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migraines acupuncture treatments

Acupuncture for several "conditions"?

I am on the fence about the whole acupuncture treatment. A strong role model in my life is pushing the idea of acupuncture to relieve me of my headaches and migraines. A part of me says just try it because there is a chance it may work, but I do not understand the whole acupuncture bit. I have been told the first few treatments the needles are not used (I have a fear of needles-nothing to do with possible pain, which there is not suppose to be any-just the fact there is a forgin object lodged into my body)

Acupuncture is a very old and tried method of treating the meridians of the body in order to achieve balance. It actually has something to do with our energy fields. It would not have been around after thousands and thousands of years if it did not work. In my family we have two people who are licenced acupuncturists. The training is very intense. It is three to four years minimum in a certified school for Chinese medicine. It is a different approach to healing which most western thinking people do not understand and therefore make the quick and eroneous assumption it is nonsense. It is not an unpleasant experience to have an acupuncture treatment. It does work. It does help if you are open to the idea. It can be very relaxing. The doctor does more than just "stick" you with needles. He/she actually spends time with you focusing on your pulse and other physical symptoms. Treatment often includes herbal remedies. Unlike western traditional doctors who usually determine your condition within a few minutes and then write you a script for a pharmaceutical chemical before sending you off. The acupuncturist uses needles that are very thin, almost like hair. They do not hurt. I have personally had amazing results for severe sinusitis and allergies after years of unsuccessful prescription drugs from tradtional doctors. I know many people who use this form of healthcare with success. The body wants to be healthy and will work very hard to right the wrongs within its various systems. Acupuncture is one way that works with the body in this goal. Also...there are times when both east and west therapies can be used together depending on the problem and the open mindness of your regular family doctor. One more thing, it is often less expensive. The important thing is to determine WHY you are having these problems. Many things in your daily life may be contributing to your problems. Your acupuncturist will work with on this as well. Good luck. I wish for you success in achieving good balanced qi.

Does Piercing Acupuncture Really Effectively Reduce Pain?

Acupuncture, originally an ancient Chinese medical procedure, aims at reducing a huge range of bodily ailments (disease, infections, pain and psychological problems) by the stimulation of key anatomical points. A whole family of techniques are used from simply applying pressure to inserting needles or using tiny quantities of electricity.

Traditional beliefs on how acupuncture operates function along the notion that this ancient art re-creates a balance in the yin and yang of the patient. Chi is believed to be unblocked and able to flow harmoniously through the meridians of the body, other various mystical abound.

Modern science acknowledges that acupuncture can sometimes be useful with reducing pain, acupuncture typically being used for patient migraines and headaches.

In the recent past results from three big studies found results that displayed significant positive effects from the use of acupuncture on patients suffering from headaches.

In recent German medical trials incidences of headaches were found to be halved when pins were made to pierce a patient's skin, regardless of where these pins were positioned. Traditional specific positioning of pins were found to be no different in their effect on the patients.

302 largely female patients suffering from migraines were studied in 2004 with the use of traditional and 'random' acupuncture as a form of pain reducer. Both forms of acupuncture were found to be as effective as the other in minimizing the occurrence of migraines.

The Royal London Homeopathic hospital in 2004 discovered that, in a study involving 400 patients suffering from headaches and given 12 sessions of needle acupuncture, the incidence of headaches was statistically significantly and sharply reduced by the end of the 12 sessions.

There has also been a wave of controlled trials that have concluded acupuncture involving the piercing of skin with needles has no effect on headaches at all. A minimum of 26 controlled experiments that conferred this fact have been performed and published, according to the newspaper The Independent, in 2005.

Scientific research has found that our nervous systems can be stimulated at various myofascial so called 'trigger points', already known in modern science, enabling pain to be inhibited in a similar fashion to medical practices like transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS).

'Fake' acupuncture, where pins are made to feel like they have pierced the skin even though they have not, have been just as affective in other experiments at producing positive results on patients. Such pins appear to pierce the skin but actually retract inside themselves.

Simply touching skin can create hormonal and emotional reactions, known as a 'limbic touch responses', involving the affected tactile nerves under the skin. Controls in experiments in this way have produced the same pain reducing effects as actually piercing the skin.

Placebos have been seen to have less effect, as opposed to actually piercing the skin, on more pronounced and deep sensory pains such as osteoarthritis in the knee.

What should be taken from this brief article is that acupuncture is medically known to reduce pain, but that the majority of associated traditional theories and advice are either untested or simply untrue and therefore best ignored. The small chance of punctured lungs, internal bleeding, increased pain and other side-effects, that can sometimes occur in up to 1 in 5 acupuncture sessions are details often omitted.

If you do seek acupuncture treatment ensure that the practitioner has the relevant qualifications, typically up to MSc level, in acupuncture, from an accredited institution.

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