Contrary to popular belief, acupuncture is becoming an acceptable means of recovery by people who have undergone surgeries, injuries, and even emotional trauma. Several studies have concluded that doing acupuncture as a supplement for the surgery done greatly improves the overall well-being of the patient.
For so many years now, acupuncture is becoming an option for people experiencing chronic pain and muscle tension. But did you know that it can also ease emotional distress? If you didn’t, then you are in the right place because you will get to know more about acupuncture and the way it relieves people who are experiencing a difficult phase for their emotional health.
What is Acupuncture?
Acupuncture has its roots in China and this ancient way of relieving pains and illnesses was only brought to Western shores a few decades ago. The Chinese believed that the body is made of energy called chi or qi. When the body is in distress whether physically or emotionally, an imbalance of chi occurs and this creates more tension in the different parts of the body.
Chi resides along the body’s meridians. A meridian is what the Chinese refer to as “pathways” according to Mayo Clinic. Once needles are put into the skin, the proper flow of chi along the pathways is returned.
As compared to this belief regarding acupuncture, Westerners used to view acupuncture as unreasonable and not backed up by doctors. However, according to Live Science, acupuncture is in fact, an effective supplement to treatments for chronic pain.
What Acupuncture Does
The reason for sticking needles into the skin is to bring back the balance of energy in the body. The needles are stuck into different parts and each part improves different body functions. Some advantages involve proper hormonal production and relief from chronic pain. Pain relief is also one of the benefits of doing acupuncture regularly.
But one of the less talked about effects of acupuncture is emotional relief.
Acupuncture and Emotional Relief
Emotional distress can be brought about by different factors. There are times when this emotional stress goes to a deeper level and a more prolonged emotion that some people get diagnosed with a mental illness. When this happens, even the physical body becomes affected. So how does acupuncture help ease emotional distress?
There are two main ways of how acupuncture deals with emotional distress. First, is that it helps reinforce proper hormone production and regulation. When someone feels down or when they are in stressful situations, the body tends to produce hormones that increase the blood pressure or just simply ruin the person’s mood. It can also be caused by low dopamine levels.
Acupuncture eases emotional distress by having needles inserted into strategic areas so that dopamine and serotonin will be produced. These hormones are known as “happy hormones” because they boost someone’s energy levels. When their energy levels are boosted, people become more optimistic in their approach in life. In effect, acupuncture relieves people with emotional baggage by producing hormones that will balance out the negative energy blocking the pathways of chi.
On the other hand, acupuncture can simultaneously focus on your physical body during times of emotional distress. As you’ve read earlier, acupuncture is good at lessening muscle tension. When you are in a state of sadness, grief, stress, and anger, your muscles tend to become tense as a reaction to all the hormones working inside your body. This is where acupuncture can be of help to your physical body.
The needles not just stimulate hormones, but they also help loosen up the muscles that have tensed. They help your overall body to relax and to calm down. The whole acupuncture session can also double as an unwinding session because your body will be in a state of calm even if the needles seem uncomfortable.
A Few Things To Note
Although acupuncture has a lot of advantages, it is often used in conjunction with other treatments. Notice that most doctors recommend getting acupuncture once you have gone to physical therapy. This is because acupuncture by itself will not ease all your muscles or it will not magically make you recover from a serious injury. Instead, it works together with proper exercise and rehabilitation in order for you to have better and faster results.
Also, when it is your first time to experience acupuncture, you will notice that the specialist will not immediately ask you to lie face down and start putting needles on your back. Acupuncture is a science even if its roots came from beliefs regarding chi and the flow of energy in the body. This means that doctors would have to study your anatomy and your unique concern so that they can better determine which pressure points need to have needles on them.
According to Freedom Chinese Medicine, it is also highly recommended that you pick an acupuncture clinic that has a good reputation because when done wrong, it can lead to bad side effects. Only consult and have your acupuncture done with trusted and registered traditional Chinese Medicine doctors.