Modern health takes a wide variety of forms, everything from visiting the dentist to getting more exercise to develop muscles all the way to more traditional and specialized medicine such as acupuncture, massage therapy, and other minimally invasive methods to address a patient’s health needs. Although acupuncture may be met with skepticism by some, major medical clinics and experts have recognized the effects of this traditional Chinese medicine, and an interested patient may search for nearby acupuncture clinics and parlors nearby with an Internet search, such as “acupuncture clinics Boston MA”. Why do people get acupuncture? It is popular among drug free healing options, after all, and it brings natural pain relief for many patients. Trying it out can be greatly beneficial.
Acupuncture and Massage Basics
Why do people get acupuncture today, and what are its effects? Sports injuries or cramps, or general pain or even illness like a cold, can all be addressed with this healing method, or even back pain, which is common (experts say that 80% of the American population will experience back pain sometime in their lives). Similarly, massages act as drug free, surgery-free ways to treat a patient’s ailments, and it has also proven popular to get therapeutic massages for sports injuries, sprains, and more for patients young and old. Surveys and their results back this up; 92% of app people surveyed have said that massages can be effective for reducing a variety of pains in the body. Another study, this one done by the International Journal of Preventive Medicine, showed that massage therapy may act as lasting, effective intervention in controlling blood pressure for pre-hypertensive women. the study also showed that for up to 72 hours after a massage, the patient will have immediate results in lowering their blood pressure. Overall, it is clear that both acupuncture and massage are effective, drug-free ways to treat pain, blood pressure, and even illness in patients. How does this work?
Acupuncture and You
Healing without surgery can be done in a number of ways, and acupuncture stands out as a popular and time-honored method, although some modern patients might be apprehensive about having medical staff members poke them with many needles as part of acupuncture. However, this method of regenerative medicine has proven itself safe, and effective in many ways.
According to Nava Center, there are several things for a newcomer to acupuncture to know before they get this procedure done. For one thing, while acupuncture is a popular way to treat pain, it can in fact handle other ailments too, anything from a stomach virus or a cold all the way to emotional stress, infections, childbirth, and gout, among others. Someone going in for acupuncture is advised to have eaten within the last few hours, so that the patient has more energy to make the most of acupuncture’s effects, and hungry patients might get light-headed or even pass out during the procedure.
Patients are also advised to wear loose-fitting clothes so that sleeves and pants legs can be rolled up to expose the skin, and some patients may simply remove most of their clothes like they would at a massage therapy so that more skin is exposed. Patients should also be ready for fairly personal questions about their body and its daily activities, so that a more accurate diagnosis can be made. Questions about urination, menstruation, and more may be asked, and should be answered honestly.
The needles themselves are very thin steel needles, and in fact they are much thinner than hypodermic needles, so patients who are wary of needles can rest easy, since acupuncture needles are thin, flexible, and cause nearly no discomfort when they are inserted. It is possible for a patient to be completely relaxed during the procedure, and they may in fact feel relaxed enough to sleep through it. And in American acupuncture parlors in particular, the staff members will not use needles that have been used on other patients, so the risk of contracting blood-borne illnesses from other patients or people is effectively zero. Other methods may augment the needles, such as Gausha (skin scraping), Tuina (a massage), acupressure (using pressure in place of needles on acupuncture points), and Moxibustion, or heating of the skin.
