Often I am asked the question, “Can acupuncture be used for ___________ [condition]?”
My answer is almost always a resounding “yes.”
Is this because when you have a hammer every problem looks like a nail?
Is it because I believe that acupuncture can solve every medical issue and health complaint?
Is it because I am skeptical of other medical modalities?
No.
It’s because acupuncture is so safe that it can be added to nearly any pre-existing treatment plan you may already be on.
Go ahead and get some acupuncture. See if it helps. As a human being with a body of my own, I highly recommend it.
You could wait around (possibly forever) for research to be published on how well-indicated acupuncture is for your condition, but I don’t recommend it.
Scientific validation of acupuncture is indicated for your condition may or may not exist. It may be that science never gets around to doing research in that area.
Most medical research in the U.S. is funded by the NIH. They have a $30 billion budget, and CAM gets a very small slice of that pie. Acupuncture research falls under CAM.
In the real world it is so much easier than that, try out acupuncture and see for yourself.
When you choose acupuncture you choose to tap into the pharmacy you walk around with all day… the pharmacy inside your brain.
Our brains produce a veritable bevy of biochemicals that can be deployed to cause self-healing.
You may have heard of endorphins and enkephalins, two examples of biochemicals that the brain excretes under specific circumstances.
That, in a nutshell, is what acupuncture does. It supports your self-healing processes.
It supports homeostasis, which is your body’s attempt to keep everything in balance.
And when a body is in balance, it can heal itself.
The caveat here is that we are not allowed to treat certain conditions as licensed acupuncturists in the United States.
We are not allowed to treat cancer or epilepsy as chief complaints, but we can support these patients as they go through traditional therapies.
I say yes to acupuncture, as a therapy and a lifestyle and I think you should too. Good stuff!