Suffering From Chronic Pain? Here’s How Acupuncture Can Help!

Chronic pain makes every aspect of life harder. When you’re dealing with pain that lasts for months or even years, it makes everything you do more difficult. The pain starts to wear on you as well, taking a toll mentally as well as physically. If you have chronic pain, and you’re looking for ways to find relief, there are options out there. One of the most effective tends to be acupuncture.

What is Acupuncture?

Acupuncture involves inserting very thin needles into strategic points to stimulate nerve-rich areas, release endorphins, and activate the central nervous system. This can provide pain relief and help the body heal.

Acupuncture is rooted in Traditional Chinese Medicine. The body’s energy (“qi”) flows along certain pathways called meridians. If these are blocked, pain or sickness can follow. Acupuncture is designed to rebalance your body’s energy flow and stimulate healing.

How Does It Work?

As mentioned, acupuncture focuses on strategic points on the body. These points stimulate the central nervous system, causing the release of chemicals into your spinal cord, muscles, and brain. These chemicals, such as endorphins and serotonin, help your body deal with pain and heal.

For instance, endorphins are released by your body when it feels pain or stress, but they are also released during pleasurable activities. They are a type of neurotransmitter that attaches to the reward center of your brain. There they improve your state of mind, help you feel better, reduce stress, and relieve pain.

Serotonin affects various parts of your body, from your motor skills to your emotions. When it is released, it can help improve your mood, regulate anxiety and stress, heal wounds, and much more.

By stimulating your body to naturally release these chemicals, acupuncture accelerates your natural healing processes and improves you mood and state of mind.

The Benefits of Acupuncture for Chronic Pain

Acupuncture has shown to be a useful tool for easing chronic pain. It provides relief and accelerates healing for people who are dealing with many conditions, including back and neck pain, knee pain, osteoarthritis, chronic headaches or migraines, and much more.

Some of the benefits of acupuncture include more relaxed muscles, less pain and discomfort, increased blood flow to the affected area, improved healing, and much more.

What to Expect

When you come in for an acupuncture session, the acupuncturist will gradually insert very fine needles into certain areas. While you may assume that this will be painful, the reality is that many people experience very little discomfort. In fact, for some, the process is quite relaxing. A small group of people experience some bruising or soreness, but this is not common or long lasting.

Depending on your situation, it may be recommended to visit the acupuncturist regularly, to maintain or improve the positive effects of the sessions.

It’s important to note that acupuncture may be a part of a larger holistic treatment plan. Depending on your situation, it may be recommended for you to do other therapies or treatment sessions to help relieve your chronic pain. Talking to a member of our team can help you understand the available options and how they may help you.

Tips to Get the Most Out of Your Sessions

Talk to your acupuncturist about what you can do to get the most from your treatment. As mentioned, other treatment options may be recommended alongside acupuncture to help you manage your pain and heal. At Park Place Clinic, our team focuses on comprehensive and holistic healing that relieves pain and helps you go back to living your normal life.

For more information, please contact us online or give us a call at (604) 646-6699. We are here to help you find the right solutions to ease your chronic pain.