Why Acupuncture Can Help You Through The Most Wonderful (And Stressful!) Time of the Year

It seems like each year the decorations go up earlier, the sales get pushed up a bit, and the radio stations start pumping out the same 8 songs over and over again before everyone’s even ready. But now there’s no escaping it—we’re officially in the throes that is the Holiday Season.

Even for those of us whom this is the best time of the year, the holidays are never not stressful. There’s lots of running around to see family and friends, work to get done before the calendar turns over, turkeys and desserts to be made, gifts to be bought. And for some out there, the hustle and bustle of the holidays can exacerbate our anxieties and lead to high stress.

It’s as good a time of year as ever to take advantage of acupuncture’s unique ability to help the body and mind relax, reduce anxiety, and operate at its peak. Acupuncture improves myriad bodily functions, particularly the nervous system which controls so much of how our mind feels and what response it creates in the body,

“Depending on where the needles go, acupuncture can cause the nervous system to produce painkilling chemicals, jump-start the body’s natural ability to heal itself, or stimulate the part of the brain that controls emotions, including anxiety,” writes Everyday Health.

The holidays are a time that can feel very go go go, where we don’t have as much time as we normally do to ourselves to recharge and relax. Acupuncture isn’t going to make your life less busy, but by regulating the body’s energy (or qi), consistent treatments can help you make the most of the time your body and mind is supposed to be is relaxing, like when you’re sleeping.

In a personal testimonial at You Beauty, writer Avital Norman Nathman shared, “I would always have the best sleep of the week the night after my acupuncture appointment. And I would also feel lighter. My chest wouldn’t be clenched as tightly and the raw current of anxiety that seems to continuously float just beneath the surface of my skin was dissipate for a while, allowing me to experience a semblance of normalcy, if only for a little while.

This year, let the holidays the special time of year they’re supposed to be by making acupuncture a regular part of your mental, physical, and emotional wellness routine.

That Ringing In Your Ear? Acupuncture Can Help it Go Away

As we approach the time where we ring in the new year, you may have tried many things to get rid of that ring in your ear.

Wordplay aside, many people suffer from tinnitus, the hallmark of which is a constant or coming-and-going ringing or buzzing sound in one or both ears. Tinnitus can accompanied by hearing loss or it can be standalone, and can also be a sign of other health issues. It’s important to consult a doctor about the ringing or buzzing in your ears.

But regardless of whether or not your tinnitus is part of a larger problem or not, it can be an incredibly frustrating thing to deal with. Tinnitus isn’t white noise—you don’t simply get used to it. And always struggling to hear what others are saying because of the constant noise in your head can negatively affect your quality of life.

Targeted acupuncture helps by releasing serotonin, oxytocin and endorphins in the central nervous system, as well as changing the blood flow in the different parts of the brain. Tinnitus has always been very difficult to treat—but then again, not many people think to seek out acupuncture treatment for it. Acupuncture won’t necessarily cure one’s tinnitus, but studies have shown that its benefits can greatly reduce the volume and severity of the noise, and also help patients improve their sleep and stress levels that so often are negatively impacted by the constant noise.

Tinnitus affects nearly 12 million people in the US each year. And many people go on living through its worst effects without knowing that acupuncture can help. If you or someone you know suffers from tinnitus, acupuncture is here to help lower the beeping and buzzing and improve your quality of life.

Study Shows Benefits of Acupuncture Versus Drug Treatments

If you’re familiar with our blog, you know that we cover acupuncture’s many benefits and recent studies that show its effectiveness for treating a wide variety of conditions, diseases and discomforts. One of the common themes that pop up across much of our coverage is that acupuncture is a holistic remedy—not only does it use the body’s natural pain-relief and healing possibilities, but it doesn’t come with any major side effects.

We recognize that many times medication is necessary or is the preferred method of treating a disorder by some patients. Any many medications are indeed effective at their designed treatment. But too often medications are effective at one thing at the expense of the rest of our body’s health. And now a recent study illuminates the difference between acupuncture and medication for the treatment of a specific disorder, and how acupuncture is able to help out without sacrificing other wellbeing.

Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang Traditional Chinese Medicine University recently conducted a study comparing the effect of acupuncture and herbs versus medication for treating Restless Leg Syndrome. The disorder, which brings about an irresistible urge to move the legs due to an uncomfortable sensation, affects about 3 million people in the US a year; unfortunately there is no cure for it.

Many people who suffer from RLS are prescribed gabapentin, which is a nerve pain and anti-convulsant medication. The study compared what patients experienced when taking gabapentin versus receiving treatment of acupuncture plus herbs. The study concluded that both methods of treatment worked about equally as well in terms of reducing the severity of their RLS and improving their sleep. The difference, however, was in the cost of that improvement.

Nearly 40% of the group that took the gabapentin experienced major side effects, including nausea, vomiting, dizziness, and drowsiness. The acupuncture group? No such side effects.

This is true of many instances where people default to taking pharmaceutical medications. As always, please consult a medical professional on the proper treatment plan for you. But acupuncture is here to help your body heal without the cost associated with taking many medications.

Acupuncture Shown To Improve Bladder Function For Diabetics

Diabetes, which results in too much sugar in our blood, affects millions of people across the country and is one of the more well-covered diseases. But one of the more lesser-known side effects of diabetes is also it’s most frustrating, painful, life-changing, and difficult to treat.

One of the results of having too much sugar in the blood is a negative effect on our nerve fibers. Damaged nerve fibers can cause a number of problems in the body, including bladder issues. Damaged nerve fibers in the bladder can lead to either going too frequently or not feeling the urge to go often enough, the inability to fully void the bladder, leaking, loss of bladder control, and more.

Not only are these issues painful and difficult to deal with, they can great affect one’s quality of life.

While there are medications that can be taken that are designed to help restore the bladder’s functionality, research shows that the safest, most natural treatment for diabetes-driven bladder issues is acupuncture. Jiaozuo Hospital in Henan, China conducted a study which broke a group of patients into two groups, one who received acupuncture plus a B-12 vitamin supplement, and those who received only the supplement. The results clearly showed that acupuncture helped the patients: urinary frequency dipped, while urinary output rose. “Participants in the acupuncture group experienced significantly greater improvements across all measures of bladder function.,” the study concluded.

Among the acupuncture points that were administered to the patients were CV6, located on the abdomen and a key point for many digestive system and diseases of the intestines, as well as CV4, which affects chronic diseases and is a key area because it is a crossing point for the Liver, Kidney and Spleen channels.

Living with diabetes can be difficult, and adding bladder issues on top of it can be very frustrating. Anyone with bladder issues—diabetic or not—should consider acupuncture as a healthy, holistic treatment option.

Kansas City Hospital Using Acupuncture To Help Kids In the ER

The Emergency Room is a stressful place to be. The uncertainty of not knowing what’s next, and the close proximity to others in distress and pain—not to mention the pain or discomfort that brought one there in the first place—add up to create an environment in which it can be difficult to relax.

We have previously covered how acupuncture is being used in emergency rooms across the country, and why its use should become commonplace. Particularly, now that we know more about the addictive and destructive powers of opioid pain medication, it is high time that caretakers use alternative methods of reducing pain, inflammation, and discomfort.

And if we know that treatments like acupuncture are not only effective but much, much safer than taking high-powered medication, wouldn’t we want to do the same for our children if, unfortunately, they found themselves in the ER?

Thankfully, Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, Missouri appears to be on the forefront, showing how acupuncture can be used to ease pain and reduce stress for youngsters who are being treated in the hospital.

The hospital is beginning by offering children, usually aged 10 and up into the teens, a few types of acupuncture treatments—Battlefield Acupuncture, which consists of small insertions in the ear that can stay inserted for a few days, as well as “4 Gates” acupuncture which inserts a needle in each hand and foot for a period of about 20-30 minutes. Both can be effective at reducing pain and inflammation, and helping relax the body and mind and thus lowering stress.

“Parents want what’s best for their kids, and sometimes that might not always be a pill. Acupuncture is a safe and effective treatment for pain. It’s well tolerated by most children and teenagers,” said pediatrician Dr. Jennifer Dilts to KCTV News.

And acupuncture’s benefits for children don’t only exist in a hospital. Many pains or discomfort children are experiencing can be treated safely and effectively with acupuncture. Don’t make the mistake of thinking acupuncture is only for adults.