Can Acupuncture Treat Your Injury or Pain?
Acupuncture can treat your injury or pain as part of a comprehensive treatment plan or on its own. It is a traditional Chinese medicine technique for balancing the life force (qi or chi) flowing through pathways (meridians) in the body.
What is Traditional Chinese Medicine?
Traditional Chinese Medicine dates back over two millennia. The practice stimulates the body’s natural healing abilities by focusing on the body’s connection to the mind and spirit.
With acupuncture, ultra-thin needles—about the thickness of a hair—are inserted at strategic body points to correct energy imbalances and reduce pain.
Is Acupuncture Painful?
Many patients report feeling euphoria after an acupuncture session, and most do not feel a thing as the needles are inserted.
Which Conditions Respond Best to Acupuncture?
Acupuncture treats many conditions. Below are some examples.
It Help Athletes Recover from Dysfunction and Relieve Short-Term Pain
Acupuncture has ancient origins, but modern science backs it up. A systematic review of case reports shows this noninvasive, conservative modality can treat sports injuries like lateral meniscus rupture, femoral acetabular impingement, ganglion cysts and sports hernia. In addition, yips and delayed-onset muscle soreness may benefit from acupuncture.
It Reduces Osteoarthritis Pain, Improving Your Function
This form of degenerative arthritis has no cure and causes pain, stiffness and swelling. However, combining acupuncture with other therapies may improve your function by mitigating arthritis symptoms.
It Eases Adverse Effects of Cancer Treatment
Some studies show that acupuncture can ease nausea, numbness, tingling and other radiation side effects.
It Reduces Anxiety- and Depression-Related Pain
Anxiety and depression increase pain sensitivity. Acupuncture may help with these mental illnesses, thus relieving their accompanying pain.
Fibromyalgia Pain Relief
Acupuncture can treat many difficult conditions. Often, acupuncture can relieve fibromyalgia pain.
Other Conditions
Other acupuncture-treatable conditions include:
- Migraine
- Carpal tunnel and other overuse injuries
- GI issues
- Respiratory disorders
- Chronic pain syndromes
- Chronic stress
- Allergies
Acupuncture Treatment and Procedure Details
The Food and Drug Administration first approved acupuncture in the United States in 1996 by designating acupuncture needles as legitimate medical equipment. In addition, twenty years’ worth of research has shown that acupuncture does have therapeutic effects.
How Does it Work?
Acupuncture needles are inserted into the fascia, which wraps around every muscle and organ. The autonomic nervous system innervates the fascia. When an acupuncturist stimulates a fascia acupoint, the fascia sends “SOS signals” to the rest of the body, prompting a response. When the body senses something is wrong, it sends blood, lymph and other fluids to the affected area.
Acupuncture at Allied Pain & Spine Institute
At Allied Pain & Spine Institute, our providers work to identify the underlying cause of your issue; then, we formulate a treatment plan that may involve acupuncture. It is versatile enough to be used on its own or in tandem with other treatments like physical therapy.
Our licensed acupuncturists have significant experience successfully treating various pain conditions and injuries. Contact us if you are interested in scheduling an appointment and learning more.
Posted on behalf of Allied Pain & Spine Institute