Most likely! With more than 3,000 years of clinical experience, acupuncture can be very effective for dramatically reducing pain, speeding up healing and treating many internal disorders naturally, without side effects.
Today, acupuncture as a therapeutic intervention is widely practiced in the U.S. An estimated 15 million Americans have already used it, and 5 million more try it every year.
For sports enthusiasts, injuries due to overuse of the elbow, for example, can result in “golfer’s elbow” (pain of the inner elbow) or “tennis elbow” (outer elbow pain).
Acupuncture can successfully and speedily treat these problems without resorting to surgery or long-term use of harsh anti-inflammatory drugs.
And acupuncture isn’t only used for pain. Acupuncturists routinely treat people for the common cold and flu, chronic sinus problems, acute allergy symptoms, digestive disorders, asthma, migraines and a host of other problems including stress, depression and anxiety.
Is there evidence? Yes, and it’s mounting. The National Institutes of Health has conducted several studies and concluded that acupuncture is safe and proven effective for headaches, tennis elbow, fibromyalgia, arthritis of the knee, carpal tunnel syndrome, low back pain, asthma, addiction, myofascial pain and for post-stroke rehabilitation.
Several hospitals now use acupuncture in conjunction with conventional treatment, such as chemotherapy, because it reduces side-effects such as nausea and increases the overall well-being of patients. And recently, children treated with acupressure on a particular ‘calming’ acupoint, had markedly lower anxiety levels before surgery.
If you have a problem such as chronic back or neck pain, headaches, insomnia, digestive problems such as IBS, or suffer from anxiety or depression and prefer a more natural approach, why not give acupuncture a try?
Nancy L. Corsaro, L.Ac. is a Texas-licensed acupuncturist and NCCAOM board-certified acupuncturist and herbologist. She practices in Carrollton, TX. For more information about acupuncture and Chinese medicine, visit www.eastwestom.com
