How Does Acupuncture Work?
Acupuncture uses hair-thin, sterile, single use needles in order to:
Improve circulation by enhancing generation of nitric oxide.
Nitric oxide is a vasodilator, meaning it relaxes the inner muscles of your blood vessels, increasing blood flow and regulating blood pressure.
Release muscle tension and pain by stimulating and breaking up bands of bound muscle fibers called trigger points
Relieve pain by producing endorphins, your body’s natural opioid-like peptides.
Acupuncture has been shown to stimulate the release of enkephalin, beta-endorphin, endomorphin, and dynorphin, which together have an analgesic (pain relieving) effect similar to opioid drugs but without the side effects.
Activate the parasympathetic nervous system , the body’s rest and digest state in which healing can occur.
When our body is in a state of stress and our sympathetic nervous system or fight or flight mode is engaged, we instead experience increased muscle tension, blood pressure, and inflammation.
Regulate the immune system by stimulating production of cytokines, T-cells, and B-cells
Does acupuncture hurt? What are the side effects?
Acupuncture is relatively painless, and the most common negative side effect is bruising or soreness on rare occasions.
Because of how acupuncture works on the whole system, patients often report improvements in many other symptoms in addition to the main complaint that is bringing them in. Some common side effects of acupuncture are:
Improved sleep and digestion
Pain relief at multiple sites of the body
Reduced stress and greater emotional balance
How long will acupuncture take to work?
Generally acupuncture will bring notable relief within the first two weeks of treatment. Once you are out of pain, we focus on resolving the underlying cause of the pain at its root. The treatment course will vary depending on the intensity of the pain and how long you’ve had it. Acupuncture and Chinese medicine is not a quick fix like a pain pill that masks the symptom, but a restoration of health. Our goal is to not only get you pain free as soon as possible, but to resolve the issue so that you can maintain results with minimal treatment.
How do I know acupuncture will work?
No sort of medicine or treatment is guaranteed, but we have seen enough patients (18,000+) that we have a good idea how the vast majority of cases will respond to treatment. If we don’t think we can help, we will tell you that. If we can help, we will construct a comprehensive treatment plan for you to get you living pain free.
