Acupuncture is a traditional Chinese medicine technique that uses thin metal needles to stimulate points on the body to release blocked electromagnetic energy and blood flow. These points on the body are key parts of the nervous system, the cardiovascular system, the endocrine system and the immune system.
If you’re experiencing chronic or acute pain, you can get relief with acupuncture therapy. By stimulating specific points on the body that correspond with the type of pain that you have, an acupuncturist can clear blocked energy and increase blood flow to give you pain relief and activate your body to heal itself. Here are some of the areas where acupuncture treatments can help to relieve your pain.
Chronic Knee Pain
Chronic knee pain from arthritis and other diseases can be relieved by acupuncture therapy. Regions around the knee that are stimulated by acupuncture include the top of the knee, on either side of the knee, on the back of the knee, and down both sides of the calf.
Acupuncturists can also stimulate points on your feet and ears to relieve chronic knee pain. Once pain has eased, you can exercise your knees with slow stretches and extended walks to continue stimulating the muscles in your knees.
Headache
A migraines and tension headaches can be relieved by acupuncture. Regions that can be stimulated by acupuncture include:
- The skull around the top of the ear
- The opening of the nasal passages
- The back of the neck
- The inside edge of the eye
- The forehead near the third eye
Once the acupuncture needles have been inserted, an acupuncturist will turn the needles to create greater blood flow. Treating headaches with acupuncture can help you to get deeper and longer sleep.
Shoulder Pain
Shoulder pain from chronic conditions such as tendonitis and rotator cuff extension can be relieved by acupuncture treatments. Sites that are stimulated by an acupuncturist for shoulder pain include around the bottom of the shoulder blade, the spine next to the shoulders and the neck muscles extending down toward the shoulders.
After acupuncture therapy, slowly roll your shoulder muscles forward and backward as well as up and down to keep your shoulder muscles limber and fit.
Low-Back Pain
Low-back pain can be caused by poor posture, pinched spinal nerves and overuse of muscles during work or play. Acupuncture points for low-back pain include points adjacent to either side of the spine and extending out from those points to more points toward the hips. These acupuncture points extend from the waist to the top of the buttocks muscles.
Points on both sides of the spine extending up toward the middle of the back and the neck can also be used for specific low-back pain. Remember to sit up straight with both feet in front of you while sitting a chair so that you can continue to keep the blood flowing to your lower back.
Wrist and Elbow Pain
Pain from carpal tunnel syndrome, tennis elbow, golf elbow and tendonitis can be relieved by acupuncture. An acupuncturist can stimulate points on both sides of the wrists and elbows and even some points on the hands and fingers.
These points can be sensitive and many times an acupuncturist will massage the hands and wrists to stimulate blood flow to the area before inserting the acupuncture needles.
Depending on your physical condition and pains, acupuncture treatments can be coupled with herbal therapy, vitamin and mineral therapy, nutritional therapy and exercise therapy. Once your pain has been lessened with acupuncture, you can continue to take the recommended herbs, vitamins, minerals, nutrition and exercise to keep pain from returning.
Look for acupuncture treatments from Palmetto Acupuncture And Holistic Health Clinic to find continue and effective pain relief.
