What to expect for your first Shakuju Therapy acupuncture appointment
Your first visit gives us time to understand more than the symptom that brought you here.
Before I decide how to treat you, I want to understand what has been happening, how it is affecting your daily life, what you’ve already been through, and what you would most like to see change.
We’ll have time to talk. I’ll examine how your body is presenting through careful observation and palpation. And you’ll receive your first Shakuju Therapy acupuncture treatment during the same visit.
Throughout the treatment, I’ll pay close attention to how your body responds.
Nothing is rushed, and the treatment itself is remarkably gentle.
By the end of the appointment, we’ll have more information—not only about what you’re experiencing, but about how your body responds to treatment and what a reasonable next step might look like.
Before Your Appointment
Your first appointment lasts approximately 60 minutes and includes both your consultation and your first treatment.
Before your visit, please download and complete the new patient paperwork using the link below. Bring the completed forms with you, and we’ll review them together during your consultation.
DOWNLOAD NEW PATIENT FORMS:
Eat Before Your Appointment
I recommend eating something containing protein about an hour before your appointment so that you don’t arrive on an empty stomach.
Avoid Coffee Just Before Treatment
If possible, please avoid coffee for at least an hour before your appointment.
Wear Comfortable Clothing
Loose, comfortable clothing that is easy to adjust is best.
During the examination and treatment, I will need access to areas including your abdomen, back, neck, arms, and legs for palpation and treatment.
We Begin With a Conversation
Before treatment begins, I want to understand what you’ve been experiencing.
We’ll review your paperwork together and talk about the symptoms that brought you in, along with your health history, previous illnesses, old injuries or accidents, and other changes you’ve noticed over time.
But I don’t want to know only what hurts or the name of a diagnosis you’ve been given.
I’m also interested in how your health is affecting your life.
How are you sleeping?
What is your energy like throughout the day?
How is your digestion?
What activities have become more difficult?
What do you have to plan around?
What have you gradually stopped doing because you’re unsure how your body will respond?
And perhaps most importantly:
What would you like to become capable of again?
That gives us something more meaningful to work toward than simply a list of symptoms.
Physical Examination
The conversation gives me one kind of information.
Your body gives me another.
Through careful observation and palpation, I begin looking for patterns in how your body is presenting that day.
I pay attention to areas of tension and tenderness and to the quality of the tissues beneath my hands. Your abdomen is particularly important in the Shakuju method I practice, but I may also examine your back, neck, limbs, and other areas relevant to what I am finding.
This examination helps me identify reference points that I can return to throughout the treatment.
Rather than simply performing a treatment and assuming it is having an effect, I repeatedly reassess what I found at the beginning.
That feedback helps guide what I do next.
Your First Treatment
Your first appointment includes your first treatment.
I practice Shakuju Therapy, a particularly gentle method of Japanese acupuncture developed by Dr. Shoji Kobayashi.
If you’re imagining acupuncture as many needles placed throughout your body, your experience here may be quite different.
I typically use only one acupuncture needle.
And usually, that needle is not inserted into the skin at all.
The stimulation can be remarkably subtle.
During treatment, I continually return to the areas I examined earlier.
I provide a gentle stimulus and then reassess.
Has an area softened?
Has tenderness changed?
Has your breathing deepened?
Has muscular tension released?
Does the tissue beneath my fingers feel different?
Those changes give me information about how your body is responding and help determine what, if anything, needs to happen next.
A Shakuju treatment is a little like having a conversation with your body.
I provide a stimulus.
Your body responds.
I pay attention to that response.
And the response helps guide the treatment.
LEARN MORE ABOUT SHAKUJU THERAPY ACUPUNCTURE
If You’re Nervous About Acupuncture
It’s completely reasonable to wonder what acupuncture will feel like, particularly if you’ve never experienced it before or don’t like needles.
Shakuju treatment is very gentle.
Because the needle is typically used without being inserted into the skin, many patients are surprised by how little they feel from the needle itself—and by how much they may notice their body responding.
During or after treatment, you may notice your muscles relaxing or a general sense of relaxation and well-being. Some people feel more energized afterward. Others simply feel quieter or more settled.
Everyone responds differently.
It’s not unusual for someone who arrived apprehensive to leave smiling and comment that they feel better than when they came in.
You don’t need to know how you’re supposed to respond.
You can simply get comfortable while I pay attention to what your body is showing me.
After Your Treatment
I think of the effects of treatment as continuing to settle and integrate after you leave the office.
For that reason, particularly after your first treatment, I recommend avoiding strenuous exercise or excessive physical exertion for the remainder of the day.
You don’t need to spend the day resting. Simply give your body some room to respond without immediately asking a great deal more of it.
You may notice changes immediately, later that day, or over the days that follow.
Pay attention not only to the symptom that brought you in, but also to your overall function.
Did you sleep differently?
How was your energy?
Did pain or tension change?
Was your digestion different?
How did you respond to stress?
Did an activity feel easier?
Did you recover differently afterward?
These observations give us useful information if you return for another treatment.
What Happens Next?
At the end of your first appointment, we’ll talk about what I observed, how your body responded, and what I recommend from there.
I don’t prescribe the same treatment schedule to everyone.
Your symptoms matter. How long you’ve been experiencing them matters. Your overall condition matters. And your response to treatment matters.
Based on those factors, I’ll discuss what I think is an appropriate treatment frequency and what a reasonable course of care might look like.
The first appointment does not obligate you to continue treatment.
It gives me an opportunity to evaluate your condition and your response to treatment—and gives you an opportunity to experience how I work.
If continuing treatment makes sense, we can decide what comes next from there.
If other recommendations may be useful, such as dietary considerations or symptom tracking, we’ll discuss those as well.
I don’t want to give you a long list of things to manage simply for the sake of giving you homework.
Recommendations should have a reason.
And treatment should, too.
Treatment should earn its place in your care.
How Will We Know If Treatment Is Helping?
Changes that occur during treatment can give me useful information about how your body is responding.
But the changes that matter most happen outside the treatment room.
We may look for things such as:
- falling asleep more easily or waking less often
- waking with more energy
- less frequent or less intense pain
- fewer migraines or flare-ups
- more predictable digestion
- steadier energy throughout the day
- greater ability to tolerate activity
- easier recovery after exertion or stress
- returning to activities you’ve been avoiding
Sometimes progress is obvious.
Sometimes it begins quietly.
You may realize that you made it through an afternoon without the usual fatigue. You slept through a night that would ordinarily have been restless. You went somewhere without first thinking about the nearest bathroom. You exercised and didn’t spend the next day recovering. Or you simply went several hours without thinking about the symptom that used to demand so much of your attention.
Progress isn’t measured only by what has gone away. It’s also measured by what has become possible again.
That’s ultimately what I want us to pay attention to.
Individualized Care Develops Over Time
I don’t expect to understand everything about you or your health in a single appointment.
The first visit gives me a place to begin.
I begin learning how your body responds.
What changes readily?
What takes more time?
What signs tell me that something meaningful is shifting?
If you choose to continue treatment, that understanding can become more refined over time.
That’s an important part of what individualized care means to me.
It isn’t simply that different patients receive different treatments.
Each treatment is informed by what I learn from the person in front of me and how their body responds.
You don’t have to commit to that process before your first appointment.
The first visit is simply an opportunity to begin, experience the treatment, and see what we learn.
Fees & Insurance
Your first visit is $235 and includes the consultation, examination, and your first Shakuju treatment.
Follow-up visits are $125.
I am an out-of-network provider and do not accept or bill insurance directly.
If your insurance plan includes out-of-network acupuncture benefits, I can provide a superbill that you may submit to your insurance carrier for possible reimbursement. Coverage and reimbursement depend on your individual plan.
*Medicare does NOT cover treatment at my clinic.*
Payment is due at the time of service. I accept all major credit cards, cash, checks, and HSA and FSA cards.
Additional information about insurance, payment, and the cancellation policy can be found in the Frequently Asked Questions .
Before You Arrive
A few simple things will help you prepare for your first appointment:
- Complete your new patient paperwork and bring it with you.
- Eat something containing protein approximately an hour beforehand.
- Avoid coffee for at least an hour before your appointment if possible.
- Wear loose, comfortable clothing that can be easily adjusted.
- Allow approximately 60 to 75 minutes for your visit.
- Avoid strenuous exercise or heavy physical exertion afterward if possible.
Most importantly, you don’t need to arrive having figured everything out.
You don’t need to know which symptoms are connected.
You don’t need to know what treatment you need.
And you don’t need to tell your story perfectly.
That’s part of what the first visit is for.
A Place to Begin
If you’ve been dealing with persistent symptoms for a long time, you may have become very good at managing around them.
You may also be wondering whether your body could become more capable again.
I can’t answer that question before I’ve met you, and I don’t believe in making promises about what treatment will accomplish.
But I also don’t assume that how you’re functioning today necessarily represents the limit of what your body may be capable of.
The first visit gives us an opportunity to look more closely.
We talk about what has been happening.
I pay attention to what your body is showing me.
I treat gently.
We observe the response.
And we begin to see whether this approach makes sense for you.
Healing begins with attention.
Your first visit is a place to begin.
DOWNLOAD NEW PATIENT FORMS:
Before your appointment, please take the time to download and fill out all of the required paperwork, listed below:
Please call 732-398-5171 to schedule your first appointment.
Medical Emergencies
If you are experiencing a true medical emergency, do not call the office. Call 911 or seek appropriate emergency medical care immediately.