7 Ways Acupuncture Can Change Your Life For The Better | Alternative medicine & healing therapies slideshows | Therapies & Treatments center

What Is Acupuncture?

Acupuncture is a therapeutic intervention used in traditional Chinese medicine, to relieve and cure muscular and body aches of physical origin. As one of the oldest medical practices in the world, acupuncture has been proven to be very effective for the relief of chronic pain, and even nausea associated with physical pain. Be it for the treatment of headaches (migraine or tension types), neck disorders, shoulder pain or low back pain, acupuncture is the best choice for most and the most appropriate treatment for many. With a well-rehearsed and almost perfect needling technique, a professional acupuncture practitioner and a cooperative patient, healing miracles are truly bound to happen.

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Does Acupuncture Hurt?

When you think of it clearly, in an acupuncture procedure, fine needles are inserted in the body through the skin. So yes, this somehow hurts. But wouldn't this contradicts the primary essence of this alternative medicine procedure, that is to relieve pain? Well, the truth of the matter is acupuncture does cause some physical discomfort, but it all depends on the areas of the body that are being punctured. Needle pricks hurt less when inserted in fleshy parts (buttocks, belly, arms) than when inserted in less fleshy parts (hands and feet). But then again, people have reported that the needle prick is just a slightly sharp pain that disappears, fast.; but still warrants an "ouch"!

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Low-Back Pain

According to a review for the "American Pain Society/American College of Physicians" from 2007; acupuncture tends to produce better effects for "chronic" lower back pain compared to "acute" lower back pain. Though there are not yet any obvious reason that could explain this phenomenon, it has been theorized that To explain this process, it has been theorized that a potential mechanism of healing through this procedure could be the stimulation of the surrounding neurons, thus causing the release of endogenous opioids (which are natural pain relievers).

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Headaches

Acupuncture is said to assist in the relief of headaches, especially migraine headaches and tension headaches, but also other types of headaches such as post traumatic head ache, cluster headaches, disease-related headaches (caused by sinusitis, hypertension, or sleeping disorders. The two main advantages that acupuncture has over Western medicine is the affordable cost and the limited side effects. However, people could be more reluctant to agree to this treatment because of their supposedly fear of needles.

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Fibromyalgia

Fibromyalgia is an idiopathic condition characterized by diffuse and widespread pain of unknown origin or causes, all over the body. With fibromyalgia, the pain is accompanied by pressure and tenderness at specific body sites called "the pressure points". A reproducible pain after pressing on the pressure points is usually diagnostic for fibromyalgia. Medically, fibromyalgia is thought to be caused (at least in part) by an improper relay of pain signals to the central nervous system. Because of that, the pain episodes are deviated to the body. With repeated sessions of acupuncture, symptoms of fibromyalgia can considerably decrease. The needles insertion will not only help you to relieve the pressure, but to also decompress nerves in case they are affected.

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Arthritis Pain

Unlike fibromyalgia pain originates from the muscles, arthritis pain originates from the bones. Arthritis pain can be caused by knee inflammation secondary to Urinary Tract Infections or auto-immune diseases (just to name a few). However, as we would probably notice here; the cause of the pain is not physical, but rather biochemical (infections and autoimmune diseases). In other words, the physical knee pain is only a symptom of an underlying problem. Henceforth, before attempting to relieve the pain through acupuncture (which is an invasive technique), the Doctor needs to treat the underlying condition first; and then move on to the symptoms relief.

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Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

Acupuncture is also said to work wonders for carpal tunnel syndrome. Carpal tunnel syndrome is a medical condition in which the median nerve is entrapped within the carpal tunnel of the dorsum of the hand, causing a constant tingling sensation (pin and needle) and possible weakness of the thumb, index and middle fingers. Genrally, NSAIDs (Non Steroidal Anti- Inflammatory Drugs) are used for pain relief until a decompression surgery can be arranged. But why not opt for a natural and efficient method instead, acupuncture that is?

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A Boost for Pain Medicine

With physical pain symptoms, an acupuncture procedure could easily be combined to pharmacological relief (analgesics, NSAIDs, etc.) for better and faster effects. However, the only main concern that may arise from this option is the necessity for the patient to visit his health practitioner more regularly, for his acupuncture sessions. Acupuncture is not generally recommended as an outpatient procedure, as there is an increased risk for infections (since the tip of the needles are pricking the porous skin, thus creating a breech in the epidermis and allowing bacteria to penetrate.

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When to Consider Acupuncture

Acupuncture used to be practice in the old times, and as a matter of fact it was considered as one of the primary procedures for generalized body pain relief. However, nowadays times have evolved and medications have been made available worldwide; to the point where patients even auto-medicate themselves when it comes to slight problems such as migraines. Nevertheless, acupuncture still has a place, and can be used at any phase of the treatment. However, using acupuncture at the beginning of your treatment will surely make you get results faster. However, it could also be helpful to wait until everything else has failed, as in medicine it is preferable to opt for the non-invasive methods first.

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Acupuncture Risks

Like in any medical procedure, acupuncture harbors its own risks. However, weighing the benefits against the risks is a key factor to determine whether or not the procedure is worth being done. In the case of acupuncture, we have already established how efficient it is in the relief of headaches, neck disorders, generalized pain disorders (such as fibromyalgia), lower abdominal pain and several other conditions. However, after the procedure the patient may report soreness, minor bruising and bleeding at the needles's sites, infections due to skin punctures, organ injury (in case the needles are pushed too deep). Finally, acupuncture is contraindicated for patients with a history of bleeding disorders, with pacemakers or in pregnant females.