Do I Have To Go Again?

 When would you like to 

come back?  

It's the usual question after a treatment, it seems.  So you think:
"If acupressure works, why do I have to keep getting treatments"
I am asked this question in one form or another over and over.

The answer is complicated.

First of all: Your body didn't just break in one day - unless you were involved in an accident.  Health issues are an accumulation of little breaks that keep building until the dam breaks and you have a "disease." 

Sometimes one treatment is all that is really needed.  Children with stomach upsets, sprains and the like usually only come once.  Children's bodies aren't as "calcified" as adults, they are still growing, changing, shifting. A "disharmony" unravels back to "harmony" much more quickly.

A teenager came to me with migraines. She'd been suffering for several years, and had been through all the tests they doctors could think to give with no results. She was referred to me and I cautioned her mother she might need to come for several visits. During the initial session, I could feel her unwinding and relaxing.  I told her mom that she would likely not need to come back. Her headaches did retreat, and I saw her irregularly over the next two years. I showed her some techniques to do as self-help, deep breathing and visualization techniques that she embraced and used as needed. Then she went happily away to college and on with her life.

But we want to talk to about why 1 treatment doesn't always "fix it."  The short answer is that it took a long time for your body to get where it is. It takes some time for it to "unlearn" the disharmonious pattern.  And your successful recovery is greatly helped by doing self-help work, and making lifestyle changes that contribute to the disharmony in the first place.  If you have constant coughs, chest congestion and you smoke, you need to quit smoking so the body can begin to heal. The value of the therapy increases exponentially.

 4 Steps to A Successful Alternative Therapy Outcome:

1. Search for a Therapy that you can afford -  and can commit to -  long term.  Persistence is a major part of the success of alternative therapies, any alternative therapy.  
2. Evaluate your condition to create a benchmark:  take pictures and use a questionaire that you can retake at intervals. Healing is a subtle process, if you don't have a benchmark, you will not appreciate your gains.
3. Do self-help:  either as primary mode, or as support for your practitioner.  Not only does it save you money, you can do it at home, on vacation, when you need a pick-me-up. Finding a therapy that you can do yourself, and doing it on a regular schedule is the key.  Classes are an excellent way to learn proper technique.
4. Persistence: Doing it when it doesn't seem that anything is happening is critical. You are helping your body heal itself. It takes time, and it takes commitment to your overall health.   Just keep doing it.  Periodically review your benchmark questionaire.
5. See a practitioner periodically for encouragement, and to maintain your stamina. It also gives your system a boost when you've temporarily plateaued.