Discover the benefits of Acupuncture for Pain relief

Living with Pain

The energy of pain is real. Discovering the benefits of acupuncture for pain relief goes far beyond the physical. It’s energetic too.

Have you ever been experiencing physical pain and no matter what test you do; be that MRI, Xray or a Blood test, everything comes back all clear.

When modern day images cannot measure nor see energy this makes it hard to measure or directly treat it, often resulting in people turning to complementary or alternative modalities of healing, to help them understand their pain.

Regularly patients present in the clinic in search of pain relief. This is usually after a series of attempts to resolve their condition have reached a plateau or perhaps have been ineffective to this point.

On top of the incessant fatigue caused by the pain itself, the negative impact on your sleep is profound.
The more fatigued you are, the worse your pain feels. The more pain you’re in, the more exhausted you become. It’s a vicious cycle.

Pain & Chinese Medicine

Know that even if you CAN see the injury with your eyes or with a medical image, like a broken bone or a pulled muscle, this too causes the Qi that flows through that injured area to become stagnant from a TCM perspective. So of course, address the physical injury, but don’t forget about the energetic injury, especially if pain doesn’t go away after the physical injury has healed.

Not all injuries heal well, and individual circumstances vary so not all treatments are appropriate for all people.

Acupuncture & Pain Syndromes

Acupuncture has been increasingly used as an integrative or complimentary therapy in the treatment of various pain syndromes, and this recent research supports Acupuncture’s ability to benefit those suffering with the following conditions:

• Acute & Chronic lower back pain
• Knee Osteoarthritis
• Headache & migraine
• Neck pain

Research has shown the effectiveness of acupuncture and its effects on the physiological mechanism of pain perception within the body.

How does it work?

From the Chinese Medicine perspective; acupuncture encourages the free flow of circulation through the channels (or meridians) restoring balance and harmony within the body.

Bio-medically, acupuncture has been shown to benefit the reduction of pain through multiple effects on the central nervous system & peripheral nervous system.

This includes the release of endogenous opioids, serotonin & epinephrine which influences the body’s psychological mechanisms of pain perception.

What the research shows:

This is great reinforcement for the practice of Chinese medicine and its role in supporting our patients experiencing both short- and long-term pain conditions.

Chronic Lower back pain: Acupuncture was found to be effective for pain relief and improved function than no treatment or sham acupuncture

Knee Osteoarthritis: Results of multiple systematic reviews & meta-analysis have demonstrated

clinically significant short-term improvements in osteoarthritis pain

Headache: A Cochrane review found compared with sham acupuncture, more than a 50% reduction in headache frequency was achieved for the recipients

Want to check out the article?

Kelly RB, Willis J. Acupuncture for Pain. Am Fam Physician. 2019 July 15;100(2):89-96. PMID: 31305037
You can read the full article here: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31305037/

Get in touch, we’re here to help

As every individual’s experience of pain and how their body processes its effects is unique – A thorough consultation and assessment are needed to determine the treatment strategy for acupuncture as each acupoint is tailored to individual needs.

Pain = your sign that something isn’t right.

Understanding the message your body is giving you is something Traditional Chinese Medicine is all about.

Don’t let it get on top of you, let us help you understand your pain and offer a solution.

If you would like to discuss benefits of acupuncture for pain relief further, please contact the clinic directly to arrange your consultation.