“Acupuncture in my practice experience continues to improve with some results that are astonishing. I have patients who find acupuncture relieves their sinus obstructions during their allergy seasons when nothing else works.” Bill Chesnut, MD
| May 9, 2016 Cleveland Clinic Wellness Newsletter |
| Get stuck, in a good way! Acupuncture may help with chronic pain and high blood pressure. |
| Sometimes needles are used to deliver treatment, and other times they are the treatment. Acupuncture, the use of very thin needles to stimulate points on the body, has been practiced for more than 3,500 years as part of Chinese medicine. “It draws on the belief that energy, or qi (pronounced “chee”), circulates throughout our body, from the tops of our heads to the soles of our feet,” notes Cleveland Clinic Medical Director Daniel Neides, M.D. In an exciting new study, nine weekly acupuncture sessions were shown to ease symptoms and improve quality of life in people with fibromyalgia, a hard-to-treat condition characterized by chronic pain. The best part: the positive effects persisted a year later! The study was unusual in that subjects received individualized acupuncture treatments (the way it’s often practiced in the real world) rather than a uniform, one-size-fits-all treatment. Acupuncture has been shown to help a number of chronic pain conditions, from headaches to back pain to arthritis, and a preliminary study suggests it may be helpful for mild to moderate high blood pressure, perhaps in part by lowering levels of norepinephrine, a stress hormone. If you’re dealing with these or other chronic conditions, ask your physician about trying acupuncture as a complementary treatment. As research continues, the day may come when you hear, “Take two needles and call me in the morning!” |
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