When acupuncture needs adjusting

These are the Special Conditions and the legal details that govern the usage of the SaaS and all products and services supplied or available from Visual Link IT Pty Ltd

Tell us, and almost nothing is off the table

Very little on this page means you cannot be treated. Almost all of it means treatment is done differently — different points, different depth, different technique, sometimes a different day. The problem is never the condition. The problem is nobody knowing about it.

So the single most useful thing you can do is answer the intake questions properly, including the parts that feel irrelevant.

Pregnancy, or trying

Several points are avoided during pregnancy, and some techniques are not used at all. If you are pregnant, might be, or are in the middle of fertility treatment, say so at the first opportunity — including before a treatment you have had a dozen times before, because the answer changes.

Blood thinners and bleeding disorders

Warfarin, apixaban, rivaroxaban, clopidogrel, regular aspirin, or a clotting disorder. Needling is still possible; it is done with finer needles, less manipulation and longer pressure afterwards, and some techniques are dropped. Bruising is more likely and worth knowing in advance.

Pacemakers and implanted devices

This one has a hard rule attached. Electroacupuncture is not used anywhere near an implanted cardiac device, and generally not at all. Ordinary needling is fine. Tell us about any implanted device, including nerve stimulators and insulin pumps.

Lymphoedema, or lymph nodes removed

No needling in the affected limb, and no needling in a limb at risk after node removal — commonly the arm on the side of breast surgery. This is a lasting precaution, not a temporary one, so it stays in your notes.

Diabetes

Relevant when it affects circulation or sensation, particularly in the feet. Reduced sensation means you may not feel something you would otherwise report, and healing can be slower. It changes where we work and how closely we check.

Immunosuppression

Chemotherapy, long-term steroids, biologics, or a transplant. Needling is often still appropriate, with stricter technique and avoidance of any area where the skin is compromised. Where you are in a treatment cycle matters, so tell us that too.

Recent surgery, and open skin

Nothing goes near a fresh scar, a graft site, an active infection, a rash of unknown cause or broken skin. Those areas are worked around until the skin has closed and settled.

Fainting, metal allergy, epilepsy

If you have ever fainted at a blood test, say so and you will be treated lying down from the start — this is common and easily managed. Nickel allergy is worth mentioning. So is epilepsy, which affects whether certain electrical techniques are considered.

What does not belong here at all

A new symptom nobody has assessed. Acupuncture is not a diagnostic process, and working on something undiagnosed delays the question that needed answering. Anything new, anything worsening quickly, and anything with weight loss, bleeding, chest pain or breathlessness goes to a doctor first.

If you turn up with one of those, that is what we will tell you, and we would rather be clear about it at the first appointment than the fifth.