If you get the proper acupuncturist such as a Chinese trained one you can get great results. I have such a one. The needles themselves dont hurt going in but she twists them to cause what she says in broken english "no shock no pain no good". She doesnt baby me. It is a bit uncomfortable but as an adjacent therapy it is great. No side effect like NSAIDS give you and I look at it like something that helps while I try to figure out a better treatment option. If I go twice a week it will reduce my pain 75 percent.
