Fear of Needles

Some people are afraid of needles, and because of this, they would never consider getting acupuncture because needles are used during the treatment. This fear can arise from painful shots people have undergone as children. And no wonder! The standard width of a needle used to administer vaccinations ranges in thickness from 0.50 millimeters to 0.70 millimeters. This is the same width as lead used in mechanical pencils!

In contrast, the needles used in acupuncture are far smaller, with the thickest needle being a little more than half the thickness of a hypodermic needle used in vaccines. Here is a photo of typical needles used in an acupuncture treatment. The left side shows Japanese, or Seirin, needles and the right side shows Chinese needles. In my practice, I use Seirin needles ranging in thickness from 0.16 millimeters to 0.20 millimeters. I also use Chinese needles ranging in thickness from 0.20 millimeters to 0.30 millimeters. For some perspective, the width of a human hair is roughly 0.10 millimeters.