Try Acupuncture for Pain Relief
Should you try acupuncture for pain relief? This is one of the most common questions that people ask, especially when they are suffering from chronic pain. To answer that, you must understand what acupuncture is.
Acupuncture is a technique that involves the insertion of very fine needles at specific locations on your body. Acupuncture, which is a crucial component of traditional Chinese medicine, is most typically used to relieve pain.
Acupuncture is used in balancing the flow of energy, known as chi or qi. According to Chinese medicine, it is believed to ease the flow along passageways, or meridians, in your body. Acupuncture practitioners believe that your energy flow will be re-balanced by placing needles into specific spots along these meridians.
Why Is It Done This Way?
Acupuncture is primarily used to alleviate pain caused by a range of diseases and disorders, including the following:
- Chemotherapy-induced & postoperative vomiting and nausea
- Dental pain
- Headaches, including migraines
- Labor pain
- Low back pain
- Neck pain
- Osteoarthritis
- Menstrual cramps
- Respiratory disorders
How Did Painkillers Gain Popularity?
The pain was proclaimed the “fifth vital sign” in 1996, and the “war on pain” was declared at the American Pain Society’s request. In that year, the FDA approved the first “safe” extended-release opiates, including Oxycontin. The FDA permitted and enabled pharmaceutical corporations to advertise directly to consumers the following year.
Increases in advertising budgets for these “pain killers” were reflected in considerable increases in the number of prescriptions written for opioid pain drugs, as well as the number of people who used them.
It took nearly two decades for the facts about overdose and addiction to catching up, but it turns out that these medications have destroyed far too many lives.
The Recommendation of Non-Drug Therapies
After hundreds of randomized controlled clinical trials on anti-inflammatory drugs like ibuprofen, corticosteroids, muscle relaxants, and opioids, the American College of Physicians (ACP) issued a recommendation for non-drug therapies for acute, sub-acute, and chronic low back pain, nondrug therapy should be tried first.
To list a few of the non-drug pain remedies those are recommended:
- Heat
- Massage
- Acupuncture
- Spinal manipulation
- Tai chi
- Yoga
The researchers examined the following factors to provide suggestions about which therapies were most effective:
- Improvements in quality of life and pain relief
- Negative consequences of returning to work
- Patient contentment
What was the Conclusion?
Non-drug methods won out in the treatment of short-term (acute pain lasting 1-4 weeks and sub-acute pain lasting up to 4 months) and chronic low back pain (lasting more than 4 months) and were strongly recommended as the first line of treatment wherever possible.
To put it another way, massage, acupuncture, and heat are the preferred choice for treating lower back pain than using drugs.
These customs are as old as human scientific knowledge and come from a variety of nations all around the world. We hope that you are now ready to begin your path to a pain-free life by seeking out clinics in Santa Rosa that provide acupuncture for pain relief. For a consultation, get in touch with Acupuncture Mama at (707) 303-7200.
