Hello! Hope everything has been going well for you ☺️.
I've read some of your post on learning acupuncture and such, and I just wanted to ask: in your opinion would learning and practicing acupuncture on you on/yourself be safe and practical or would you recommend to others that they go to classes to learn.
I've always been a bit of a do it by yourself person but figured sticking yourself with needles even with references and such maybe I should ask someone I some what know who learning/ practicing it what they'd think 🤔.
Thank you for you time and have a good day!
Hi anon!
Thank you so much for asking! I'm so glad that you're interested in learning acupuncture - it's super cool!
I would highly recommend NOT learning acupuncture on your own, and highly recommend NOT practicing needling on yourself without supervision.
Practicing needling without proper training on technique and education is dangerous. If you don't understand what/where you're needling into, and haven't been taught how to needle parts of the body safely, you have a variety of risks, including:
Bruising, bleeding, hitting and causing lasting nerve damage, piercing arteries, and more serious risks like needling into organs and body cavities and potentially causing infection, puncturing and collapsing a lung, and even death.
It is very important that you receive proper training before needling yourself or other people, otherwise you could seriously hurt yourself or others.
And this even goes for people who have prior medical training in other fields, as well. This is a bit of a controversial topic - but there is something called Dry Needling. Basically, it is a technique that some biomedical practitioners (like physical therapists) will do where they will insert needles into muscles to help treat and relax them and to alleviate pain.
The reason that I say this is a controversial topic is because almost every single acupuncturist agrees that dry needling is dangerous. Why? Because they don't get adequate training. The people that practice dry needling are not acupuncturists, and usually will learn the techniques and get certified for dry needling in a weekend seminar or a short series of classes.
It's like I mentioned before - that is not enough nor proper training on technique or structures, and thus the risk of serious adverse events and injury is very high.
One of the most dangerous complications of acupuncture is called a pneumothorax, or a punctured/collapsed lung. This can be life-threatening, and requires an immediate trip to the hospital.
Here's a stat for you - the rate of a pneumothorax with dry needling is 3% of patients. And the rate with acupuncture? 0.001% of patients!!! (source and source)
That is a really big difference! And the reason is, of course, proper training and education.
In conclusion, please don't practice acupuncture on yourself without training and supervision (and also please don't get dry needling - see an acupuncturist instead).
That being said, you can still learn about and do things with Chinese Medicine without acupuncture needles. You can learn the points and do acupressure! Also there is something called Teishin and Enshin - this is a Japanese style that uses small metal toolsl that are used to stimulate and treat the points without actually puncturing the skin. It is extremely gentle, and can be as effective as acupuncture needles - there are practitioners who will just use Teishin and not use needles at all!
I am learning this, and it's wonderful. It's a great way to treat yourself, or people who don't want to do needles. I highly recommend the book A User's Guide to the Teishin and Enshin: A Quiet Revolution in Traditional East Asian Medicine by Bob Quinn (link). It's a wonderful book, and I've studied with him in person a few times now. And if you want a book that is a good primer/introduction into Chinese Medicine and the theory behind it, I recommend the book The Web That Has No Weaver by Ted Kaptchuk (link).
Thank you for the ask! And thank you for the well wishes, I have been doing great (:
Blessings!
