Does Acupuncture Work?

I hear this question all the time. The answer is yes acupuncture works, but its effectiveness depends on many factors.  Age, general health, well being, how long and severe the issue is, along with diet and lifestyle all have to be taken into consideration.  

Acupuncture can do wonders for issues that haven’t been around to long like the common cold or any acute injury. If its something more severe like chronic back pain then acupuncture can and will help, but it will take more treatments.

The best part of having an acupuncture treatment is that there are no negative side effects, matter of fact acupuncture can help reduce unwanted side effects from medications. It works because acupuncture works in conjunction with the bodies own healing system, placing needles in specific points all over the body stimulate the central nervous system to release hormones and natural pain relieving opioids.

 In general these same hormones and opioids are released during the sleep state. Due to this acupuncture is really good for issues like stress because the release of these hormones force the body to relax and heal itself.

Here is a short list of how many treatments it may take for various issues:

Headaches- May go away with only one treatment

Recent injury-  1- 5 treatments

Acute back pain- 1-6 treatments

Allergies- 6-12 treatments

Insomnia-  6-12 treatments

Chronic back pain-  20- 30 treatments

Arthritis- research had shown a 50% pain reduction in 3 treatments, 10-15 treatments

Stroke- 25-30 treatments with in six months after stroke

Anxiety- 10-15 treatments

Depression- 10-20 treatments, with occasional follow up treatments

I hope this article has been an interesting read for you, please leave any comments or questions below. Thanks and have a great week!