7 Reasons Everyone Should Use Acupuncture for Pain Relief

1. Acupuncture reduces inflammation –Inflammation is the body’s response to harmful stimuli and can manifest as pain, redness, swelling, heat and loss of function of the affected area. Chronic inflammation, in addition to being painful, can also be dangerous, leading to tissue damage. Acupuncture for pain relief speeds up the healing process which shortens the duration of the inflammation. In addition to treating pain, acupuncture specifically addresses heat and redness by clearing excess heat from the body. It addresses swelling by improving fluid metabolism. These effects have been observed by Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) physicians for thousands of years, and continue to be proven by current research. Several studies, including the most recent from Harvard Medical School, show that acupuncture can have a modulatory effect on the neurotransmitters that regulate inflammation. Since acupuncture works to reduce inflammation on all levels (physiological, biomechanical, biochemical) it helps restore function to damaged tissues so that healthy movement is regained.  

2. Acupuncture stops pain naturally – acupuncture for pain relief, and accompanying modalities like cupping therapy, have also been proven to release another type endogenous compound: endogenous opioids. These are the analgesic chemical compounds that our own body releases to stop pain. Modern medicine has developed synthetic opioid pain killers, but those drugs have many side effects and can be very addictive, even fatal. To combat the opioid epidemic, healthcare networks, such as the VA and Medicare, have turned to acupuncture as a much safer alternative to opiate medications. The needles stimulate the body to release it’s own pain killers. Similar effects are achieved and the risk of overdose is avoided. Additionally, as mentioned previously, the root cause of the pain is being addressed, which cannot be said for opiate pain medications.

3. Acupuncture improves blood circulation – It is common knowledge that good circulation of blood is required for injuries to heal. This is why areas high in blood flow, such as the mouth and face, heal quickly, while tissues with little blood flow, like cartilage, heal much more slowly. One way that acupuncture for pain relief induces healing is by creating microtrauma that encourages blood flow to the area being treated. After a treatment, the body sends blood to the existing capillaries (small blood vessels) and can even stimulate the generation of new blood vessels. Cupping therapy in particular breaks down old, ineffective capillaries which stimulates the body to generate new, effective capillaries. This allows the delivery of oxygen and other vital nutrients to the healing tissues that wouldn’t have been possible otherwise. In doing so, pain is reduced, healing time is expedited, and inflammation is reduced.

4. Acupuncture improves qi circulation - In addition to impacting the blood flow of the cardiovascular circulatory system, acupuncture also works on improving the flow of energy or “qi” through the body’s acupuncture meridians. These meridians do not have a direct correlation with any specific organ system as we know them currently, such as the nervous system or circulatory system; however, many of these pathways lie in the spaces between structures such as muscles and bones, and are connected through a network of fascia which has the ability to conduct electrical signals to the brain and pain signaling pathways. The ancient Chinese has long described this process as “qi” flowing through these pathways and that when there are blockages in the flow, it creates pain. They also understood that the location of the pain may not be the source of the original blockage. To use a metaphor, if the channels were like roads and a blockage was like traffic, we know that while we may be experiencing traffic on one area, the actual accident or cause of the traffic may be in another area, and we are just experiencing the downstream effects. This is why people may be curious as to why needles are inserted to areas other than just where the pain is located, but also explains the miraculous results patients can have from such treatments. It’s the acupuncturist’s understanding of these pathways that makes acupuncture for pain relief so effective.

5. Acupuncture is holistic – Holistic medicine addresses each patient as a complex individual comprised of many interrelating systems. This is different from western medicine, which often sees patients as a list of separate problems needing to be solved. While western medicine can be very effective in solving structural issues that require surgery, there aren’t many less invasive approaches for other cases of pain. Enter acupuncture – a treatment modality based on Traditional Chinese Medicine: a comprehensive method of assessing and diagnosing an individual based on principles that balance organs, pathways, emotions and substances of the body.  Acupuncture for pain relief will address your whole system, not just the part of the body where the pain is manifesting. While western medicine may treat different patients with the same ailment in the same manner, holistic medicine looks deeper to find the underlying cause of the pain, and therefore may treat patients with the same diagnosis quite differently. In short, the treatment is tailored specifically to your anatomy, constitution, and presentation.

6. Acupuncture includes multiple modalities - Because acupuncture treats in this holistic way, many modalities are employed to address the various causes of pain. In addition to treatment with acupuncture needles, an acupuncturist may use cupping therapy, heat therapy (moxibustion), scraping therapy (guasha), manual manipulation/massage (tuina) and herbal formula prescriptions. Through these therapies, an acupuncturist will improve circulation, reduce inflammation, and balance the whole body to relieve pain in a way that addresses the root cause of the problem, not just the surface level symptoms. You can be sure that with multiple tools in their toolbox, an acupuncturist has an arsenal of approaches to treat all different kinds of pain from different causes.

7. Acupuncture keeps working even after the treatment – treatments like acupuncture and cupping therapy continue to work, even after your session has ended. As discussed, the microtrauma will induce the body’s natural healing response, so it will continue to increase circulation, reduce inflammation, and release endogenous pain killers over the next several days after treatment. While you will most likely feel better immediately after the treatment, your symptoms are also likely to continue to improve over the coming days. You can also support your body’s healing response by following any instructions that your acupuncturist gives you. A good acupuncturist will give you lifestyle and diet recommendations, as well as exercises when applicable, to keep you on the track to feeling better and preventing relapse of pain.