Having had acupuncture before, I knew that results can be either instantaneous or a long, slow burn. After a bout of dry, sunny weather, I was starting to feel majorly congested, stuffy and itchy, so my session came at the perfect time. Lying on the table, I had needles placed all over, including:

either side of my nose, to clear congestion
my legs, to strengthen the spleen and wei qi
my hands, to strengthen immunity and target eye swelling
my head, to help with sleep

I went into a deep state of relaxation – a space somewhere between sleep and being lucid. My nose slowly cleared and the fogginess I’d carried around in my head all week dissipated after a few minutes.

Once the needles are applied (they don’t hurt), not much happens during an acupuncture appointment. You lie there, relaxing, until the practitioner returns to take out the needles. Really, the noticeable changes kick in after the appointment. Over the course of the day, I noticed my puffy eyes start to visibly deflate and, for the first time in days, the urge to scratch ceased.

“I tried one dose of acupuncture for my awful hay fever – and I’ve already noticed a difference”