Your First Neurological Acupuncture of New Hampshire Concierge Acupuncture Treatment - A Walkthrough

This is an introductory article for new patients, or people wondering if they want to be new patients, on what their first treatment will look like.

Your experience starts with your complimentary consultation where we go over your needs and goals, have all your questions answered, and see if my personalized acupuncture protocols or telehealth services are a good fit for you.

Once we’ve scheduled your initial, 1.5 hr, home or office treatment, I will send you a link for the necessary health information and HIPPA compliance forms. Please, if possible, have those filled out before the initial treatment.

On treatment day, I will arrive with my leather satchel bag containing my sterile, one-use Japanese acupuncture needles and other essentials, my medical grade Near Infrared Light panel (NIR) and stand, a HEPA air filter if you do not have one, and a portable treatment table if that was mentioned to be needed during the consultation. I can work with recliners but prefer a treatment table over any type of bed or wide couch because they are difficult to maneuver around.

Please wear loose fitting clothing. Loose fitting shorts and a v neck t-shirt works best. I will need to be able to get to your abdomen from the umbilicus to the lower ribs, the clavicle and neck area, the shoulder to the hand, and midthigh to feet. If there are any areas you would like me to avoid or anything in the process makes you feel uncomfortable, please let me know first thing. That way I can provide you with a safe space and the most effective acupuncture session possible.

I will begin setting up in the area you have picked for your treatment. I will talk about this during our consultation, but it is worth mentioning it again here - I recommend a space where you can step away from the activity of the day. We want a spot which is the most restful to your nervous system, the spot where you find yourself spontaneously taking deep breaths and your shoulders drop a bit in relaxation. Those are a few of the signs that your parasympathetic nervous system in general and your Vagus nerve in particular, finds safety there. We can discuss other common signals when I am there if this interests you. I will be bringing music which patients have found very relaxing since 1997, a few early albums of Deuter have been their perennial favorites, but we can have on anything you find relaxing or nothing at all. This is your healing path and learning to trust in your own relaxation signals is part of it.

Once the area is setup, we will do the initial 20 minute intake where I will be asking health related questions to do what is called, “differential diagnosis”. This gives me the information needed in order to personalize my protocols. Think of it as a tailor taking measurements to make a wonderful piece of material fit the person exactly.

I then take a baseline Heart Rate Variability (HRV) measurement using a finger sensor to give us an idea of Vagus nerve inflammation and to provide data on which we can measure treatment effectiveness from. To this end, I take another HRV measurement at the end of every treatment as well. This quickly gives us a real-time, objective view of the acupuncture’s effectiveness.

After the baseline HRV measurement, I do a Vagus nerve assessment I created using essential oils. I call it, “Olfactory-Vagal Reflex Assessment” (OVRA) and it is based on Hakan H. Henning’s Smell Prism and Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) pulse diagnosis. You will experience this as smelling 6 different scents while I feel your wrist pulse. When I have found the scent which creates the greatest positive change in the pulse, I put that specific scent into the nebulizer I use for a light release while you have your treatment. Please note, if for whatever reason, you do not want to use the essential oil, we can skip it.

My protocols are like Lego pieces which can be swapped in and out without any loss in benefit and actually increase effectiveness the more they are personalized to the patient. Plus, it makes zero sense to make a room smell in a way you don’t find relaxing. The whole point (pun intended😊) of treatment is to teach your nervous system to be less sympathetic dominant and more vagal/parasympathetic driven and so creating a stressor is counterproductive.

I will then have you either lay face up on the table or recliner and I will finish my examination by taking the wrist pulse again and pressing certain points on the hands and feet for reactivity.

Hair thin, sterile, one-use needles (.14mm/38 gauge) are then superficially inserted in the hands and feet and cords are attached to them called Ion Pumping Cords. Ion pumping cords are clips with a positive and negative diode on either end with a wire connecting them. This is a Japanese technique first used by Yoshiro Manaka and its fascinating history is something I will go into in a future article. A few additional needles are gently inserted in the diaphragm, arms and leg areas if needed.

After the needles are positioned and you are comfortable, I will use a blunt silver Japanese tool called a Teishin to give you a quick, relaxing facial treatment to give a kickstart to rejuvenating your system and decreasing Vagus nerve inflammation. It feels wonderful and patients often report that after their face feels “alive” and warm. The facial is in and of itself a powerful healing technique but in combination with the other parts of my protocol, the results can be impressive.

Lastly, before I leave the room to let you nap while the treatment does its magic, I position the Near Infrared Light (NIR) panel over you and turn it on. It gives off a cool red light whose light frequency has been shown to improve mitochondrial function, improve neurotransmitter balance, and decrease inflammation in a study here and here. The light also helps signal to the autonomic nervous system (ANS) to shift from sympathetic dominant to parasympathetic which, as outlined in Dr. Porges’ Polyvagal Theory, has a number of positive emotional and physiological changes.

Feel free at any time during this 40–50-minute stage to call out for me for any reason and I will come right in and address your concerns. Remember, this is your time, and I want you to feel as relaxed and comfortable as possible.

After the treatment is over, I will take your Heart Rate Variability (HRV) measurement again and we compare that reading with your initial baseline so we can, if needed, make adjustments for the next session. I then unclip the Ion Pumping Cords and remove all the needles and answer any questions which might have come up.

Once you are ready, we schedule the follow-up treatment, and I pack up everything I brought and leave your space as I found it. You are left relaxed and vibrant, embracing the quiet yet profound shift on your healing journey.

Paul Rooney L.Ac., M.Ac., NCCAOM Dipl.

Neurological Acupuncture of New Hampshire - Home Page

Complimentary Consultation