Traditional Chinese medicine has been around for 3000 years and is now being more widely used as a form of treatment for many health concerns. The benefits of acupuncture range from something simple like muscle relaxation to more pressing concerns like neurological disorders. Because of the benefits, acupuncture is still widely used today for a holistic approach to health, and for a good reason. I have seen great success with acupuncture over the years, which is why I wanted to share the benefits of acupuncture with you.
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What better way to explain acupuncture than to let it come straight from a doctor herself….
Dr. Romero, D.O.M., is a Florida Licensed Doctor of Oriental Medicine, nationally certified as a Diplomat of Oriental Medicine by the National Commission for the Certification of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (NCCAOM). She is also trained in Neuro-Acupuncture from the Neuro-Acupuncture Institute in Santa Fe, NM. She currently practices in Naples, Fl at her private practice IntMed Naples.
Acupuncture stimulates the body’s natural ability to heal by activating circulation, modulating immune responses and inducing a parasympathetic state.
These three things help the body auto regulate and find homeostasis, which in turn is exactly what we are after.
When we have good circulations, we have good nutrients and oxygen going to the tissues. Proper immune responses wake up our bodies invaders and also initiate healing where needed.
Lastly, a parasympathetic state is where we relax, digest, restore and rejuvenate which are all natural process’ of the body, but have maybe lost the connection with.
Acupuncture is the process of puncturing the skin with small needles (placed very shallowly on the skin, typically with no pain), at points specific to different organs and channels. When done in succession with other points it creates a response by the body to target and “heal” these areas.
There are 14 major energy-channel “meridians” on the body, which are made up of hundreds of points along each one. Acupuncture points, or Acupoints, are usually located where nerves enter a muscle, the midpoint of a muscle or at the insertion point of a muscle onto the bone. This allows for the channels to “communicate” so the body begins to work together as a whole.
If you have heard of acupuncture before, you are probably thinking one of these two things…Either “there is no way this works, it’s witch craft,” or “how is she going to break down all the benefits in one blog post.” Yes, it works. The benefits of acupuncture go so deep, and truly is too many to list. With the help of Chinese herbs, acupuncture and neuro-acupuncutre, there truly is no disease or symptom too big. It’s incredible. So I am going to break down a few of the main benefits of acupuncture that practitioners have been about to reach with the use of tiny little needles placed in all the right places.
Chronic pain, for anyone who has suffered from it, is debilitating in any form. Whether it be migraines, back pain, joint pain, nerve pain, it all sucks. Acupuncture has been proven to hep not only relieve the pain in the short term, but manage it from a long term perspective. We know that Western Medicine dishes out pain meds for a whole slew of conditions (which is why 1 in 5 Americans are addicted to prescription medications) and never looks back. They are not trying to figure out why you have the chronic pain or if there is any other RESEARCHED treatments out there. But, there is. Acupuncture has been proven to relieve pain not only in those suffering from acute pain, but also those who have things like Multiple Sclerosis and Lupus. No one needs to “live” with daily migraines and low back pain.
Acupuncture is used to get the body working as a whole one unit again. This means that as organ function is boosted and the body is fully relaxing, we are able to naturally detox out the unwanted waste from our bodies, which leads to a decrease in inflammation. Inflammation means we have something going on inside our body and it is trying to 1. attack it and 2. let us know. Chronic inflammation is what leads to autoimmune diseases and overall poor health, so acupuncture can save us from that!
As we know, unbalanced hormones means there is an underlying issue. Whether it be from stress, lack of sleep, low/high levels of female hormones, acupuncture is proven to balance this out. The whole point of acupuncture points are to get the body back to homeostasis (equilibrium/balanced) so that everything is running smoothly and working together. There are points that can be placed for increased sleep, decreased stress, relaxation, mensuration etc.
This is a HUGE benefit of acupuncture, especially in our day and age. Mental illness is on the rise; approximately 123 suicides per day, and pharmaceuticals isn’t going to help that. Yes, there are some people who are able to find relief from anxiety and depression with medication, but for those who don’t, they can turn to acupuncture. Not only is it the relaxation that is promoted during acupuncture that can help with mental illness and decrease stress, but it is the connection with the brain that makes it so beneficial. Anxiety and depression stem from a chemical imbalance in the brain. So finding the right pathway that will fire the correct neurons to release more “happy hormones” is how acupuncture is used as a treatment for mental illness.
I have been going to acupuncture once a week for about a year. I started in Chicago and found Andrea recently in Naples. She is currently helping better my liver and spleen function which could be causing some of my stomach issues and anxiety. It is amazing how everything is connected and once we go to the source (the top of the waterfall) we are able to correct things underneath it instead of just treating the lower symptoms!
If you are someone who suffers from some type of autoimmune disease, has migraines, horrible periods, PCOS, anxiety, MS, stress etc I highly recommend finding an acupuncturist near you. It will give you a whole different perspective on the body and health, and it could be extremely beneficial! Not to say acupuncture is the end all, be all for everything, but it is worth a shot!
