The typical therapy involves 10-30 thin, sterile, stainless steel acupuncture needles of varying lengths that are inserted into specific acupuncture points on the body, just millimeters beneath the skin. Individual parts of the body such as the hand or the ear contain additional sets of hundreds of points. Chronic pain signals a lack of energy, so needles are warmed with heat lamps or electricity to provide more energy. To relax the patient, Dr. Arnold darkens the room and plays traditional Chinese music for sleeping. Because the needles barely poke the surface of the skin, the procedure is not painful, nor are there any side effects when the procedure is administered properly.
Patients find it a relaxing experience, sometimes even drifting off to sleep.
He explains the cumulative effect. With each subsequent treatment, the effects become longer lasting to the point that ideally a patient could go several weeks or months between treatments. Along with standard acupuncture, Dr. Arnold sometimes connects the needles to an electrical device to send a painless electrical pulse to the targeted areas. Cupping is another acupuncture procedure he uses to augment patient response. In this procedure, Chinese fire cups of different sizes are warmed and placed on the skin to increase the blood flow.