internship under a China-originated Chinese Medicine doctor, Dr. Xiao Mei Wang. Through 5 years of practice experiences with her, Shawn adopted her acupuncture techniques and was trained to provide maximally utilized Chinese Medicine modalities depending on the patient’s needs, including acupuncture/electro-acupuncture, cupping therapies, tuina/acupressure/cranial massage techniques, and ear seed therapy.

Know more about Shawn Tjen.

So, What Happens During a Full Acupuncture Treatment?

Type of Treatments Applied By Shawn Tjen in this Full Acupuncture Treatment

Cupping Therapy

Among the Chinese Medicine modalities, he applied was cupping therapy, where he uses fire cupping and moving cupping therapy.

Cupping therapy is an ancient form of alternative medicine. The National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health defines cupping therapy as a technique that involves the use of cups that creates suction in the skin. It is a practice being used in traditional medicine in various parts of the world such as in China and the Middle East.

Discover more about cupping therapy here.

As shown above, Shawn applied two types of cupping therapy techniques, the moving and the fire cupping therapy.

Movable or Moving Cupping

With moving or moveable cupping therapy, we can observed that Shawn uses a glass cup and being glided at the back of the patient.  This is a type of dry cupping therapy that utilizes the flame that will go inside the cup and creates a vacuum on the inside and will be placed in the skin. Then, the therapist will glide the heated cup in an upward and downward motion.  But, first, you will see that he first applies oil within the patient’s back.

This type of technique is often used as a treatment for inflammation, digestion, and congestion. Gliding the cups across your lymph glands or bladder meridians to help in expelling the toxins and waste within your lymphatic system.

Fire Cupping

After a moving cupping technique, Shawn applies fire cupping therapy. He uses fire or heated first the cups before applying it to the patient’s back. The heat will create a vacuum. Then, you will observe that he applies more cups than the moving technique. The number of cups will depend on your condition. But, for a first-time treatment, fewer cups can be applied.

The difference with the moving cupping is that the cups will be left or will stay for about 5-10 minutes in a patient’s skin, but will depend also on your specific needs. So, that’s why here at Evergreen Rehab and Wellness Clinic, a thorough assessment is important before starting the treatment.

After a specific time, the therapist can be observed removing the cups one at a time.  And, we have observed that based on our patients’ experiences that as the pressure releases, they felt a calm sensation of feeling lighter.

As Shawn removed the cups you will notice that the cups left some red marks. You may be wondering what it means.  In a session, the therapist will explain what it means.  But, did you know that those red marks are used as a guide by the therapist on the current condition of the body? The darker the red marks you have stagnation or Qi deficiency which simply implies that you have a problem with your blood circulation, have toxins, and with your lymphatic system.

Those red marks are the result of the blood being pulled in that area since cupping pulls your skin or tissue.  These marks may also visible for several days.

Read more about what the marks mean here.

What you can do After the Cupping Therapy?

The after-effects of cupping therapy may vary based on your condition. The therapist will always explain what you can do after you have received cupping therapy. He will provide you a detailed guide. In general, he will advise you to stay hydrated since your lymphatic system needs more fluid to flush away those toxins. You must keep those areas being treated covered and warm. It is also not recommended to immediately take shower after cupping. As your lymphatic system is being treated, please avoid alcohol and just drink more water. Remember to also take some rest after you received the treatment.

Take in mind also that cupping therapy is NOT for:

• With extreme fluid deficient
• Having suspected hemorrhage of any kind
• With tumors of any forms
• Tuberculosis
• Suffered cardiac arrest for the past 6 months
• Hemophilia
• With extreme anemia
• All Stages of acute infectious conditions and diseases

Electroacupuncture

After the cupping therapy, you will observe that Shawn is putting some needles on the patient’s back and connect it to a machine. This is electroacupuncture. Shawn applies this type of therapy for patients having whiplash injuries, sports injuries, and work-related musculoskeletal pain by relieving tension from muscles and restoring the balance between the muscles.

But, what is exactly an electroacupuncture?

Electroacupuncture is similar to traditional acupuncture which also involves the use of needles, specifically a variant of the traditional one. In a traditional acupuncture session a single needle is applied on each treatment point while on electroacupuncture, it uses two. The total number of needles may vary also depending on the patient’s condition.  Then, the next difference is that it passes a mild electric current within the needles which applies more stimulation than standard acupuncture.

You may be seeing a lot of needles and have this question, does it hurt?

While you may experience a tingling sensation or vibration, you can’t feel any pain during the treatment except at the start when the needle is inserted. This is because the electrical current applied doesn’t act on you directly. ⁠ Most of our patients experience no pain at all.

What you can do after the electroacupuncture?

A therapist will also provide a detailed after-care guide. But in general, he will advise you to get adequate rest. If you feel a little sore after the treatment, you may apply some heat pads on the acupoints. Avoid also engaging in strenuous activities, you may exercise but we recommend you to have a lighter one.  Just like cupping therapy, staying hydrated is important since it will also help in flushing away the toxins within your body.  You may stay first from drinking alcohol or coffee since they will not help in removing the toxins in your body.

But, always remember to give yourself a rest and practice proper body care.

By the way, electroacupuncture is not for the following:

• Pregnant
• Having a Heart Disease
• Had a stroke
• Having a Pacemaker
• Experiences seizures
• Having an epilepsy
• With bleeding disorder or bleached skin layer

How many sessions will I need?

If you are also asking this question, you are not alone, this is the most asked question that we have. The answer is simple, we can’t give an immediate number since it will depend on your condition as mentioned above, at Evergreen Rehab and Wellness, we practiced a thorough assessment before applying the treatment and provide the number of sessions that they need.  So, it varies depending on the body condition of the patient.

Got more questions about acupuncture treatments?

Don’t hesitate to give us a call, an email or you may give a DM on our Instagram page @evergreenclinic. We are always excited to answer your questions. Whether it is about cupping, electroacupuncture, or other types of modalities, we are always ready to answer your query.

Need to Book for a Full Acupuncture treatment with Shawn Tjen?

For fast and easy booking, you may use our online system here to book the services of Shawn Tjen.

Shawn is committed to carefully understanding a patient’s health concerns, providing a clear and accurate diagnosis as well as effective treatments, and working, where suitable, with other wonderful practitioners at Evergreen Rehab & Wellness. Shawn’s previous patients have reported that he has a very gentle touch of insertion of needles and gives comfortable acupuncture treatment experiences.

By the way, support us on the following channels:

• Subscribe to our YouTube Channel
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Also, read the reviews of our Coquitlam Clinic or our Surrey Clinic.

Evergreen is Everywhere for Everyone – Let’s Help You Achieve Your Health and Wellness Goals

At Evergreen Rehab & Wellness – Coquitlam, we have licensed acupuncturists and TCM practitioners that provide best-in-class acupuncture therapy.

We don’t only have acupuncturists in Coquitlam, we also have acupuncturists in Surrey that are always ready to provide patients in these areas with custom and high-quality care.

Moreover, we also have an acupuncturist in Langley that can help you.

You may contact us through the following:

Acupuncture Clinic in Coquitlam

• Evergreen Rehab & Wellness – Coquitlam
• Email:[email protected]
• Telephone Number: 604.449.5859
• Book Online Today!

Acupuncture Clinic in Surrey

• Evergreen Rehab & Wellness – Surrey
• Email: [email protected]
• Telephone Number: 604.498.5859
• Book Online Today!