Yu-Wen Tjiong is a member of the Dutch Medical Doctor acupuncture association (NAAV Nederlandse Artsen Acupunctuur Vereniging www.naav.nl), which means that most patients with more than the basic insurance can have their insurance cover a big part of their treatment (please call your insurance company to see if you are covered and tell them you will get treatment from a doctor, member of NAAV). After each appointment you will be requested to pay the full amount in cash at the time of service, following which you will receive the invoice that you can send to your insurance company for complete or partial (depending on your insurance) reimbursement.

No, a referral is not necessary, but I advise you to discuss your complaints with your general practitioner before coming to my practice. Acupuncture is in most cases complementary to regular treatment of disease.

Acupuncture has few side effects and can be safely used, however treatment must be given by a skilled, educated (conventional Western and TCM) medical professional. The needles I use are sterile and disposable.

It is common to put needles on the lower parts of the arms and legs, but also on the back or belly depending on your complaints. Please let me know if you are uncertain about receiving needles in certain body parts. Usually the insertion of the needle is what you can feel, for most people it isn’t really painful, and following insertion, sometimes a slightly dull heavy feeling (not pain) may occur in the area that surrounds the needle or along the meridian course.
Also please let us know if you are or could be pregnant, or trying to become pregnant or on anticoagulant medicine (medication to stop blood from forming clots). We will take this in account while treating you!

An individualised treatment plan is made for each patient. It is usually necessary to treat once a week for five weeks to start with, following which an evaluation takes place. There should be a significant improvement after this, otherwise it is best to quit. After the first five treatments we usually continue treatment once in two weeks to further improve your complaints (see treatment section). Some people feel benefits after the first or second treatment but longstanding and chronic conditions may need more time to improve (10 to 18 treatments). Once your health has stabilised you may wish to come in for treatment as a preventive method (for example before the hayfever season) and as a way to maintain a good balance in health.

You are welcome for a free introduction to acupuncture, please give us a call to schedule an appointment. You can ask all the questions you like, and we will ask about your complaints to see if acupuncture can be of benefit to you. If one of us decides against starting acupuncture treatment, you will not be charged any fee. If however you do decide on starting treatment at the end of the introduction (given there is time in our schedule) we will proceed with examination and treatment and you will have to pay the normal fee for intake and first treatment session.