Pain
Acupuncture can help with many different types of pain
- Acute and chronic musculoskeletal pain/sports injury
- back, neck, shoulder, elbow, knee, ankle etc
- Migraines/headaches
- Menstrual cramps
- Abdominal pain
- Post surgical pain
A new study of acupuncture — the most rigorous and detailed analysis of the treatment to date — found that it can ease migraines and arthritis and other forms of chronic pain.
Financed by the National Institutes of Health and carried out over about half a decade, the new research was a detailed analysis of earlier research that involved data on nearly 18,000 patients.
The researchers, who published their results in Archives of Internal Medicine, found that acupuncture outperformed sham treatments and standard care when used by people suffering from osteoarthritis, migraines and chronic back, neck and shoulder pain. Read More…
Digestion
Digestive conditions treated by acupuncture and Chinese medicine
- IBS
- IBD
- Chronic constipation
- Gastritis
- Crohn’s
- Ulcerative Colitis
- GERD/reflux
A Study from the Guangxi college of Traditional Chinese Medicine concluded that acupuncture was effective in the treatment of chronic gastritis, resulting in a 95% effective rate. J. Traditional Chinese Medicine, 2003 Ded.;23(4):278-79
Acupuncture for irritable bowel syndrome provided an additional benefit over usual care alone. The magnitude of the effect was sustained over the longer term.
Acupuncture should be considered as a treatment option to be offered in primary care alongside other evidenced based treatments. Read more….
Stress
In the short term, stress helps you cope with tough situations. However, chronic stress has debilitating effects on many systems in the body, for example:
Central Nervous system
anxiety and depression
Endocrine
hormone imbalance, mood swings
Cardiovascular
heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke
Respiratory
Shortness of breath, more frequent asthma attacks
Musculoskeletal
muscle tension leading to sprains/strains, tension headaches
Immune system
more frequent illnesses, autoimmune disease
Sleep
Acupuncture is commonly used in treating insomnia in China
Clinical studies have shown that acupuncture may have a beneficial effect on insomnia compared with Western medication.
Lack of sleep causes the body to over produce “stress hormones” such as adrenaline and cortisol, which can cause anxiety and nervousness.
Increased levels of Cortisol due to chronic stress is also linked to high blood pressure, suppressed immune system and weight gain.
In the treatment of insomnia, acupuncture yields significant results with a total effective rate of 90.44%. It also improves the quality of sleep and overcomes complications induced by sleep medication. Sok, SR, et. al., The effects of acupuncture therapy on insomnia. J. Adv Nurs., 2003 Nov;44(4):375-84.
Mood
It’s estimated that 20% of the population suffer from depression at some point in their lives, and an even greater number experience anxiety due to stress and other factors.
Acupuncture and Chinese medicine can help with many different forms of mood disorders
- Anxiety
- Depression
- PTSD
- Panic attacks
- Eating disorders
Studies have shown that subjects receiving acupuncture for major depression significantly improved by a greater margin than those not receiving treatment.
Another study suggests that electro-acupuncture can produce the same therapeutic results as tetracyclic drugs, but with fewer side effects and better symptomatic improvement.