How Acupuncture for Pain, Stress, and Infertility Works
Socially speaking, acupuncture has always been perceived as this treatment method that not only portraits itself as terrifying but also rare and extreme.
If we ask someone about it, people would say two things: needles and injections all through the body. Still, acupuncture is much more than that.
Normally, this rare art is something exotic that most people initially get to know through media like movies or T.V shows, and for those who don’t know much about it, we will discuss it in detail in this article, and why people actually rely on it.
What is Acupuncture?
The history of this art is rather complex, but it is well known that it initially started in early China, and it is rumored to exist even before 100 BC. Acupuncture, shortly described, is the traditional Chinese medicine technique that consists in the use of needles carefully inserted in the body to help with different symptoms, mostly related to stress and muscle pain. With that said, it is usually performed along with other methods of treatment for better results.
Initially, it was believed that acupuncture possessed mystic capabilities, and along with Chinese medicinal principles, it claimed that the body had something known as meridians (or acupuncture points), the points in which life energy flows through the body, energy usually referred to as a vital force, material energy, or Qi. Here’s more detailed information about it, but to put it simply, it is the energy that reigns how healthy and strong a person is.
Nowadays, such claims are often unsupported by recent practitioners, and it is often described as the stimulation of the nerves and muscles of the body to reduce stress, relieve pain, improve the blood flow, as well as the muscle-healing recovery process.
This is due to the injury caused in the body by the needle, which is usually unnoticeable or causes little to no discomfort, but it is enough to make the body react to it and stimulate several areas of itself, including the immune system.
Is It Safe?
Surprisingly, most problems caused by acupuncture are not related to the injuries produced by the needles, but infections caused by poor manipulation of the needles, and the equipment used during the process.
Although hygiene procedures should be an important part of the process, sometimes professionals tend to miss steps that are essential for the safety of the patient. That is why it can be a rather complicated procedure if performed by a non-professional or beginner since it requires a lot of experience to not only perform the injuries in the body but take the necessary steps.
That is why most professionals follow basic guidelines such as not using the same needle more than once and thoroughly cleaning and disinfecting the area of work as well as all the tools and equipment that will be used during the treatment.
Why People Rely on Acupuncture.
Now, there are two main reasons why people rely on this type of treatment: stress and muscle pain, often related to the back, but can be linked to other parts of the body.
A good example of other pain-inducing symptoms are headaches, which can be linked to high levels of stress, neck pain, and menstrual cramps. In fact, there is a fertility clinic Vancouver takes pride in. It specializes in dealing with pain related to pregnancy, infertility, and post-partum symptoms.
Other reasons why people try acupuncture include dealing with insomnia, depression, and anxiety, and according to several studies, it has proven to be a worthy alternative.
Still, there’s still much to learn about it, and scientifically speaking, there are still too many interrogatives when it comes to benefits related to acne, cancer, schizophrenia, alcohol dependence and diabetes, which are some of the symptoms that professionals claim to be able to treat with this technique.
What to Expect
Something to take in mind, though, is that each individual reacts to the difference to the treatment, and some might obtain really positive results, whereas others might get none at all, or even end up worse than before.
That is why many health professionals portray this ancient Chinese medicine method as unreliable and risky, but others consider it as an alternative when standard/traditional medicine is unable to bring results in different areas of treatment.
It heavily depends on the reason why you are looking for treatment. If you are looking for pain and stress relief, there’s much more rate of success considering how during its history, it has been rather successful.
For infertility, for example, there’s not much research on it to properly say that it works or not, but there are very professional articles related to acupuncture treatment for fertility providing detailed information on the matter that might help you decide before investing.
Click here to learn more.
As a personal recommendation, I’d say doing your research before trying any type of unconventional treatment or procedure is an absolute must, even more, if you take your circumstances as a guideline to look for history on how things have worked for other people.
As an unconventional method of treatment for different types of symptoms and conditions, it might be exactly what you are looking for, but preparing yourself before investing and understanding how the procedure works and what to expect from it will make the whole process much easier to handle.
Remember, though, that most of the time this specific type of healing technique depends on other treatments to work properly, so it would be wise to ask about it to see how professionals would handle your situation.
