Paeroa Acupuncture and Massage Clinic provides acupuncture and massage at 116 Normanby Road in Paeroa, in the Hauraki district; its website has the details. A first acupuncture visit usually starts with a long conversation about sleep, digestion and stress as well as the sore back or shoulder that brought you in, often with pulse and tongue reading before needling. The needles are hair-fine and single-use, most people feeling little more than a brief dull ache; sessions often add massage, cupping or heat, and people commonly seek help for musculoskeletal pain, headaches and stress. Many New Zealand acupuncturists are registered practitioners and ACC treatment providers, so it pays to ask about registration and claimable sessions. Because acupuncture tends to work cumulatively, plan on a course of visits rather than a one-off, and wear loose clothing. On Normanby Road in Paeroa, the clinic gives locals a place for acupuncture and massage close to home, without the drive to Thames or Hamilton.