Acupuncture Can Help Greatly In Pain Management
I’m sure when you hear the word acupuncture you can’t help but visualize tiny needles coming out of the skin. For some, it’s fascinating, for others a little scary, and if you’re afraid of needles, it’s most likely terrifying. As unconventional as it may seem, acupuncture is a form of treatment.
It is an old form of outmoded Chinese Remedy, which has been in practiced for centuries. Ever heard of the term “Chi”? Well, Chi is a theory that holds that energy flows all over our bodies through passageways known as meridians. When your Chi is out of balance it is believed, you will develop an illness. The practice of acupuncture was started as a way to help bring balance to the Chi.
Other than needles, an acupuncturist may choose to incorporate heat, electrical current or pressure during treatment.
Acupuncture & Pain Management
Pain occurs usually as a result of stress, emotional upheavals, physical injury or illness. Traditionally people would automatically go to chiropractors or physiotherapists when they started having pain in their back, neck, head and legs. These are the most common areas where body pain is experienced. However, we are seeing an increasing number of individuals going for acupuncture as an alternative way of treating their body pain. Research has shown that Chinese acupuncture helps in relieving both chronic and acute pain in patients. More so, it gives long lasting results that enable the energy to flow normally in patients. One of the reasons it’s preferred by many is because unlike modern medicine, acupuncture does not have adverse side effects.
Acupuncture can effectively treat people suffering from osteoarthritis, chronic back pain, menstrual cramps, tension headaches, lower back pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, tennis elbow, and temporomandibular joint dysfunction (TMJ) to mention but a few.
How It Works
The responses of acupuncture in the body in relation to pain include the release of serotonin from the hypothalamus and upper brain stem. Acupuncture also stimulates the release of the endogenous opiate such as endorphin, endomorphin, dynorphin, and encephalin. When these chemicals are released into the blood stream they can help in relieving pain.
In patients whose pain is more psychological than physical, acupuncture plays an important role in encouraging the release of neurohormones such as glutamate, the neurotrophic factor, g-aminobutyric acid, and neuropeptide Y. When these hormones are released, they create a euphoric sensation in the patient thus helping treat the psychological aspects of the pain they are experiencing.
