Benefits of Acupuncture

Acupuncture benefits muscles, skeletal alignment, emotions, hormones, and circulation. These health components respond to the ability of acupuncture to adjust tension. This includes tension in the neuroendocrine system, related to stress.

Because acupuncture treats tension that is at the root of disease, it is effective for many complaints.

It is highlighted by the National Institute of Health (NIH) [6] or the World Health Organization (WHO) [7], or both, for treating the conditions listed alphabetically below.

This list does not include all conditions that acupuncture treats. If your condition is unlisted, please call (619) 994-2119 since you may still benefit from acupuncture.

Addictions, allergies, anxiety, asthma

Biliary colic, bronchitis

Cancer (side effects of chemo, radiation), carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS), chronic fatigue, colitis, common cold, constipation

Depression, diarrhea, dizziness, dysentery

Eye problems

Fibromyalgia

Gastritis, gingivitis

Headache, heart disease, hiccough, hypertension, hypotension

Incontinence, indigestion, infertility, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)

Labor difficulty, leukopenia

Malposition of fetus (breech baby), menopause, menstrual irregularities, migraine, morning sickness

Nausea

Osteoarthritis

Pain, peptic ulcer, periarthritis of shoulder, premenstrual syndrome (PMS), pneumonia

Renal colic, rheumatoid arthritis

Sciatica, seasonal affective disorder (SAD), sinusitis, sleep disturbances, sore throat, sprain, stress, stroke

Tennis elbow, tonsillitis, trigeminal neuralgia

Urinary tract infection (UTI)

Vomiting

Evidence-Based Medicine

Acupuncture benefits are increasingly recognized by Western institutions guided by evidence-based medicine. EBM uses scientific, randomized, controlled trials (RCTs) to validate the efficacy and safety of treatments.

Evidence-based medicine is a great step towards integration and broader acceptance of acupuncture. However, it is an incomplete assessment of acupuncture benefits. More insight on the healing value of acupuncture is gained from translational science, mentioned in this blog post evaluating Chinese medicine.

Similar to limiting the understanding of herbal efficacy by testing isolated chemicals, it is hard to fully define the value of acupuncture based solely on the reductionist method of RCTs. This is where translational medicine adds value. It still employs scientific rigor. But its scope is broader, not only accounting for the relationships between all systems within the body but also the relationship between patients and the culture of healthcare.