Acupuncture has been part of healthcare for millions of people over thousands of years. At a time when the population of the Western world still thought that personal hygiene would make you ill, China had a very sophisticated medical system, which included acupuncture as a primary mode of treatment. Thankfully we are now catching on and recently modern scientific standards have been applied to assessing the effectiveness of acupuncture in a way acceptable to the Western world. Despite this apparent progress, there is still a fair amount of controversy regarding the effectiveness of acupuncture and what standards of proof should be applied.
After considerable research, the Nation Institutes of Health (NIH) and The World Health Organization (WHO) have released statements regarding the effectiveness of acupuncture. In their 1997 Consensus Development Statement, the NIH stated that acupuncture may be useful as an adjunctive or alternative treatment for stroke, headache, tennis elbow, post-op nausea and vomiting, osteoarthritis, the effects of chemotherapy and other conditions. Also in the 2003 Acupuncture Review and Analysis of reports on controlled clinical trials, WHO published a list of over 100 conditions for which acupuncture may be useful.
So, the above facts translate into comforting news from some of our medical scientists and researchers. On a more personal and practical level, I can attest that after over a decade of clinical experience, that I have used acupuncture to give relief to my patients, who collectively have presented a wide variety of ailments, too numerous to mention in this article. In general, if you are experiencing pain, mild anxiety or depression, digestive issues or fatigue, it?s very possible that acupuncture will afford you relief from your suffering. If your condition falls outside of these parameters or if you have any doubts, you should always discuss this with your chosen acupuncturist before any treatment takes place. If the professional in question has had success in treating your condition with other patients, you may feel comfortable to go ahead. In the event of this being a first time clinical treatment for the acupuncturist and you, it?s advisable to talk it over thoroughly and maybe make sure that the treatment plan suggested is acceptable both in terms of cost and length of treatment.
OK, it works, but is acupuncture safe? In one word, YES! Acupuncture is safe. On rare occasions, some patients experience adverse reactions. About 1 in 1000 patients may experience slight bruising, temporary aggravation of symptoms, or dizziness. If you are on high doses of blood thinners or if your immune system is suppressed, you should discuss this with both your acupuncturist and with your physician.
In conclusion I would like you to consider results of the following study. In a recent study of 34,000 acupuncture treatments reported in the British Medical Journal, only 43 minor adverse reactions were reported and NO serious adverse events were noted. In studies of commonly prescribed non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs like aspirin, ibuprofen, naproxen and celebrex, the adverse reactions were significantly higher! In fact, acupuncture is safer than many over-the-counter remedies you can find at the drug store. Of course many of those remedies offer people significant relief for a variety of ailments and I am in no way suggesting that you should discontinue their use-to the contrary, good medicine strives to use the best help available at any given time to make and keep us healthy and pain free. However, having read the above facts, wouldn?t you give acupuncture a chance? I know I would for me and mine.
Good Luck and Good Health.
Michael Roland, L.Ac., MTCM is the acupuncture and Chinese medicine expert on drweil.com. He is in private practice in Tucson Arizona He has a new DVD on the ancient art of health cultivation called qigong. These easy to learn exercises can help you to relax and revitalize. Available here. | |
