How Acupuncture Can Help Treat Pain

Acupuncturist Chapel Hill, NC

Acupuncture is an ancient therapy that can help pain in many ways. Derived from Chinese Medicine, this time-tested, drug-free relaxing pain remedy heals in many ways so it deserves your consideration. Millions worldwide have used this non-drug approach to reduce back, knee, shoulder pain; even headaches and stomachaches respond to this treatment. Acupuncture as a treatment for pain has just started being used by doctors in clinics and hospitals in the United States; but it has been used in other parts of the world for many years with great effectiveness. Read on to learn how acupuncture can help treat pain.

How Acupuncture Can Help Treat Pain

Many people wonder how acupuncture works to reduce pain. Examination and treatment are somewhat different than the standard western medical approach to healthcare. Both treatment methods begin with a thorough patient examination. The Chinese Medicine history portion of the patient examination may include questions not generally asked by Western Medical doctors. However, both acupuncture and western medical treatment perform a physical exam in order to understand the nature and cause of your pain. This may include palpation of the painful area and connected parts, as well as orthopedic and neurological testing, evaluation of posture and movement, and medical tests such as x-rays and laboratory tests. In addition, your acupuncturist will likely include evaluation of your tongue- its coat, color, and moisture in different areas; and your pulses on both wrists. A diagnosis, or cause of problem, is made and then treatment can resume.

Pain can be caused by a variety of things. When an acupuncturist, like Dr. Oskardmay at Acupractic Natural Healing Center in Chapel Hill, NC, considers causes of pain, the conversation sounds a bit like a weather forecast- too much cold or heat entering the body, or too much wind stirring things up, or too little movement causing things to settle and percolate or solidify. The ultimate goal of acupuncture, in addition to reducing your pain, is to create balance in the body. When the diagnosis involves an excess situation-such as too much heat, cold, wind; treatment generally works to balance the excess. Alternately, when the diagnosis is made of deficiency of an element, the treatment goal would be to somehow increase that missing element. Balance can be achieved using acupuncture needles placed at acupoints along meridians or channels; other modalities may be enlisted to improve outcome.

Additional therapies in the acupuncturist’s office may include gua sha massage or cupping massage to exteriorize heat and add movement to an area. Also, cold application in the form of ice or cooling herbs, or use of heat or warming herbs can balance energies. Acupuncture is designed to work together to help reduce pain and get you back to your life quickly without side-effects to slow you down or inhibit healing.

Call us today at (919) 929-1400, email us at schedule@acudocnc.com or visit our website at acudocnc.com to schedule your appointment today. We offer self-pay discounts, accept your HSA or FSA and participate with and submit claims electronically for you to most major insurance plans, including BCBS State and Federal, United Healthcare, Cigna, Aetna, Medicare, and others. Helping people of the Triangle since 1995, we look forward to helping you, too. If you are suffering from pain, acupuncture treatment at Acupractic Natural Healing Center in Chapel Hill can help.

Acupuncture for Knee Pain

Acupuncturist Chapel Hill, NC

Acupuncture can provide relief from knee pain on many levels and can be your first choice for healing from this painful condition. A licensed acupuncturist with over 25 years of clinical experience, Dr. Oskardmay uses acupuncture treatment to help patients suffering from knee pain and other conditions.

Acupuncture Meridian

Acupuncture meridian or channel theory recognizes that there are many possible causes and presentations of knee pain; examination by Dr. Oskardmay will ensure the diagnosis and treatment fit your unique needs. Following examination of the knee and connected parts, she will look at your tongue and take your pulses at both wrists to get a full picture and make an evaluation of which channels need help to restore your knee health. Channels, which have names such as: water, wood, earth, metal and fire, course the whole body like lines on a map. Used for centuries to diagnose and treat disease, channels can get blocked resulting in disease. Acupuncture works to unblock these channels, often with unparalleled success.

Diagnosing and Treating Knee Pain with Acupuncture

Dr. Oskardmay will pay attention to the words you use to describe your pain- does your knee ache? Is the pain sharp? Dull? Does it radiate? Where? Is the pain worse at certain times of day? What makes the pain better or worse? Does your knee or connected areas feel hot? Cold? Tingling? What emotions do you have regarding the knee pain- fear? Anger? Grief? Do any foods make the knee pain worse? Is there swelling around the knee or surrounding areas? Does the knee pain make you tired? Frustrated? All of these considerations reveal channel pathology that needs attention. Palpation and observation of the areas and channels will reveal more information that Dr. Oskardmay will compile into a diagnosis and treatment plan.

The knee is coursed by several channels: the water channel on the back, earth channel on the outside, wood channel on the inside. Blockage in any of these tendinomuscular channels due to an influx of cold, heat or injury can result in knee pain. Treatment to reduce blockage and restore healing energy (qi) movement through the channels is helpful to heal the knee as well as the connected leg, calf, hip, ankle, and foot. Acupuncture treatment at Acupractic Natural Healing Center and Acupuncture at Eastowne LLC, in Chapel Hill, NC will involve the insertion of acupuncture needles into acupoints along the channels to stimulate qi movement. Points near the painful knee, or on connected channels nearby or distant can be used depending on your unique presentation and comfort.

In addition to acupuncture needles insertion, Dr. Oskardmay might use additional therapies to promote healing and restore balance. These additional therapies might include gua sha (deep tissue channel massage), trigger point massage, cupping massage, application of hot and or cold with essential oils, and others. Also a licensed chiropractic physician, Dr. Oskardmay can provide chiropractic spinal care for knee pain, as well.

Acupuncture for knee pain will help you on many levels and help to keep knee pain from getting worse. Call our office today to schedule an appointment: 919-929-1400, or go online to schedule 24 hours a day: acudocnc.com.

Acupuncture for Back Pain- How Does it Work?

Acupuncture stimulates the brain’s DMN to heal the body mind.
Acupuncture for chronic back pain—how does it work?
Acupuncture has been shown to be an effective treatment for various types of back pain, yet scientists have struggled for many years to understand how it works. Recent research in the BMJ Journal (https://aim.bmj.com/content/32/2/102) demonstrates a potential mechanism that has eluded researchers. This creates an understanding of how acupuncture treatment can affect many conditions including: chronic back pain, migraines, fibromyalgia, and diabetic neuropathy.
The research utilized functional MRI brain scans of healthy and chronic back pain sufferers. These scans demonstrate altered and reduced connectivity in an important brain pathway called DMN (default mode network) in the chronic back pain sufferers. DMN represents our brain’s default mode when we are awake but restful, as in meditation or daydreaming. Reduced connectivity in this important pain modulation pathway may indicate that some people may not be able to fully access the relaxation and healing response the DMN is thought to provide. Thirty minutes of acupuncture with intermittent de qi needle stimulation was shown to increase DMN connectivity in parts of the brain associated with pain modulation. This suggests a possible mechanism of action for chronic back pain sufferers who experience pain relief using acupuncture. The connection between what helps us relax and what helps us heal is very real and this new research helps us understand that connection a bit more.
This research is exciting because it helps us understand and explain how a drugless, nonsurgical treatment such as acupuncture can help reduce suffering for so many people.
Call our office today to see how acupuncture can help you reduce back pain or migraine pain.
(919) 929-1400 schedule@acudocnc.com 24- hour online scheduling www.acudocnc.com
Acupractic Natural Healing Center, 800 Eastowne Dr. Suite 103, Chapel Hill, NC 27514
The acupuncture and chiropractic offices of Dr. Lisa Oskardmay

Serving the communities of Chapel Hill, Carrboro, Durham, Hillsborough, and the rest of the NC Triangle

205 Providence Rd. Chapel Hill NC 27514 | Phone: (919) 929-1400

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