In many ways this entire website is devoted to exploring the benefit of acupuncture treatment for the billions of people who use it as a primary healthcare system. Those who experience it generally love how it makes them feel-relaxed yet energized at the same time. These are the words I commonly hear in the treatment room:
“I’ve never felt so relaxed in all my life!”
“My wife says I’m a nicer person when I come for acupuncture.”
“I have more energy and sleep better.”
“I feel like I’m floating on air.”
Stress Relief
One of the delights of my life is gazing around my treatment rooms and seeing patients resting in deep relaxation, their cares for the moment pushed aside. We know that a state of relaxation promotes healing in the body and perhaps it’s to this benefit we can attribute some of acupuncture’s therapeutic effects.
Many emotional or psychological disorders can be treated effectively by acupuncture, such as anxiety, addictions, phobias, depression, obsessive behavior, and eating disorders.
Pain Relief
Secondly to reducing stress, acupuncture relieves pain. My first experience of acupuncture was as a chronic pain patient in my 20’s after a disastrous car accident. I can attest to the fact that pain is extremely debilitating and affects every aspect of your life. So this alone is a miracle for those who experience it. As one patient said “you’ve given me my life back again.”
Neurological and musculoskeletal disorders including paralysis following stroke, joint and muscle pain, frozen shoulder or tennis elbow, headaches, sciatica and osteoarthritis also respond to acupuncture therapy.
Homeostasis
Acupuncture has a remarkable ability to return the body to a state of homeostasis. In fact the underlying principle of all Chinese Medicine could be expressed as restoring the body to balance. This is confirmed in scientific research that proves acupuncture’s amazing ability to both up-regulate and down-regulate the immune system. It works great in treating all sorts of immune system dysfunction. There is no pharmaceutical drug that can do that and to my knowledge no other modality.
Respiratory disorders such as sinusitis, common cold, bronchitis and asthma can be effectively treated with acupuncture.
Women’s health issues such as PMS, infertility, menstrual cycle irregularities and menopause respond well to this homeostatic effect of acupuncture.
Multi-Systemic Effects of Acupuncture
Research indicates that acupuncture has effects across multiple systems of the body. It clearly affects the nervous system, the endocrine system, the immune system, the circulatory system–the list goes on. This is one reason why acupuncture treatment can be such a supportive therapy for those with chronic, hard-to-treat health conditions, such as fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, asthma, diabetes, etc.
This is another reason why I recommend acupuncture treatment for weight loss. Though it is not a magic bullet it often can make a big difference in the success of a weight loss program.
Preventive Medicine Benefit of Acupuncture
A benefit of acupuncture is that it can be used preventively to up-regulate the immune system during cold and flu season to prevent getting acutely sick. Or if a person has a particular susceptibility to a chronic symptoms such as back pain they can use acupuncture to prevent the return of the symptom.
Return from Benefit of Acupuncture Treatment to Acupuncture Information
