What it is
Fine needles are placed, then a small current is run between selected pairs of them. The needling is ordinary acupuncture; the current is what makes it electroacupuncture.
Most people describe the sensation as a tapping, a pulsing or a light buzz. It is set with you in the room, and turned down the moment it is more than comfortable. Nobody is trying to prove anything to you with the dial.
Why Dana uses it for most cases
Two practical reasons. It lets her deliver continuous stimulation for the length of a session rather than intermittent manual stimulation, and it lets her choose a frequency for what she is actually trying to do.
She also sets the stimulation frequency for what she is trying to do, working across a range from roughly 2 Hz up to 80 Hz. Triggering the body’s own opioids, releasing a tight muscle or tendon, settling the autonomic nervous system, reaching a brain region, working an ear point and encouraging circulation are different jobs, and each has a setting that suits it. She often runs two units at once, each on its own frequency.
The power is a separate dial from the frequency, and she keeps it as low as it can go while you can still feel it. Turning it up is not what makes it work.
What a first visit involves
Seventy-five to ninety minutes, $195. A full history, an examination and your first treatment in the same appointment. Follow-ups are forty-five minutes at $150.
If electroacupuncture is the right route for you, the treatment part is short: a light pulse for a minute or two and off the table in under half an hour.
Does it hurt
The needles are much finer than the ones used to take blood, and most people are surprised by how little they feel. The current is the part patients ask about, and it is adjustable throughout. If you dislike it, say so and it comes down.
This is a different treatment. Fewer needles, a shorter time on the table, and it often reaches cases that manual needling did not. Tell Dana what you have already tried and what it did, because that changes where she starts.
Who should mention something first
Tell Dana at the intake if you have a pacemaker or any implanted electrical device, if you are pregnant, if you have a seizure disorder, if you take anticoagulants, or if you have a bleeding disorder. Some of these change where she places electrodes; some rule the current out altogether and she will use another approach.
Dana is an amazing practitioner. Her acupuncture treatments were a lifeline for me during a high-stress season of my life. I always felt relaxed, valued, and balanced following every session… Dana is a compassionate listener, and the room is clean, private, and comfortable.