Video: Acupuncture Needles

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There are several forms and sizes of needles that acupuncturists use for treatment. Learn more about acupuncture needles and treatment from our medical expert in this free video.

Video Transcript

One of the questions that many of my patients asked, "what are the tools of the trade that you use, the different types of needles that maybe utilize during anyone treatment". And there are a number of different needle type that we use in our treatments. The most common one is the filiform needle which varies in gauge from 28 gauge all the way up to 36 gauge needles. And you can see those here whether it's the handle that the practitioner holds on to and then the needle itself. This is one of the largest needles that we actually use and it's rarely use. And you can see the size changes down to very small needles that are use as facial needles and then there's a special needle we call a press needle that you may not be able to see on the film, but it's very tiny right here by my fingernail. Those are actually left embedded into the body for up to five days by some practitioners. Again, it's not very commonly used. We also use what's known as a bleeding needle. This is very similar to what a diabetic may use in order to test their blood. All of our needles are actually single use needles so they're individually package, we buy them pre-sterilized and we dispose of them in the same way that any kind of medical waste is used. They come of in times with a little guide tube that we'll utilized in order to insert the needles. We also have a unique needle, that's called a seven star needle. The seven star needle actually has a series of small prongs at the head of it, we'll demonstrate how to use that here on another clip. And that's oftentimes use for certain types of pain especially when it's in a large area. So, if you're curious about the types of needles that your practitioner maybe using in the treatment, be sure to ask them about type of needle that you're going to receive so that you can have the most successful and comfortable treatment during your process.

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Acupuncture Needles

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