When it comes to our general physical, emotional and spiritual wellbeing, adopting a holistic approach to health management is perhaps the best way to keep yourself in fine fettle.
As well as going through the usual channels if you have a complaint of some kind, such as going to see your GP and following their advice, you might also want to consider the very real benefits of acupuncture, which has been found over the centuries to successfully treat a wide range of different concerns.
What is acupuncture and how does it work?
In modern Western medicine, it’s understood that the body is made up of different complex systems (nervous, muscular, skeletal, digestive, respiratory and so on).
But in traditional Chinese medicine, an additional system comes into play – meridian channels that facilitate the flow of Qi (energy) throughout the body, interconnecting with tissue and organs.
Each meridian corresponds to a different organ and in order for the body and mind to be healthy, Qi has to be able to flow freely. When this flow is interrupted, illness and disease manifests.
To help address potential Qi blockages, fine needles are inserted into specific points along the meridians in the body, either unblocking and moving the flow or redirecting it to where it needs to go, restoring normal function once again. And that’s acupuncture!
If you want to find out even more, here are just a couple of different studies forming part of the growing body of research into the benefits of acupuncture for different health conditions.
Read on!
11 fast facts about acupuncture: What the research shows
A systematic review of high-quality medical trials by Vickers et al (2018) involved more than 20,000 adults with chronic headaches, osteoarthritis and musculoskeletal pain, finding:
- Acupuncture is more effective than control for all pain conditions
- The effects of the treatment persist over time (15 per cent reduction at the one-year stage)
- Acupuncture is not a placebo for treatment of chronic pain
Research from the University of York found that acupuncture and boost the effectiveness of standard medical care, reducing the severity of depression and chronic pain, and revealing:
- Acupuncture, used alongside standard medical care, can significantly reduce the number of headaches and migraine attacks, as well as reducing severity of neck and lower back pain
- Acupuncture can reduce the pain and disability of osteoarthritis, reducing reliance on anti-inflammatory pain control medication
- Acupuncture is cost effective, with value for money less than the £20,000 threshold cost per quality of life year
- Acupuncture, alongside counselling, can significantly reduce depression severity, with benefits sustained for up to 12 months post-treatment
A 2016 systematic review and metaanalysis into the efficacy of acupuncture in post-operative pain management (Ming-Shun Wu et al) found:
- Acupuncture treatment resulted in less pain and reduced use of opioid analgesics (which come with potential side-effects) after surgery
A systematic review and metaanalysis of randomised controlled trials (Quan et al) found:
- There is a benefit of acupuncture for outcomes in women with infertility
- The number of acupuncture treatments is one potential influential factor
- More studies with larger scales and better methodologies are now needed to further verify findings
Book an acupuncture treatment session
If you’re intrigued to find out more about the benefits of acupuncture for different health conditions, get in touch with the AcuRestore team today to see how we can help.