Acupuncture is an ancient form of healthcare. But after her experience, one woman was left questioning whether she made a huge mistake.
In a video that has amassed 4.9 million views, TikToker Natalia (@thenataliaverse) shows viewers a needle she pulled out of her neck a long time after her acupuncture session had ended.
“Just found a needle in my beck from my acupuncture appointment over 10 hours ago,” she wrote via on-screen text. “I pulled it out and now I feel nauseated and lowkey like I’ve been beaten by a bat, am I going to cease to exist, do I need to go to the ER?”
‘Terrifying’Â
Commenters were unnerved.
“Why do I keep seeing videos of people being sent home with acupuncture needles left in them…” one wrote. “That’s terrifying.”
“Acupuncturists are like chiropractors they don’t know what they’re doing,” a second said. “I have nerve damage from going to one.”
“I know a girl from TikTok that went to a acupuncture appointment and she is now highly sensitive to sounds and is shaking all the time,” a third claimed. “Please get it checked things can turn really bad.”
And a fourth added, “Acupuncture lowkey scares the s— outta me, like what do you mean you’re just gonna stab me with needle.”
Should She Go To The ER?
In a second video, Natalia replied to a comment that said, “Baby ER, I’m scared thats a possible infection about to occur. Better safe than sorry!” This video appeared to had been taken in the ER.
Continuing to use on-screen text to communicate, Natalia explained, “Ok so I started shaking and sweating, and feeling like I was going to throw up and cry, and slight tingling in my legs and hands like cyclically, and feeling typical anxiety symptoms physically, but completely calm mentally. The nurse and doctor (both men) are lowkey conescendendingly telling me its anxiety from my brain reacting to to seeing the needle and getting me Benadryl. But at least it’s documented so I can get my nerves checked if necessary.”
In a third video, Natalia said she got antihistamine medication for anxiety at the ER.
“I lowkey feel like I just got diagnosed with like female hysteria and sedated,” she said. She went on to add how she was shaking and not feeling well again by the time she got home, but fell asleep eventually. Natalia added that she was drowsy with unusual pain, and that the doctor and and acupuncturist had not called.
What Did The Doctor Say?
In a fourth video she wrote, “Acupuncturist emailed basically saying to hydrate and still hasn’t called me yet. I did talk to my doctor though and am picking up an RX that should actually help today.”
In her fifth and final video, Natalia explained why she didn’t want to sue. She said it “could be difficult to prove direct cause” for three reasons. First is because she doesn’t know if the symptoms are long-term yet. Second is that, according to her, this pain is to be “expected” in the week after treatment. Her third and final reason was that it is hard to measure the reactions.
Is Acupuncture Dangerous?
The Nursing Times is a U.K. publication that focuses on medical issues and nursing. In a 2012 article, it was reported that acupuncture may have “hidden dangers.”
According to a review of acupuncture treatments administered by the UK’s National Health Service, researchers identified 325 safety incidents had occurred.
95.5% of these incidents were considered to have either no or very little impact on patients. It included things like dizziness, temporary unconsciousness, and, as happened to the TikToker, acupuncture needles being kept in longer than they’re prescribed to be.
1.5% of these incidents, however, involved collapsed lungs. In turn, 1% of incidents involved patients having pain and difficulty breathing. 19% reported a temporary loss of consciousness, while 12% experienced hot flushes, headaches, and vomiting. 30% also reported feeling dizzy and faint.
That being said, it should be noted that there is no information on how many acupuncture treatments were administered during that time frame. This means that it is difficult to identify how common the more severe incidents are.
Based on this, it can be argued that while acupuncture is relatively low risk, it isn’t 100% risk-free.
For more on health, check out BroBible’s previous reporting on the most Googled medical symptoms and confessions from physicians.