Acupuncture is a drug-free way to help patients with pain management. It is also used to manage different autoimmune pathologies, allergies, asthma, gastrointestinal issues, fertility and can provide support during the treatment of various cancers and other chronic illnesses.
Acupuncture can help you move toward not only feeling better, but also helps you progress along more quickly in your rehabilitation program to actually being better and stronger.
For over 5000 years, acupuncture has been used to provide drug-free treatment for pain and dis-ease by encouraging the body to promote natural healing. From a Western point of view, this happens in the body through a variety of mechanisms that operate on many levels.
A holistic approach to pain relief.
Sterile, hair-thin, single needles are inserted into specific points in the body, where they are gently stimulated to trigger the body’s natural healing response, regulate the body’s physiological functions and relieve pain effectively.
Acupuncture stimulates the nervous system to release pain-relieving chemical (endorphins and serotonin) and hormones in the muscles, spinal cord and brain. These chemicals are the body’s natural painkillers. The body produces them to influence its own internal regulating system and healing abilities to fight disease and maintain a healthy physical and emotional state.
Acupuncture therapy works well in a rehabilitation program that can be designed to help you ease your pain and suffering.
The World Health Organization recognizes the use of acupuncture in the treatment of a wide range of these medical conditions:
- Pain, both acute and chronic: back, neck and joint pain, sciatica, sports injuries, headaches and migraines, golfer’s /tennis elbow, carpal tunnel syndrome, fibromyalgia, muscle pain, arthritis, plantar fasciitis
- Neurological Disorders: post-stroke recovery, Bell’s palsy, trigeminal neuralgia, movement disorders, vestibular disorders, neuropathy
- Upper Respiratory Disorders: asthma allergies, sinusitis
- Digestive Disorders: irritable bowel syndrome, gastritis, GERD
- Reproductive and Urinary: cystitis, menstrual cramps, irregular or heavy periods, peri/menopausal symptoms, infertility, impotence
- Immune system: multiple sclerosis, auto-immune disorders, recurrent infections
- Cancer patient support: relief from side effects of cancer treatment like fatigue,nausea and pain
- Depression, Anxiety and Insomnia
- Smoking cessation treatment
- Facial Rejuvenation
- …and more!
Acupuncture for Stress: Acupuncture helps you to cope with and manage the stress in your life. This therapy helps train our stress response system so that we can ‘bounce back’ sooner; avoiding the damage that ongoing, chronic stress cycles can cause
Acupuncture for optimal Weight and Healthy Digestion:
Digestion is viewed as the source of vitality and energy in the body; when our digestive processes are in a healthy state we can extract nutrients more effectively from our food and give our body what it needs to keep us strong and healthy. The methods in place for digestion and the breakdown of food occur via our autonomic nervous system; this is like the auto-pilot mode of our body. This part of our nervous system works around the clock to keep the heart pumping, the lungs breathing, the metabolism firing and so much more. So, why we can control what we put into our body, we can’t always control how our body receives and utilizes it. This internal regulation system can be manipulated with acupuncture therapy. By sending messages to the nervous system, acupuncture is an effective tool to help restore balance to our internal digestive processes and ultimately our well-being.
Acupuncture for Chronic Pain:
Suffering with long-term pain in the neck or lower back, pain and stiffness of osteoarthritis, frequent headaches, facial and jaw pain can be greatly reduced with acupuncture therapy. Regular sessions help patients to treat and manage all kinds of chronic pain; avoiding excess pain relieving drugs, injections and surgical interventions. Acupuncture targets the source of pain and is used to stimulate the body’s innate healing systems; naturally reducing inflammation, triggering the release of endorphins and even affecting areas of the brain that process pain. After evaluating your pain and determining the underlying cause of dysfunction, our doctors may add acupuncture as part of our multidisciplinary approach.
Acupuncture for Immune Health:
Acupuncture helps to improve and balance the body’s immune response. For example, stimulation of certain acupuncture points can increase white blood cell counts, including helper T-cells. This bolstering of your immune defenses better prepares you to fight off illnesses.
Acupuncture is also used to reduce stress and inflammation, which are major factors in the immune system’s ability to fight off infection. Adding acupuncture therapy is a great way to defend yourself against any viruses, germs, or bacteria you may come across.
Acupuncture for Neck Pain:
Acupuncture therapy works well in a rehabilitation program designed to help ease your neck pain and suffering. Acupuncture can successfully treat chronic neck pain and stiffness from poor posture or degenerative arthritis, post-operative pain as well as acute injuries to the neck due to trauma. The addition of this therapy can help you progress along more quickly in your rehabilitation program so you can feel better faster; not only does it help to naturally reduce pain, acupuncture is used to restore strength and function to muscles and joints, improving mobility & helping to prevent a recurrence of the issue.
Acupuncture for Allergies:
Acupuncture is another non- pharmacological treatment option that complements and supports our treatment options by addressing the underlying imbalances within the body causing allergic reactions.
Acupuncture supports the nervous and immune systems, can help decrease inflammation, and increases blood flow to help detoxify and eliminate allergens in the body.
Acupuncture for Fertility:
Our licensed acupuncturist, Ellen Policastri, has invested many years in the study and treatment of infertility with an Eastern Medicine approach. There is no secret that these thousand-years-old modalities are now supported by many scientific studies in multiple areas of health. Ellen has joined forces with a team of passionate clinicians here at NMR to tackle infertility from all angles. Acupuncture has a very special place in our treatment approach both for couples that are looking for natural answers to conceive or those who are pursuing assisted medical treatments.
Acupuncture for Sleep
Acupuncture is an effective, all-natural remedy to help you sleep better with no adverse side effects. Factors that contribute to poor sleep patterns include teeth grinding, TMJ pain, sinus congestion, snoring, stress and excessive worrying, all of which can be helped by acupuncture. Acupuncture can be used to relax muscles, manage stress and anxiety, and calms the nervous system down which could lead to a better night’s sleep.
Many people experience fatigue after their acupuncture session, which is your body’s way of telling you that it is depleted. So be sure to drink lots of water and listen to your body’s warning sign and rest after your acupuncture session. Avoid the risk of addiction to sleep medications and its side effects and give acupuncture a try for a better night’s sleep tonight.
Acupuncture for Osteoarthrisis
Osteoarthritis (OA) involves biochemical changes in joints; these changes usually occur slowly over many years. Inflammation and injury to the joint causes bony changes, deterioration of tendons and ligaments and a breakdown of cartilage; resulting in pain, swelling, stiffness and deformity of the joint. Acupuncture is a non-pharmacological medical treatment that can help manage the symptoms of OA. By reducing inflammation, increasing blood flow, modulating pain receptors and pain relieving hormones, acupuncture works to prevent the destructive nature of these changes. Electro-acupuncture has been shown to be more effective in managing the pain of OA the acupuncture alone.
Acupuncture for Osteoporosis
If you have been given an diagnosis of osteopenia or osteoporosis, acupuncture therapy can be incorporated into your treatment plan to help improve the function of your bones and joints and prevent fractures.
If fractures do occur, there can be substantial pain that is often managed with topical and oral pain relieving agents; both of which have systemic side-effects. Treatment with acupuncture decreases activity related pain and pain at rest; helping you to avoid more medications and improve your quality of life while you heal.
