Acupuncture sharp pain at needle insertion- is this normal?

I began seeing a new acupuncturist after moving away from one I saw for years and who was fantastic. This new person is more recently licensed (about 2 years ago). The first couple sessions were fine but the last 2 they inserted the needle into a spot that caused me to shout out in pain, like a reflex. She immediately removed them both times, but the sensation was lasting. The pain was very sharp, like a funny bone kind of pain, and my body had an instant “this needs to be removed immediately” kind of reaction.

The first time this happened I brushed it off and thought I was maybe because I was particularly tense, but now that this has happened again I’m wondering if there might be some poor technique or something going on. This never happened before, and I’m familiar with the good kind of pain or flinch from a well placed needle. This feels different from that. For reference, both instances were in different spots. One was in my left side foot and the other was on ny right leg, below and to the right of my knee.

While I never i insinuated that the acupuncturist was doing anything wrong, they did seem a bit defensive in response to my pain/remarking that i had never experienced that before, like they are trying to brush it off? I don’t know, I’m wondering if this is normal or if there is poor technique involved….

Thoughts?