For most healthy adults, yes, when it is done with sterile single-use needles by a trained practitioner who takes a history. Minor bleeding and bruising are common. Serious complications are rare but documented, and certain medical conditions raise the risk enough to change the decision.

What are the most common side effects of acupuncture?

Small bruises and a drop of blood at the needle site, brief drowsiness, and occasionally light-headedness during the session. The 2001 prospective surveys of tens of thousands of consultations found these minor events frequently and serious events not at all in those samples.

Can acupuncture cause serious harm?

Rarely, yes. Pneumothorax from needling over the chest, infection from poor technique, fainting, and retained needles have all been reported. A 2009 study of 229,230 patients found serious events in about two per ten thousand. The risk is low, not absent.

Is acupuncture risk-free because it is natural? No, and here is why | Ghislaine Morin — Médecine chinoise à Grenoble

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Ghislaine Morin

Praticienne en médecine traditionnelle chinoise et sophrologue à Grenoble