Acupuncture sessions usually last about one hour, giving you time to explain your situation fully before treatment begins. Many people find acupuncture deeply relaxing and some people even fall asleep on the couch. Acupuncture employs the diagnostic system of traditional Chinese medicine, which takes account of a person’s total state of health. It is a different way of looking at health and disease and it can provide new insight into how symptoms arise and what prevents them from healing. This ancient system of medicine is still practised in mainstream Chinese healthcare today, as I saw for myself in 2010 when I made a study trip to a hospital in Hangzhou. Occasionally a single treatment is sufficient to resolve a problem, but more often people take a course of six to ten treatments. Acupuncture is also used as a way of maintaining good health and for this people may choose to come regularly at less frequent intervals. Traditionally in China, a healthy person would have acupuncture four times a year at the change of the seasons.
