How Acupuncture Works

“Modern research shows that acupuncture can affect most of the body’s systems – the nervous system, muscle tone, hormone outputs, circulation, antibody production and allergic responses, as well as the respiratory, digestive, urinary, and reproductive systems”.
– British Medical Acupuncture Society

  • The placement of very fine acupuncture needles in the skin activates an ancient biological mechanism whereby our bodies are stimulated into self healing mode through the nervous, immune and endocrine systems.
  • Pain relieving and wellbeing promoting substances such as endorphins and neuropeptides are released with acupuncture needling.
  • Pain regulating mechanisms such as neural gates in posterior horns of the spinal nerves are activated. These are particularly important in reducing chronic pain.
  • Pathways in the brain are activated reducing the reception and perception of pain and other unpleasant stimuli such as nausea.
  • Stable long-term responses and the incremental effect seen during a course of acupuncture treatments results from neuroplasticity in the nervous system and alteration in gene expression. 
  • Real-time brain imaging studies show acupuncture positively influencing several brain regions including the limbic system, reducing pain and the emotional unpleasantness of pain and other experiences like tinnitus and nausea.  
  • Acupuncture has anti-inflammatory, immune regulating and anti-allergy effects.
  • Acupuncture relaxes shortened, spasming muscles thereby releasing pressure on joint structures, tendons and nerves. This along with vasodilation normalizes blood circulation promoting nourishment and detoxification of starved tissues, including stimulating internal organs.
  • Acupuncture has a balancing effect on the autonomic nervous system thereby relaxing over-activity and improving under-functioning.

Uses for Acupuncture

While acupuncture is not a cure-all, many common health conditions respond well to this treatment.  Many factors contribute to the body’s ability to heal which in turn affect the response rate to acupuncture. At the first meeting, I will endeavor to give you a clear picture of what to expect early during your course of treatment. Acupuncture is one of the central evidence-based treatments in contemporary natural medicine.

Acupuncture may be effective for a wide range of pain conditions such as:

  • Arthritis
  • Pain from simple strain to chronic conditions of the back, neck, legs, shoulder, hips and arms/hands
  • Headaches, migraine
  • Sports injury, whiplash and motor vehicle injury
  • Post-surgical pain

Acupuncture may also be effective for:

  • Sinusitis
  • Dry eyes and mouth
  • Some lung conditions
  • Allergies
  • Irritable bowel, some cases of diarrhea
  • Menstrual problems
  • Hot flashes
  • Some types of dermatitis
  • As an adjunctive treatment for stop smoking and substance abuse
  • Some bladder problems
  • Mild to moderate anxiety, insomnia and depression

Acupuncture can result in many non-specific effects including improved wellbeing, relaxation and energy.

A Brief History of Acupuncture

Acupuncture first appears in the historical record in about 200 BCE in China. However acupuncture-like therapies seem to have been used throughout the world dating back several thousand years. There’s remarkable similarity between the theories of traditional Chinese medicine and those of traditional pre-scientific European, Greek, East Indian, Middle Eastern and Egyptian medicines. 

Indeed Ötzi, a preserved mummy of a man discovered in Italy’s Ötztal Alps in 1991 who lived in Europe 5,300 years ago, appeared to have consumed medicinal herbs and had treatments similar to acupuncture.

Acupuncture has a history in the West dating back to the 16th Century when both Jesuit missionaries and the Dutch East India Company, while pursuing merchant trading in China and Japan, brought Chinese acupuncture procedures back to Europe. The famous doctor William Osler used it for low back pain in the United States in the late 19th Century.

In the late 20th century there began a scientific revision of acupuncture by modern pioneers such as Drs Felix Mann, C Chan Gunn, Yun-Tao Ma and many others. In its practice, this biomedical form of acupuncture is closer to the simple observational acupuncture practiced by the earliest doctors.