This blog post is courtesy of Anne Smith, DC. Dr. Anne provides acupuncture services at Radiant Life Chiropractic every Monday and Wednesday. See the bottom of this post to learn how to schedule an acupuncture session with Dr. Anne!
What is Acupuncture?
Acupuncture is one of the many holistic, or natural, healing methods considered Alternative Medicine in the United States. In places like China, it is practiced as traditional medicine and is one of the first steps to treating ailments.
The human body is an amazing system and is designed to take care of itself in every way, including the process of fighting illness and disease. The problem is, our environment is not perfect and there are many things around us that are fighting against the natural process of our body's system. Things, such as, pollen and toxins in the air fight against the filtration system of our respiratory system. Then you add in the chemicals we digest in processed foods, effecting the digestive system. All of these will cause the body to tire after a while and become sick. Medicine is often used which affects many organs in the body, especially when we start over medicating.
All living things have energy flowing through them. There are hundreds of acupuncture points, existing on twenty different pathways called meridians that run over the entire human body. These meridians carry that energy flow. The effects from an imperfect environment can cause the energy to be depleted, overactive, or unbalanced between the two sides of the body. The flow of energy can even become blocked, completely. This is where acupuncture comes in! Needles stimulating acupuncture points along the meridians will help level out and balance the energy flow, allowing the body to function properly, fight back, and ultimately heal or repair itself!
What does treatment really look like? (Demo on the webinar)
There are many styles and methods of acupuncture, of which I use the traditional needle acupuncture. This method uses extremely thin needles that are inserted at a shallow depth into the skin to stimulate one or more acupuncture points. I suspect those who have never experienced Acupuncture are probably imagining the worst! You are visualizing an abundance of needles and lots of pain. They are needles and needles hurt, right? Wrong! Let me tell you a little about the acupuncture needles I use. The needles come presterilized in their own individual packages. They are surrounded by a guide
tube. This tube not only allows me locate the point, it also keeps anything from touching the needle or the skin. These special needles are solid, not hollow and rounded, not beveled. Both of these differences allow the needles to gently slide passed the surface of the skin, instead of tearing the skin as it enters. Therefore, little to no pain! My personal goal is to insert the needle and you not even realize where I placed it. Acupuncture points are a lot like a target. In most cases, if I hit the bullseye (less than an 1/8th of an inch diameter), you will not feel anything! An insertion just outside of that bullseye you may feel a tiny prick. Still much less than a shot or blood draw. If the small target is missed completely then you will feel a prick and discomfort until the needle is removed. I aim to try and hit the bullseye, every time! Occasionally, tiny blood vessels, called capillaries, get in the way. I try to avoid those but since they are not visible it is not a guarantee. If I get to close to one there will be some slight discomfort. Most cases I can adjust the needle slightly and that disappears completely! Treatments will use anywhere more 6 to 46 needles. Very rarely will any of those needles cause the discomfort discussed. After all the needles have been placed a timer is set for 20 minutes. Your job during this time is to relax! The more relaxed you are the better the treatment. Depending on the patient and condition, relief may start during this first 20 minutes! Most cases, though, it will take a few treatments before the relief starts. Each treatment after that the relief will increase!
What can Acupuncture do for you?
Ok, we have discussed what Acupuncture is and how a treatment is performed. Now, let’s talk about how acupuncture can help you! Most of the time I am treating patients for pain. That is only because I treat patients in Chiropractic clinics. These patients are already there for neck and back pain, so it makes sense to add acupuncture for those same complaints. It really helps to alleviate the pain as well as decrease tension and inflammation. That is not the only condition that can be addressed with acupuncture, though. We can work on balancing the energy in the body to treat so much more!
Do you suffer from allergies? Just getting the body to respond correctly to allergens will make a huge difference in your life.
What about headaches? I treat all types of headaches, tension, stress, eye strain, even migraines. Most patients will see a huge decrease in intensity and frequency of their headaches. If we know the root cause for the headaches we can get even better results.
Digestive problems? Yep, we can work on that, too! Anything from acid reflux to gallbladder problems.
How about stress? Are you having a really tough time at work right now? Maybe you are a worrywart. Either way, we can work on chronic stress or short term stress.
Are you ready to stop smoking or drinking? Maybe your addiction is food. Yep! We can work on curbing that appetite or decreasing that need for one more cigarette.
My absolute favorite acupuncture treatment to do is for fertility! I love working with couples to help make their dreams come true. I can do acupuncture before the couple seeks treatment with a fertility doctor or after. We will work together to help balance the body. If needed, I can even do Acupuncture to induce labor and delivery for full term mommas!
Well, we have touched a few of the many things acupuncture can treat. What other conditions are your curious about? Post a comment or send me a message through my webpage https://AcupunctureAJabWellDone.com. I would love if you hoped over and liked my Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/DrAnneSmith/