Acupuncture for Lowering High Blood Pressure

There are two types of High Blood Pressure (hypertension), essential and secondary, almost 90% of all high blood pressure cases are under the essential category and come from unknown causes. The rest are secondary and have causes that are recognized and are considered to be treatable by western medicine(pharmaceuticals).


Most secondary cases come from an issue in the kidneys that have to do with water and sodium retention. The left over causes are more rare and have to do with an imbalance within the endocrine glands or a congenital narrowing of the hearts aorta.

With out modern day diagnostic tools there is no way to tell if some one has essential hypertension, there are no direct symptoms, but hypertension itself can cause other issues that have become recognized to come from having hypertension.

These symptoms are as follows:

1. Dizziness
2. Headaches
3. Noticeable heart beats(palpitations)
4. Nosebleeds (epistaxis)
5. Insomnia

 Blood pressure levels vary from low(hypo) to high(hyper):

1. Low 90/60
2. Optimal 120/80
3. Normal 130/85
4. High End of Normal - 130-139/85-90

Anything starting at 140/90 is considered hypertension and anything up and over 180/110 is extremely high and needs medical attention as soon as possible.

In Chinese Medicine the organs that have the most to do with blood pressure, are the same ones that have to do with the blood itself. The organs that affect the body's blood the most are the heart, Liver, Spleen and Kidneys.

There are multiple types of diagnosis's that can be given to an individual through chinese medicine, a proper diagnosis requires a personal interview with and acupuncturist or chinese herbalist that takes into account many different aspects of the individuals bodily functions.  The diagnosis can made from any of the above symptoms to energy levels or emotional issues. In the end though the final diagnosis and treatment plan would be to create balance with-in the above organ systems.

Here are 10 of most common acupuncture points used to treat hypertension:

1. Liver 2 or 3- Move stagnation and clears heat, calms the mind
2. Large Intestine 4- Moves stagnation, calms the mind
3. Gall Bladder 20 - Clears wind from head and blood vessels
4. Triple Burner 5- Helps bring down blood pressure
5. Pericardium 6- Relaxes the mind, opens the chest for better breathing, regulates blood pressure
6. Large Intestine 11- Clears heat that can rise to the head
7. Spleen 6- Influences and balances the Spleen, Liver and Kidneys functioning
8. Stomach 40- dissolves mental and physical phlegm that causes stagnation
9. Gall Bladder 34- Moves stagnation
10. Heart 5 or 7- Influences Blood Vessels and calms the mind

Depending on the diagnosis most, but not all the above points would be used along with others to help lower high blood pressure or regulate it. If you or anyone you know suffers or has concerns about high blood pressure acupuncture is safe and free of negative side effects.

A usual acupuncture session can make people feel very relaxed and can temporarily lower the blood pressure. Although, lifestyle and diet are huge factors in regulating blood pressure, consistent acupuncture treatments have been shown to lower and regulate blood pressure over time, along with other bodily improvements.

If you would like any further information or have a comment or question, please let me know.  Thanks for visiting Acuthink, I hope this has been an informative article for you.