Acupuncture is at the heart of our practice in Lower Manhattan: careful, unhurried treatment with very fine needles, planned around you. In NYC's Financial District, two minutes from the Fulton St station.
People book acupuncture for many reasons. Pain is the most common, followed by headaches, stress, sleep and digestion. Each concern has its own page.
Every visit starts with a short conversation. At your first appointment, Irina reviews your health history and what you would like to change, then reads your pulse on both wrists and looks at your tongue, the standard assessment in East Asian medicine.
The points, the angle and the depth of the needles are matched to your concern and to how you feel that day, so no two sessions are exactly alike. Irina adjusts the plan at every visit as your body responds.
You lie comfortably on a treatment table. The skin at each point is cleaned, and the needles, about the width of a hair, go in one by one. Each one takes only a moment; most people feel a light tap or a brief, dull heaviness.
With the needles in, you rest for 20 to 30 minutes. Many people feel calm or drowsy, and some fall asleep. Irina checks on you during this time and adjusts any needle that feels uncomfortable.
The needles are gently removed and thrown away; every needle is single-use. The whole session takes about 50 minutes. Before you go, you and Irina agree on when to come back, and you can book your next visit online.
Acupuncture treatment uses sterile, single-use needles placed at specific points on the body. East Asian medicine maps hundreds of these points along channels, or meridians, that run across the body, and choosing the right combination for your concern is the core of an acupuncturist's skill.
There are several explanations for why acupuncture may help. Needling stimulates nerves in the skin and muscle, which is thought to change how pain signals are processed and to prompt the release of endorphins, the body's natural pain relievers. Research on acupuncture is ongoing, and responses vary from person to person.
Which points are used, how deep the needles go and how long they stay in are adjusted from visit to visit as your body responds.
You may feel a brief, light prick as a needle goes in. Once it is in place, a dull heaviness, warmth or tingling around the point is common, and it usually settles quickly. Most people find the session relaxing, and very different from an injection or a blood draw.
Afterward you may feel slightly lightheaded for a few minutes. Many people say they feel calmer and lighter for the rest of the day. Here is how a first acupuncture visit goes in more detail.
Blue Iris offers acupuncture in the Financial District at 139 Fulton Street, Suite 136, two minutes from the Fulton St station; see directions and parking near Fulton Street. Sessions are Monday to Friday, by appointment.
You need your doctor's approval first, and some points are avoided.
Tell Irina before your first session so she can plan around it.
This matters most for electro-acupuncture with a mild current.
Wait until it clears: needles never go into inflamed skin or an open wound.
Safety
Acupuncture is considered safe when it is done by a licensed practitioner with sterile needles. Side effects are usually minor: a small bruise, brief soreness at a point or short-lived drowsiness.
At our office, a 50-minute acupuncture session is $110, the same rate for standard acupuncture and electro-acupuncture. Treatments start from $70; when two are combined in one visit, each is billed at its own rate.
Acupuncture is often paired with cupping therapy for tight muscles, body gua sha for neck tension or moxibustion, a gentle warming therapy. Your total depends mainly on how many visits you need; Irina sets the plan at your first consultation and confirms the pricing with no obligation.
We are out of network and do not bill insurance plans, so visits are paid at the time of care. If you are comparing the cost of acupuncture without insurance in NYC, the prices below are exactly what you pay per session.
Good to know
Many people notice a change within the first few sessions, often in sleep, tension or pain. Whether it is worth continuing depends on how your body responds and what you are treating. Recent problems sometimes settle within a handful of visits; long-standing ones usually need a longer plan and an occasional visit afterward. Irina gives you an honest estimate at the first visit, so you can weigh the commitment.
A session at our office is 50 minutes: a short check-in, placing the needles, and 20 to 30 minutes of rest with the needles in. Your first visit is longer, about 75 minutes, because it includes a full health history and assessment.
Acupuncture needles are far finer than injection needles, about the width of a hair. Most people feel little or nothing as a needle goes in. Once it is in place, a brief, dull heaviness or gentle warmth is normal, and it usually turns into a calm, drowsy feeling.
The downsides are usually small: a little bruising or soreness at a point, brief drowsiness, and the time and cost of a series of visits. Acupuncture is also not right for everyone, which is why the list above shows when to check with a doctor first.
Eat lightly beforehand and wear something loose. Skip hard exercise, alcohol and strong coffee right before the visit, and tell Irina about any medication you take or any recent change in your health.
Yes. Acupuncture is often paired with cupping, gua sha or moxibustion in the same visit when your plan calls for it. Each treatment is billed separately: acupuncture plus cupping, for example, is $110 plus $70.
It depends on how long the pain has been there and how strong it is. A recent episode may settle after a short series of visits; pain that has built up over months or years usually takes longer. Back pain is one of Irina's main areas of focus, and she will give you an honest estimate at the first visit and revise it as you go.
Irina Prikolota, L.Ac., a licensed acupuncturist in New York State. She holds a Master's degree in Acupuncture from Pacific College of Health and Science in New York and a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Brooklyn College.
We are at 139 Fulton Street, Suite 136, New York, NY 10038, two minutes on foot from the Fulton St station (A, C, J, Z, 2, 3, 4, 5), with WTC / Cortlandt (E, R, W) and the PATH just west. Tribeca, Battery Park City and the South Street Seaport are all within a ten-minute walk.
