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Pain is the body’s warning alarm. It tells you something is wrong. If
you ignore your body’s alarm, similarly to the fire alarm in your house,
severe problems can form soon. Clinical studies support that acupuncture
is an effective modality in the treatment of almost all kinds of pain
conditions, including the following: migraines, neuralgia, neck pain,
back pain, herniated disc, TMJ, tennis elbow, carpal tunnel syndrome,
tendonitis, bursitis, arthritis, frozen shoulder, shoulder pain,
fibromyalgia, dysmenorrhea, osteoporosis, sports and other injuries,
surgical pain and even cancer pain.
Recent research has elucidated
some of the physiologic and biochemical bases of acupuncture.Acupuncture
stimulation has been shown to release central nervous system endorphins
and spinal cord dynorphins, explaining part of its mechanism of action.
It has also been shown to promote the release of the chemical that
activates the adrenal glands (adrenocorticotrophic hormone or ACTH),
affect chemicals that are known to be involved in mood and pain
perception (serotonin, GABA, catecholamines, dopamine, etc), and
influence one of the body's pain-generating messengers (substance P).
While its effects have traditionally been explained in terms of energy
flow dynamics (Qi or Chi), science has shown that acupuncture may work
at least partly by directly affecting the function of the nervous system.
Long lasting pain often
creates a chronic pain cycle: Pain, lack of exercise, limited physical
activity, chronic fatigue, stress, depression, muscle tension,
tightness, cramping, sensitive nerves, and again, pain. Patients suffer
from this pain cycle. Some patients even feel that their quality of life
changes completely due to a chronic pain condition.
Acupuncture;
·
quickly reduces
pain and inflammation, and relaxes muscles
·
increases
circulation to speed up recovery time
·
maintains longer
positive results and prevents recurrence
·
reduces pain
without the prolonged use of drugs and surgical intervention
·
promotes
physical and emotional well being
·
enhances
endocrine and immune function
·
lowers cost,
acupuncture treatments are less expensive
·
fully integrates
with other therapies
Many our patients have
noticed the effectiveness of treatment within the first 2-4 sessions;
others have had severe pain, swelling and stiffness significantly
relieved by the time they have experienced 6-10 acupuncture treatments.
For acute pain, even one or two treatments can be very helpful. More
treatment may be required to control the pain from malignancies or
progressive disorders.
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