You are in Living Better . Done properly, acupuncture hardly ever causes serious side effects. Many people feel a brief stinging sensation, like a pinprick, during insertion of the needles. Others experience a dull ache around the needle after it goes in. Done properly, acupuncture hardly ever causes serious side effects.
Many people feel a brief stinging sensation, like a pinprick, during insertion of the needles.
Others experience a dull ache around the needle after it goes in. A few people have reported more serious reactions, such as dizziness, sweatiness, or nausea, according to a November 1999 issue of the Archives of Family Medicine. There have even been some cases reported where patients lost consciousness. However, these problems usually clear up on their own within a few minutes, without lasting harm to the patient. The other problems documented by researchers resulted from mistakes made by the acupuncturists.