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Danielle Speciale • January 29, 2020
Health Benefits of Acupuncture and Massage
In the United States, 14 million people have sought treatment through acupuncture; and 16% of men and 21% of women surveyed stated that they had had a massage between July 2017 and July 2018. Clearly, acupuncture and massage therapy are popular alternatives to Western medical treatments. Still, you may be wondering how acupuncture and massage can affect your health. The following is a discussion of the health benefits of each method.
Health Benefits of Acupuncture
Many Americans think that acupuncture is simply the practice of placing tiny needles at certain places in the body to relieve pain. It does relieve pain, but it also offers other benefits. Acupuncture
is one of many traditional Chinese medicine techniques and dates back 2,500 years. It is a thorough plan that focuses on balancing physical energy, and has been used by Chinese practitioners to prevent, identify, and treat illness, and to promote overall well-being.
Acupuncture treats dental pain and chronic pain in the lower back, as well as pain from injuries, fibromyalgia, chronic degenerative diseases like rheumatoid arthritis, and migraines. In addition, acupuncture is used to combat psychological conditions such as depression and anxiety, and gastrointestinal conditions such as irritable bowel syndrome. Acupuncture reduces the nausea and vomiting that typically accompany chemotherapy treatment. It helps with neurological illnesses like Parkinson's disease, respiratory illnesses like asthma and sinusitis, and gynecologic problems. When used with in-vitro fertilization techniques, it helps previously infertile patients to get pregnant. Acupuncture is also used to help treat addictions, increase energy, and enhance general wellness.
Health Benefits of Massage Therapy
Massages are very effective in helping patients to relax, thereby helping to reduce their stress. Research indicates that massage therapy offers many additional health benefits, including the reduction of anxiety, depression, and pain in people suffering from a wide variety of health issues. A 2016 research review reported that massage helps to treat depression during pregnancy, the health of premature babies, skin problems such as scars and ulcers, the pain of conditions such as fibromyalgia and arthritis, asthma, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, dementia, and even HIV and breast cancer.
The 2016 review further indicated that massage treatment may promote pregnancy if used in conjunction with in-vitro fertilization, and suggested that massage may combat high blood pressure more effectively than medication. Other studies from the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH), part of the National Institutes of Health, demonstrated that massage can treat chronic neck and lower-back pain. Additional studies indicated that massage therapy can reduce pain in those suffering from osteoarthritis of the knee, and may increase weight gain in premature infants.
Current research is investigating the effectiveness of massage therapy for autism spectrum disorders, immune problems in breast cancer patients, control of glucose levels in diabetics, lung problems in children who have asthma or anxiety, and pain after cardiac surgery.
Many patients who have not found relief through Western medical treatments are turning to alternative methods such as acupuncture and massage therapy. In particular, some people who do not feel comfortable using prescription pain relievers or anti-anxiety medications, or have found these drugs to be ineffective, are attracted to alternative therapies that do not involve drugs. Acupuncture and massage can be used together to provide maximum benefits, since they help with many of the same health problems. To learn more about acupuncture and massage therapy, contact our team today.
Another choice to make. Another decision to make. When does it end? Does it ever feel as if you have a million decisions to make in a day, only to hit repeat for the next day? Then your spouse/friend/ partner asks what you would like for dinner and the all too famous answer of “i don’t care” or “ I don’t know” comes out. If this sounds like you, you might be suffering from what’s called, decision fatigue. Yes, this is a real thing.
Are you in that sandwich generation where you still have young children who need your care and aging parents who also need your care? Whether you live with the person that you are caring for or spend time traveling to them to provide care, it can be taxing on you as a caregiver. All too often caregivers “forget” to take care of themselves or put themselves at the bottom of the priority list
Acupuncture is a form of treatment -- and a key component of traditional Chinese medicine -- that involves inserting thin needles through the skin at particular points on the body. Research suggests that triggering these points can bring the energy flow back into proper balance, relieving pain and addressing medical conditions such as musculoskeletal issues, anxiety and depression, infertility, GI disorders, migraines, and more. Let's take a look back at the history and origins of this practice. China: Pre-Common Era Acupuncture procedures have been used by the Chinese and in other East Asian cultures to restore and maintain health and well-being for roughly 2,500 years. The earliest known medical account of these traditional Chinese medicine techniques is recorded in The Yellow Emperor's Classic of Internal Medicine from the Han Dynasty (206 BCE to 220 ACE). Documentation has been found suggesting that the use of sharpened stones and bones to puncture the skin was present in 6,000 BCE, prior to the Han Dynasty. However, while some anthropologists interpret this to be an early form of acupuncture, others propose that these were merely surgical tools for draining abscesses and drawing blood. The Yellow Emperor's Classic of Internal Medicine is the first document that unequivocally describes an organized method of diagnosis and treatment that we recognize today as acupuncture. The text illustrates the concepts of channels in which the Qi (life force) flows, though the exact anatomical locations of these acupuncture points weren't developed until later. China: Ming Dynasty The practice of acupuncture was developed over the next few centuries and eventually became one of the most common traditional Chinese medicine techniques. During the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), The Great Compendium of Acupuncture and Moxibustion was published, teaching the principles of acupuncture that inform our current methods. The text describes the 300-plus points that are considered openings to the channels in which needles are inserted to control the flow of Qi. Europe: 17th-19th Centuries Traditional Chinese medicine made its way West in the second half of the 17th century, at which time the surgeon-general of the Dutch East India Company met Japanese and Chinese acupuncture practitioners and published the first detailed description of the practice for a European audience, coining the term "acupuncture" in his 1683 text. France was an early adopter of acupuncture in the West as Jesuit missionaries brought the treatment to French clinics. And French doctor Louis Berlioz is credited as the first person to truly experiment with the acupuncture in Europe in 1810. United States: 20th Century Acupuncture reached the United States after President Nixon’s trip to China in 1972. That same year, the U.S.'s first legal acupuncture center was established, and in 1973, the IRS announced that acupuncture procedures could be deducted as a medical expense. In 1995, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) officially classified acupuncture needles as medical instruments. Just two years later, in 1997, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) recognized acupuncture as an effective therapy for a number of health conditions. Though acupuncture procedures originated in China, the practice is used throughout the world today. In fact, approximately 14 million Americans have reportedly used or currently use acupuncture treatments. If you want to learn more, or you're looking for acupuncture in Smithtown NY, contact Just Enjoy Life today!
