Health Benefits of Acupuncture

Woman getting an acupuncture treatment in a spa
Acupuncture is an ancient technique, stemming from the 3000 years old Traditional Chinese Medicine. It has been recognized by the NIH and WHO as an efficient and safe treatment for a variety of conditions. This is a holistic method which implies stimulation of specific points on the body, the so called acupoints in the most important meridians.

The list of conditions it can relieve is quite extensive and ranges from back pain, neck pain, arthritis or asthma to depression and addictions. Its overall health benefits are numerous, both as a cure and as prevention. It can also help you with some chronic problems and simply increase the general wellbeing of your organism. Here are some of the positive effects acupuncture has on our health and life quality.

Acupuncture Reduces Migraines and Headaches

A research from 2009 has shown that acupuncture has a long term beneficial effect on reduction of headaches and migraines. Namely, the research was conducted on the two groups, one received real acupuncture treatment and the other one received a placebo, having the needles placed in random spots on their bodies.

Initially, both groups experienced positive results and relief of headaches. However, in the long run, those who received real acupuncture treatment reported a continuous decrease in length and intensity of their headaches and migraines in the follow-up period. Those who received placebo, however, haven’t had any further health improvements.

It Relieves Chronic Pains

Whether it’s your back, neck, knees, shoulders, or even more serious conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, acupuncture has been proved an efficient remedy for all of them. This has been backed through two studies, one from 2006 with patients with chronic lower back pain, the other from 2012 for chronic back, neck, shoulder, arthritis pains, and headaches, both of which have shown that the acupuncture relieved and decreased the pain in patients who received.

On the other hand, the placebo groups or the one who received no treatment at all didn’t experience any improvements. The clinical trials involved more than 17000 patients, and the final verdict was in favor of acupuncture. It has been proven not to be just a placebo, but an effective treatment for different types of chronic pains. However, if acupuncture is not sufficient to relieve your pain, you may try other non-invasive treatment options like chiropractor treatment. Learn more about that here https://www.fixbodygroup.com/chiropractor/rancho-bernardo/san-diego/.

It Helps With Insomnia

In 2009 a Chinese Medical University conducted a meta-research showing that acupuncture helps treat insomnia. It has proved that undergoing acupuncture in combination with herbal remedies and medications has better effects on relieving the sleep problems than just taking herbal and non-herbal remedies without acupuncture treatment.

Another important positive point about this treatment is, that in comparison to most of the other above mentioned therapies, it has no side or contra-effects. Seeing how it doesn’t require you to take any medication, it is safe for people who shouldn’t or cannot take painkillers or other medication.

It’s a Good Prevention of Cognitive Decline

Some studies have pointed out to the positive effect acupuncture has in treating and preventing the Parkinson’s disease. Namely, some researches have shown that this treatment helps relieve the symptoms of the cognitive decline caused by age since it generates a neural response exactly in those regions of the brain that are attacked by Parkinson’s, for instance, the thalamus and the putamen.

A research from 2002 conducted by the Neurology Department of the Maryland School of Medicine reported 85 percent out 20 Parkinson’s patients who were treated by acupuncture to have experienced improvement in symptoms such as tremor, pain, sleep, slowness, handwriting, walking, anxiety, and depression. They did not complain about any side or adversary effects.