SuburbanNaturalMedicine

Traditional Acupuncture

Acupuncture is a system of health care that has been developed, refined, and practiced in China for over 4,000 years. In involves the the superficial insertion of hair-thin needles into points on the body that have been proven to relieve pain and disease. In ancient times, acupuncture (along with herbal medicine) was used as the primary method of treating injuries and illness. Acupuncture has been used for thousands of years for one simple reason...it works very well. Nowadays, most people come to an acupuncturist for medical problems that do not respond well to western medicine (i.e. Drugs, surgery, pain killers, etc.).

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The World Health Organization recognizes acupuncture’s effectiveness for over 40 common disorders, such as:

Musculoskeletal disorders- Back pain, neck pain, sciatica, arthritis, tennis elbow, frozen shoulder, TMJ, carpal tunnel syndrome, knee pain, plantar fasciitis, sports injuries

Neurological disorders- Paralysis, nerve damage, loss of strength, severe chronic pain, sensory loss, tremors, bell's palsy, degenerative nervous system disorders, eye and vision disorders, hearing loss, restless leg syndrome, trauma and injury rehabilitation

Gynecological disorders- Infertility, endometriosis, PMS, menstrual irregularity, menstrual cramps, menopausal syndrome, urinary tract infections, yeast infections

Endocrine/Hormonal disorders- Hypothyroid, hyperthyroid, chronic fatigue, adrenal exhaustion, diabetes, loss of libido, sexual dysfunction (male and female), anxiety disorder, panic attacks

Gastrointestinal disorders- Indigestion, IBS, nausea, constipation, diarrhea, ulcers, colitis

Immune and Autoimmune disorders- Allergies, bronchitis, asthma, emphysema/COPD, eczema, psoriasis

Circulatory disorders- Hypertension, arteriosclerosis, angina pectoris

Chemotherapy and Radiation Support- Treatment of nausea, fatigue, constipation, pain, and other side effects of conventional cancer treatments.
From looking at this list it may seem that acupuncture can help almost anything. The reason for this is that when performed correctly, acupuncture treats the person and not just the disease. Please think about this because there is a HUGE difference between working towards strengthening a patient so that his entire body is functional and vibrant, versus just trying to alleviate a symptom. Although symptoms quickly resolve with our treatments, we do not merely treat symptoms. We restore balance and strength to the entire person.

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Trigger Point Acupuncture

At the most basic level, trigger point acupuncture works by releasing muscle knots (also known as trigger points). There is still some controversy over exactly how muscle knots form, but once they are there they can cause a lot of pain.

 

The key here is blood flow. Every cell in your body requires access to blood in order to bring nutrition in and waste out of the cell. Muscle cells in particular work very hard and as a result can generate a lot of waste. When a knot forms in a muscle, blood flow is restricted to some of the muscle's cells. This leads to a lack of nutrition and a pileup of waste in those blood-deprived cells.  This is what causes the pain signal - your muscle is letting your brain know that there is a problem with the blood flow to the knotted cells.

 

In a trigger point acupuncture session, we will use a hair-thin acupuncture needle to get through the muscle knot and trigger the affected muscle into rapid contraction. It's almost like the needle tip pushes a reset button on the muscle, causing it to jump in response. By regularly causing this jump for a short period, we can undo the muscle knot, flooding the area with new blood to nourish the tired muscle and wash away the built up waste. The pain signal stops because there is no further need for the muscle to tell the brain that there is a problem.