Frequently Asked Questions

The short answer? It depends who is giving the acupuncture and how well they were trained. A fully trained acupuncturist has undergone a minimum 4yrs acupuncture training to be a qualified acupuncturist registered with the Chinese Medicine Board of Australia (CMBA) as an acupuncturist. We suggest you always ask any practitioner who wants to needle you (this even includes other health professionals with important sounding letters after their name and whose main training is in another modality - ie; not acupuncture) what training they have undergone and if it was less than 4yrs training in acupuncture specifically then there is a good chance they may have only undergone brief studies, sometimes only for days or weeks. Would you trust someone who attended a weekend course in car maintenance and now refers to himself as a 'mechanic' to fix your car's brakes?

At HOFH we only use only single-use, sterile & disposable needles. Individuals respond differently to all forms of treatment (this does include western medicine & pharmaceuticals) and have the potential for adverse events (see below).

Qualified experienced practitioners know how to modify acupuncture treatment for pregnancy and also to avoid particular acupuncture points which are known to be contra-indicated in pregnancy. A recent large systematic review concluded that if adverse events do occur during acupuncture in pregnancy, they appear to be largely minor.

Should this be of concern to you please consult with your practitioner to find out more. We are all members of Australian Acupuncture & Chinese Medicine Association (AACMA).

No. ‘Dry needling’, also known as ‘myofascial trigger points’ or ‘trigger point needling’ - are actually techniques that have been described in both classical and contemporary Chinese medical literature. Trigger points are referred to in these texts as ‘Ashi Points’. The first reference to Ashi Points – which literally translates as ‘Ah yes!’ – was by Sun Simiao in his book Qian Jin Yao Fang (Thousand Ducat Formulas) in 652A.D.. - over 1300 years ago.

This is not a ‘new technique’ that was developed in the 1930s. But the title ‘dry needling’ was invented by western trained practitioners who believed Chinese medicine terminology sounded too ‘mystical’. ‘Dry needling’ is essentially a term that is used to describe a technique that has been used in Chinese medicine acupuncture for over 2000 years. A properly trained Acupuncturist knows how to needle Ashi Points effectively.

The above material was extracted from this excellent blog post written by one of our esteemed colleagues: Dry Needling or Acupuncture - What's the Difference?

We use very fine needles and while you may experience a brief prick when the needle is first inserted, once the needles are in you should not experience any pain. You may feel a dull ache while the needles are on particular points in your body.

People do not use the word ‘pain’ to describe this sensation. Acupuncture treatment should be calming and relaxing. It is essential that you let us know if you are uncomfortable.