Practiced for more than 3000 years, acupuncture is a healing technique used in traditional Chinese medicine. This non-invasive modality uses hair thin needles inserted at specific points along the pathway, called the body’s meridian, to keep energy, called chi or qi moving through the body in order to restore balance or repair dis-ease.
The earliest written record of acupuncture is found in the Huangdi Neijing (黄帝内经; translated as The Yellow Emperor’s Inner Canon), dated approximately 200 BCE. Acupuncture typically incorporates traditional Chinese Medicine as an integral part of its practice and theory.
Acupuncture has been used in virtually every medical treatment. In the last decade there has been an emphasis on using acupuncture to manage pain. According to Traditional Chinese Medicine, nothing in the human body can function independently. Pain is the body’s warning alarm. It tells you something is wrong.
Clinical studies support that acupuncture is an effective modality in the treatment of pain conditions, including the following: migraines, neuralgia, neck pain, back pain, herniated disc, TMJ, tennis elbow, carpal tunnel syndrome, tendonitis, bursitis, arthritis, frozen shoulder, shoulder pain, fibromyalgia, dysmenorrhea, osteoporosis, sports and other injuries, surgical pain and even cancer pain.
Researchers have discovered beneficial immune and endocrine alterations following acupuncture treatment. Acupuncture may actually help prevent pain by acting on the sympathetic nervous system and by stimulating the body to produce biochemical substances, such as endorphins, to help reduce pain.
More and more mainstream doctors are increasingly recommending acupuncture for their patients. The reason often revolves around treating problems that often resist or are not resolved when treated using Western medicine.
Acupuncture is used for many different reasons. Many individuals who have been involved in car accidents or any other type of accident turn to acupuncture as a type of therapy.
Patients with anxiety or depression can also use acupuncture; by being treated they can relax and significantly improve their outlook. Other problems such as female sexual dysfunction and compulsive overeating have also seen dramatic effects from acupuncture.
A lot of other medical conditions, such as headaches, arthritis, diabetes, and other types of illnesses are all conditions acupuncture can help with easing the discomfort associated with those conditions and illnesses. Some clinics have also treated patients with asthma with acupuncture.
Wishing you the best of health,
Jignesh Panchal