Acupuncture Provides Effective Pain Relief
Sep 10th, 2008 | By Melanie Rockett | Category: Medicines and RemediesAcupuncture, a safe alternative to pain relief treatments, clears the blockage of vital energy within pathways in the body. These pathways are called meridians and each is linked to a specific organ or organ system. Acupuncture is more effective than traditional drug therapies because it treats the cause and effect of pain.
Acupuncture can help relieve pain caused by physical trauma, muscle or bone weakness, injury, poor posture, physical strain or other factors. Pain caused by or associated with Rheumatoid Arthritis, Osteoarthritis, Carpel Tunnel Syndrome, Fibromyalgia, migraine or stress headaches, back pain and even cancer can all be treated effectively using this ancient Chinese therapy.
To ensure you receive the maximum benefit from your acupuncture therapy, you need to describe your pain as accurately as possible. In other words, your Acupuncturist will want to know when the pain started, whether or not it is constant or intermittent, whether it is the result of an injury or other physical trauma, etc. Different treatment points may be selected for different types of pain. When you Acupuncturist has accurate information, you treatment therapy will be more effective and you will experience pain relief in the shortest amount of time.
Each organ in your body corresponds to a specific pain and that organ needs to be stimulated to bring about pain relief. That is the first of three general steps in acupuncture therapy. The energy and blood flow to nourish the entire body and also targets the specific areas experiencing pain. Then the appropriate meridian to tap into is determined. Finally, the specific insertion points for the needles are mapped out.
Stainless steel needles, about the thickness of a human hair, are inserted into specific treatment points in the body which send a message to the central nervous system. The central nervous system, in turn, sends a signal to the brain to release endorphins, a natural chemical within the brain that helps in pain suppression.
A personalized treatment plan will be developed by your Acupuncturist. The plan will consider the nature and source of the pain, i.e., chronic, radiating, result of injury, etc., as well as your significant medical history. The needles that are inserted during the treatments will be left in place for several minutes. The actual duration will be determined by your response to treatments, which will be scheduled for several weeks out, until you realize long-term pain relief.
Often pain sufferers turn to over-the-counter anti-inflammatory medications or powerful prescription drugs from a doctor. Both of these options can be harmful and both anti-inflammatory and muscle relaxant mediations can cause adverse side effects. This treatment option only provides temporary pain relief. Acupuncture results in long-term pain relief with no adverse side effects that can limit your activities or potentially harm your body and interact with other medications.
It takes time to restore energy systems to their properly balanced state. While not an instant cure, some symptoms may be diminished after the first application of acupuncture therapy. The number of acupuncture treatments required for complete pain relief will depend on how long you have been experiencing the pain, the cause of the pain, and how quickly your body responds to the treatments.
A truly holistic approach to pain relief, acupuncture therapy treats not only the pain but also the cause of the pain. Acupuncture is safe alternative for pain relief because it produces no adverse side effects or adverse reactions with other, traditional treatments or medications.