Easily the WORST experience I've ever had with acupuncture…read more
There was a great place in Jackson Heights that I used to go to, but Comuni moved to Forest Hills, so I decided to try Wan-Mei Woo. She says all of 5 words to me before she has me cram myself face down on a medical table. ChinaHerb/Woo does not have the standard massage/acupuncture bed with a face down headrest. Instead they have a flat table and give you basically a hemorrhoid pillow to rest your forehead on. This is awful for a couple reasons: it's claustrophobic and gives no air to breathe, and also, if you have a neck issue, it bends your neck backward in an awkward position. It's not relaxing at all.
She, then, uncrumpled some emergency blanket from some corner of the room, threw it over me and left (no mention of how long). Because the walls are not built up to the ceiling, I listen to two competing soundtracks and EVERY word of the other patients' conversations and check-in. The only good thing I can say is that menstrual cycle of the neighboring patient seems to be doing much better today!
The doctor comes in and out of the room to grab supplies for the other rooms, but says nothing to me. After a total of 20 minutes, she comes back into my room, crumples up the emergency blanket and stashes it in the corner--I wonder if this thing is ever washed (certainly wasn't washed between my leaving and the next patient being ushered into my room).
She asks if I feel better. I say not really.
Digging her knuckles into the back of my head, she asks if I feel pain.
I say, it's certainly not comfortable.
She says, yes, but do you feel pain?
I say, well, what you're doing hurts.
She asks me to turn my neck from side to side, and says, it's better than when you came in. But the important thing, and the reason Woo is not trustworthy, is because she never asked me to turn my neck when I came in. So, really, she has nothing to compare and she is just fobbing me off.
Then she leaves the room. I'm not sure if this means we're done or if she's coming back or what. Eventually, I collect my things and head to the front desk to pay $85 for less than 30 minutes.
TLDR: The doctor was rude, the "bed" was not professional, the practice seemed unsanitary, and the experience did absolutely nothing good for me.