Acupuncture has enjoyed thousands of years as a popular treatment technique for a wide range of ailments and symptoms. Practitioners maintain that the insertion of needles at specific points can alter or correct the body's energy flow, improving health.
Although you might think of acupuncture solely as a standalone healing technique, it actually works well in combination with other nonsurgical treatment methods. Take a look at some notable examples.
Acupuncture and Massage
Therapeutic massage techniques can do wonders for soft tissue pain, inflammation, and stiffness. Manipulation of these tissues can boost circulation to the treatment site, enhancing self-repair processes, reducing swelling, and working out tough muscle knots. Acupuncture can serve as a useful supplement to massage therapy.
Even though acupuncture needles don't extend very deeply into the body, they can still penetrate tissues more deeply than finger or hand pressure. This feature enables acupuncture to treat muscles, blood vessels, and nerves beyond the usual reach of a massage therapist.
Acupuncture and Herbal Medicine
Like modern Western medicine, traditional Chinese medicine encompasses many different healing techniques that naturally support each other's effectiveness. For this reason, your acupuncturist may prescribe a combination of acupuncture and Chinese herbal treatments to help you get the most out of your treatment.
Chinese herbal medicine draws on over 450 herbs and plants to achieve its effects, with each herbal medicine prescription customized for an individual patient's baseline health and current needs. These substances can help your body functions stay in harmony on an everyday basis between acupuncture sessions.
Acupuncture and Physical Therapy
Both acupuncture and physical therapy can help you overcome painful conditions and rehabilitate injuries. Even as you rebuild your muscles' strength and coordination through physical therapy techniques, you can rely on acupuncture to help those muscles eliminate tension and pain that might otherwise limit your rehab.
Research appears to support this healthy combination of healing methods. A study of individuals suffering from shoulder stiffness showed that acupuncture plus physical therapy produced greater pain relief than physical therapy alone. The combination seems to speed healing, improve range of motion, and enhance mood.
Acupuncture and Chiropractic Adjustment
Acupuncture and chiropractic adjustment take a more similar approach to healing than you might think. While acupuncture focuses on reducing blockages in your body's internal energy flow, chiropractic adjustments can correct musculoskeletal alignment problems that interfere with the flow of nerve signals.
Ask your acupuncturist or your chiropractor about the value of combining these two healing modalities. You may find the combination can help you manage chronic headaches, arthritis, back or neck pain, sports injuries, or even certain systemic health conditions such as diabetes.
For such an ancient healing art, acupuncture can prove surprisingly relevant to today's medical problems and solutions. Contact a company like Bonafide Acupuncture & Herbs to learn more.
Share