Acupuncture Side Effects

Benefits and Treatment of Acupuncture

Benefits and Treatment of Acupuncture:
Acupuncture is an ancient healing method developed over 5000 years ago by the Chinese. Its philosophy and principles are so solid that they have changed little with time, and have now been validated by modern scientific research. For all living systems in the human body to function properly, and to work in harmony, they have to maintain balance. The Chinese have described this balance in terms of yin and yang, which represent opposite pole e.g. up and down, light and dark, cold and hot, male and female etc. They are graphically represented by the well-known symbol It is considered a part of complimentary and alternative medicine and over past two decades its popularity has grown significantly. The main goal of acupuncture is to restore and maintain health by insertion of extremely thin hair like needles to various depths, through the skin at strategic points on the body. Studies indicate that acupuncture can provide a number of health benefits from helping with chemotherapy induced nausea to reducing pain; however its mode of action in the body is not fully understood by scientists.

Acupuncture treatment is preformed in an outpatient setting where depending on the acupuncture practitioner and assessment of your condition, number of sittings would be decided. A person will lie on a comfortable surface before the needles are placed, where the position (side, face up or face down) will depend on where the needles should go. Although the procedure of inserting the needles in the body isn’t painful, a sharp sensation may be felt when the needle is inserted first. When the needle reaches the correct depth a deep aching sensation or acupuncture pain is common. Sometimes after the placement, needles are moved or stimulated by heat or electricity. Once inserted the needles are generally left in the acupuncture point for about five to twenty minutes. The western theory for acupuncture focuses on the modern concepts of neuroscience. It is believed that acupuncture points stimulate the muscles, nerves and connective tissue. This stimulation in turn helps to increase the blood flow and appears to boost the activity of the body’s natural pain killers. On the other hand health is a result of the balance between yin and yang – the complementary extremes of life. Chinese medicine believes that any illness is due to an imbalance in this harmony and acupuncture helps to rebalance this energy flow.

Acupuncture can be used in conjunction with one or more conventional medical treatments or can be successfully used as a stand alone treatment for some conditions. Many preliminary studies indicate that acupuncture may provide symptomatic relief in many conditions like migraines, lower backaches, headaches, fibromyalgia and osteoarthritis. Acupuncture may also offer relief for certain postoperative pains including dental pain, chemotherapy induced nausea and vomiting, tennis elbow and chronic menstrual cramps. Acupuncture is safe when performed by an expert acupuncture practitioner properly. It has few side effects and can be successfully used in conjunction with other treatments. However it may not be safe to perform acupuncture if a person is on blood thinners or having a bleeding disorder. Make sure that the practitioner uses sterilized single use packed needles, because reused needles can accidentally cause transmission of certain infectious disease.