How Does Acupuncture Work To Relieve Pain
Seen the buzz around acupuncture and wondering if it can help you manage and relieve pain?
Acupuncture has grown over the years to become widely accepted around the globe as a studied and practiced holistic treatment. This ancient art of healing is a tradition born in Asia and has slowly now become a popular treatment for many, especially among athletes and celebrities.
Many western countries, including Canada and the USA, continue to discover the true benefits of acupuncture and how acupuncture is an effective therapy for pain and stress.
So, in this blog, our intention is to help you learn how you can use acupuncture to relieve pains, aches, or chronic illnesses in your body.
But, before we go deeper into acupuncture and pain management, let's take a closer look at what acupuncture is and how it works.
What is acupuncture?
Acupuncture is an ancient Chinese treatment in which practitioners stimulate specific points on skin with needles.
Don’t worry, it sounds worse than it is. These needles are hair-thin and do not hurt. They target the nerve-rich areas of the skin and influence tissues and glands of the aching part.
The needle produces a slight injury where it is inserted, sending a signal to the body to respond. The response stimulates the immune system and promotes circulation to the area, heals wounds, and modulates pain.
Therefore, acupuncture is a way to empower the body o self-heal, naturally, without having to deal with the side-effects that usually come with western medicine.
How do acupuncture needles work?
Acupuncture points are located on meridians, where the vital energy lies known as ‘qi’ or ‘chi’.
The acupuncturist examines the patient and assesses what he needs. Depending on where the needles are inserted, the patient lies on his back, front, or side.
Acupuncturists use single-use, disposable, and sterile needles for the whole process.
Needles are inserted one by one, causing a brief stinging or tingling sensation and sometimes a dull ache that subsides. Needles stay there for 5 to 30 minutes and need one or more treatments depending on the individual.
As we mentioned before, acupuncture is not a painful procedure, as is often believed. The slight tingling of needles goes away in a few seconds.
Chronic condition patients need these treatments once or twice a week, going on for several months until they make a full recovery; however, acute problems might only take 8 to 12 sessions.
Understanding Qi energy and blood flow for pain management
Qi and blood depend on one another in order to fully implement their roles within the body to support and promote life activities.
Blood insufficiency will induce Qi deficiency and can cause mental diminishment, forgetfulness, insomnia, irritability, fatigue, menstrual irregularities, anxiety, dizziness, weakness of legs and other symptoms.
Acupuncture therapy can help nourish your blood and support qi production to alleviate unwanted symptoms.
What is Qi and how does it work?
Qi, pronounced as Chi, in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is “life force”.
This life force flows in physical, emotional and spiritual levels and is constantly changing and evolving, helping the universe and our bodies to heal.
Qi spins electrons, planets and is responsible for all chemical reactions that take place. Qi moves everything in the universe. In the human body qi contracts and relaxes muscles, moves blood and fluids, creates what is needed for our body as fuel.
Think of qi as water flow in nature, moving from high to low concentration, the flow of Qi provides constant source of energy. Qi is yang in nature, as qi moves it creates friction, which generates heat and warmth.
Qi is immaterial, it cannot be captured but can be felt and created. The human body receives qi through food, air and our genes. Ginseng (Ren Shen in TCM) is a powerful herb that supports the qi of the body.
Blood flow and pain relief
Blood is denser and is the material form of qi.
Blood delivers nourishment to all bodily parts and is a yin substance, full of nutritional elements from food and liquids. It delivers essential nutrition to all organs and tissues so they can function optimally.
In addition, blood transports fluids and allows moistening of the body. Chinese Angelica herb Dang Gui, is widely used in clinical practice as it nourishes and moves the blood within the body.
Food and fluids supply 95 percent of the nourishment, color and moisture within blood. Bone marrow supplies the remaining 5 percent. That is why eating bone broth is essential for nourishing your blood!
How does acupuncture help manage pain?
There are different kinds of acupuncture and pain management methods that are currently being used.
Every method has its advantages in pain, but each works on one major theory: the life-energy balance.
According to this theory, our body functions properly when our life energy is in balance. Our stress levels, unhealthy working environment, diet, and physical diseases make our bodies lose this balance. Acupuncture corrects the balance and results in a relaxed and healthy body.
This method has been practiced for generations and taught worldwide by the late Grandmaster Dr. Richard Tehfu Tan for acupuncture and pain management. It utilizes non-local acupuncture points to treat pain in the body.
Think about cutting the body into four pieces; we have two limbs on top and two on the bottom and two hands and two feet with five fingers and toes on each.
For example, if you have pain in your left elbow, we would treat your right knee. While this may sound contradictory, the acupuncture needles are opening up the pathways to where there is stagnation so blood flow can relieve this pressure.
The best part about using the balance method is that results are typically instant. Many people see pain reduction right away, which can last anywhere from a few hours to a handful of days, depending on the severity of the pain.
Type of acupuncture and pain management methods
Based on the life-energy theory, there are different acupuncture and pain management methods:
1. Traditional Chinese Medicine
As mentioned earlier, the traditional Chinese acupuncture method is most widely practiced and is often misunderstood as the only acupuncture method. It examines the natural body actions like hot and cold, yin and yang, excess and not excess, and restores balance.
At Unplug Hour Wellness, we are guided by the teachings of TCM when carrying out our acupuncture sessions.
TCM allows us to discover the source of an unstable health condition using smell, hearing, touch, voice vibration, and pulse diagnosis.
This diagnosis helps relieve the patient from headaches, arthritis, cold, sleep issues, stress, and anxiety. Wherever the pain is related, whichever the organ is, our acupuncturists diagnose it by observing natural law in action.
If you want to learn more what we do and how we do it, check out our acupuncture services in Vancouver, BC.
2. Japanese acupuncture
Japanese acupuncture and pain management also work on the life-energy balance theory.
The main difference between Japanese acupuncture and TCM is the use of touch. Before it gets right into using needles, Japanese acupuncture emphasizes palpation to judge the needle's insertion point.
This type of acupuncture applies minimal stimulation and produces a greater amount of change.
The procedure is similar to TCM of acupuncture and pain management, but the needles used in this treatment are thinner and longer. They cause sharper tingling and require lesser needles than TCM. Patients using Japanese Acupuncture have reported relief from many different problems like:
Health and mental issues
Fatigue
Insomnia
Headaches
Nausea
Body Aches
Strains
Sprains
Bruises
3. Korean hand acupuncture
Like TCM and Japanese acupuncture and pain management, Korean Hand Acupuncture (KHA) is also based on the life-energy balance theory.
This balance is, however, generated from hands. The treatment centers on the patient's hand where pain points are diagnosed.
KHA uses smaller needles than body acupuncture needles. There are numerous nerve endings in our hands and occupy a large area in the cerebral cortex (homunculus). By only applying this treatment to hands, the whole body is treated.
There are other Korean Hand Treatments as well, which do not involve needles like stimulation through herbs and pressure application. KHA helps in the treatment of:
Headaches
Neck
Shoulder pain
Upper and lower back pain
Digestive issues
Coughs
Eczema
4. Auricular and Scalp Acupuncture
Auricular and scalp acupuncture and pain management systems also focus on the stimulation of nerves. These nerves are found in the ear that connects to the major organs of the body.
Auricular acupuncture is a treatment system that helps normalize the body’s pain and dysfunction by stimulating points on the ear. The reticular formation through the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems help better the pain and illness.
Scalp and auricular acupuncture stimulate signals in this nervous system and help with body toxins, allergies, brain function, and mood swings.
Scalp acupuncture is also considered as a micropuncture therapy in which the needle is inserted stimulating areas directly above the nerve center. This therapy has helped patients suffering from motor impairment issues and spinal issues.
5. Non-insertion acupuncture
Non-insertion Acupuncture called Toyo Hari also originated in Japan and was used and developed by blind doctors.
The therapy was first used for pediatrics only, but after extensive research on its benefits, it is also practiced in adult patients.
The procedure uses needles made of silver and platinum, but these needles are not inserted into the body. Trigger points are stimulated by just touching them with blunt needles to create a life-energy balance. Non-insertion acupuncture helps with:
Headaches
Migraines
Back pains
Insomnia
Colds
6. Cupping
You might be surprised that cupping is actually a form of acupuncture! Cupping does not actually use needles to stimulate the trigger points and can help relief pain immensely.
To stimulate the flow of qi (chi), warm cups are placed on the body. The air inside the cups is warmed, and a vacuum is created. When these cups are applied to the skin, they start drawing the tissue in the cup.
There are different types of cupping like fire cupping, side cupping, air cupping, and wet cupping. If you want to know more about cupping and if you want to try it yourself, we invite you to check out our cupping services in downtown Vancouver!
Cupping therapy helps in:
increasing the blood flow
Removing blockages
Providing relief from muscle inflammation
Loosening the fascia or connective tissue
Acupuncture for chronic diseases
If you have been dealing with chronic pain and illnesses, acupunture might be a solution for you.
Many of our patients have turned to our acupunture clinic after trying many western medicine solutions, in vain. And, the good news is that our patients often find relief and learn how to manage their chronic pain from their very first visit.
Here are a few common chronic illness that us, accupunturists, can help you manage better so you get get your life back.
1. Acupuncture for migraine
Acupuncture is proven to be the most effective for migraines among chronic conditions. It helps relieve the pain by 50% in the patients for up to 6 months compared to other medical treatments. Migraines and other headaches are easily treated with acupuncture by stimulating the circulation system of the body.
2. Acupuncture for fibromyalgia
20% of fibromyalgia patients believe in acupuncture as their treatment. People with fibromyalgia don’t usually opt for drugs and even supplements as it is already difficult. Acupuncture shows many potential benefits over other medical treatments like:
Lower pain levels
Better sleep
Possible immune system stimulation
Enhanced relaxation
Better overall health
Low risk
No drugs or supplements dependency
3. Acupuncture for sciatica
Acupuncture is an effective treatment for sciatica. Like other chronic pain treatments, you do not need medicine with your sciatica acupuncture therapy. This safe and nonsurgical treatment option will help you relieve sciatica pain more efficiently.
Final thoughts
As an alternative medicine, acupuncture works for both chronic and acute pains, be it physical, mental, or emotional.
Acupuncture is also a solution to manage pain to make daily life enjoyable again.
Moreover, acupuncture helps you heal in the most natural way possible, without drugs or surgical interventions that can lead to other side effects.
So, whether you have found yourself feeling depressed and anxious, or if you have be suffering from constant migraines and lower back pain for years, acupuncture can help you finally feel relief and release all that stress in your body.
And as professional acupunturists, we will always follow your recovery closely and let you know when we feel it’s necessary for you to seek specific medical advice.
We hope that this blog was useful and would love to hear from you. Do not hesitate to connect with us on Instagram where we host lives with our acupuncturists and talk all things holistic wellness! Or send us a message if you have any questions about acupuncture and TCM.
Stay safe, joyful and healthy!