Although acupuncture is still relatively “new” to North America, its integration into healthcare has been a long time coming. Thousands of years ago, the ancient Chinese spent entire lifetimes observing nature, discovering the secrets of healing naturally, and passed this information down from generation to generation.
In 1912, William Osler, the “father of American medicine”, described putting a “body needle” into the base of a patient’s spine to treat a very common complaint – low back pain. The results? The low back pain improved. Decades and decades later, the FDA recognized acupuncture as a valid treatment, and the National Institute of Health acknowledged acupuncture as a medicine.
The most common reason people use acupuncture is to relieve pain. But, acupuncture can do so much more! The following is a list of conditions from the World Health Organization in which acupuncture has been researched and proven to be an effective treatment:
- Allergic rhinitis (including hay fever)
- Arthritis
- Blood Pressure – high and low
- Breech baby
- Dental pain
- Depression (including depressive neurosis and depression following stroke)
- Facial pain
- Gastritis
- Headache
- Induction of labor in pregnancy
- Jaw/TMJ pain
- Kidney pain
- Knee pain
- Low back pain
- Low white blood cell count
- Morning sickness
- Nausea and vomiting (including from radiation and/or chemotherapy)
- Neck pain
- Painful menstrual cramps (dysmenorrhea)
- Postoperative pain
- Rheumatoid arthritis
- Sciatica
- Sprain
- Stroke
- Tennis elbow
This next list is also from the World Health Organization of conditions for which acupuncture has a therapeutic effect but for which further proof is needed:
- Abdominal pain
- Acne
- Addiction – alcohol, opium, cocaine, heroin, tobacco dependence
- Alcohol dependence and detoxification
- Asthma
- Bell’s palsy
- Brain injury
- Cancer pain
- Diabetes Type II
- Earache
- Facial spasm
- Female bladder irritation/pain
- Female infertility
- Fibromyalgia
- Gallbladder inflammation/stones
- Gout
- Hepatitis B virus carrier status
- High cholesterol/triglycerides
- Insomnia
- Itching
- Kidney stones/bladder stones
- Lactation deficiency
- Male sexual dysfunction
- Ménière’s disease
- Nosebleeds
- Obesity
- Osteoarthritis
- Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)
- Post-herpetic neuralgia
- Pregnancy labor pain
- Premenstrual syndrome (PMS)
- Prostatitis (chronic)
- Raynaud’s syndrome
- Recurrent lower urinary-tract infection
- Reflex sympathetic dystrophy (RSD)
- Schizophrenia
- Shingles
- Sjögren syndrome
- Sore throat (including tonsillitis)
- Spine pain, acute
- Stiff neck
- Temporomandibular joint (TMJ) dysfunction
- Tourette’s syndrome
- Ulcerative colitis
- Weak ovaries
Take the Next Step
Not sure if acupuncture can help you? Call or email our office and talk to Dr. Carri directly to see if you are a good candidate for acupuncture.