Most people suffering from painful syndromes are using large doses of painkillers. This is safe in the short-term. However, long-term use of painkillers is not recommended as they can have damaging effects on major organ systems (liver, kidney, stomach, etc.). If your goal is to stop popping those pills, you have another very powerful pain management option => Acupuncture!
Not only is acupuncture safe and effective, it is without harmful side-effects. Moreover, you may discover that it relieves some of your other unrelated symptoms (eg. digestive issues, insomnia, anxiety, etc.). This is because the goal of treatment with acupuncture from a Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) perspective is to treat the totality of the person and not just the presenting condition.
There are various methods of applying acupuncture. Those mainly used by physiotherapists and chiropractors is one of ‘medical acupuncture’ where the needles are applied to relieve the immediate pain in the area where it is experienced. Treatment using TCM however, will not only address the acute pain and the immediate concern but areas that may not be quite well but not yet presenting any obvious outward symptoms will also be addressed and treated!
This acupuncture method will:
- Act preventatively and nip the potentially rising concern in the bud.
- Help the body to gain the resources needed to do its own healing. Eg. if there’s also a presentation of insomnia, the lack of sleep will add to the pain/discomfort experienced and lengthen the healing time. This is due to the fact that sleep is ESSENTIAL for the body to recover and rejuvinate its injured and damaged tissues and joints. With TCM acupuncture, once the insomnia is also addressed, there’s quicker and greater healing of the muscles, joints and tissues of concern (eg. in the case of sciatica).
So, if you’re considering acupuncture for your concerns, give it a try! Book your initial consult here (initial acupuncture consults include an assessment as well as a first treatment). If you’re not yet ready and have questions/concerns regarding your case or acupuncture in general, consider booking your 15 minute complementary consult.
Yours In Health,
Dr. Negin Misaghi, ND
