In accordance with Dr. Sumetanon’s instructions, I showed up for my first group acupuncture session. I checked in and paid my co-pay and then was directed to an area across the room behind a screen.
The girl behind the screen took my paperwork and gave me two alcohol swabs, instructing me to clean the skin of each ear while waiting. She also asked me what I would consider my pain level to be today, and I told her 8.
Another patient and I were the only two newcomers today, and we sat at one end of the room to wait for the acupuncturist. There were 10-15 chairs, arranged in an oblong shape, all with their back to the center. The Asian female acupuncturist explained that she would put five needles into each ear. Which she did. When she had served every patient in the “circle,” she turned the lights down and left soft music playing. I didn’t see if she left the room or not because my back was to everything else in the room.
It was a very pleasant and relaxing experience, but any decrease in pain lasted only as long as the session, which was about 35 minutes of actual needle time.
After the session, I was aghast to find out that I couldn’t get into the second group acupuncture for several weeks! The girl behind the screen told me to call the acupuncture desk because there were often cancellations. So I decided to do just that!
