Health Benefits of Acupuncture

Written by The Blue Heron Clinic

What is Acupuncture?

Acupuncture is an alternative medicine that treats patients via the insertion and manipulation of acupuncture needles into various acu-points on the body. This ancient form of healing has been practiced for over millennia years with the earliest written record (the Huangdi Neijing) dating to 200 BC. Acupuncturist tend to focus their treatments on pain relief, fertility, preventing disease and promoting mental and physical health.

Health Benefits of Acupuncture for Pain

Acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine have long been considered the alternative medicine of choice for chronic pain including upper and Lower back pain, neck pain or any chronic or acute joint or muscular pain.  The insertion of acupuncture needles into acu-points in close proximity to areas of the body affected by pain can produce a modulating effect which reduces pain symptoms in speeds recovery.  Acupuncture can be used in the following areas for pain relief:

• Back Pain
• Joint Pain
• Muscular pain
• Chronic Headache or Migraine
• Pain during Menstruation or Ovulation

Health Benefits of Acupuncture for Stress

Acupuncture benefits and reduces stress levels by balancing your body's internal energy or Chi (pronunced chee). As stress is something most people deal with on a daily basis it's important to find an outlet when stress becomes an issue and negatively affects your health - Regular Acupuncture treatment can help reduce stress in the following areas:

• Emotional Stress
• Work related stress
• Chronic Stress and Depression

Benefits of Acupuncture for Male Fertility

Male Infertility and male subfertility are a growing concern for couples trying to get pregnant.  Research shows that male infertility issues account for nearly half of all failed attempts at getting pregnant.  Acupuncture has been used successfully for centuries in the treatment of male fertilitiy issues and can be applied to the following areas:

• sperm morphology
• Sperm Motility
• sperm volume
• Libido

Benefits of Acupuncture for Female Fertility

Acupuncture and Traditional Chinese medicne have been applied successfully to women's gynaecological conditions such as menstruation, ovulation, period pain and many other fertility related issues.  For women with long term infertility acupuncture has also proven highly effective when combined with assisted reproduction treatments such as IVF, ICSI, Egg Transfer and more:

• Acupuncture for Menstrual Pain
• Acupuncture for Ovulation Disorders
• Acupuncture and IVF
• Acupuncture and ICSI
• Acupuncture before and after embryo transfer

Benefits of Acupuncture During Pregnancy

Pregnant women can experience negative symptoms such as back or sciatic pain, nausea, dizziness and fatigue.  As a natural, holistic treatment option acupuncture can often reduce or eliminate pregnancy symptoms while creating an enviornment in which a healthy pregnancy may flourish.  Some of the issues which can be treated with acupuncture during pregnancy include:

• Morning sickness
• Breech presentation
• Miscarriage

Acupuncture for Cold and Flu Prevention

During the winter months we can easily be affected by the common cold or flu virus. Many people today turn to Traditional Chinese Medicine as it is very much a preventative therapy aimed at strengthening the immune system to prevent illness from occurring. If you consider how many lost days including work hours and weekends you may have lost to the common cold over the years it makes sense to visit your acupuncturist for several immune boosting treatments before it's too late.

Acupuncture Benefits for Sports Injuries

Are you a professional or semi-professional athlete who suffers from acute or recurrent sports injury? Did you know that acupuncture treatment on muscle, joint and ligament injuries is safe, natural, drug free and effective? Treating sports injury issues with alternative medicine is growing in use due to its success rates and its popularity amongst professional sports teams in areas such as rugby, football, tennis and ice hockey.