There are many ways to treat diseases, but the most common for us humans is to go to the doctor and be prescribed some kind of medication or being referred to other specialists, who they believe can help us solve our problems. Finding the right treatment can be confusing sometimes, but what if the solution was a treatment that didn't involve medication? Acupuncture might be the answer, but like anything new and unfamiliar, most people think: "How can those thin needles solve my problem?". It's a good question, and we will try to answer it in this blog post.
The many benefits of acupuncture
Acupuncture is part of traditional Chinese medicine and is considered to be a holistic approach to health and healing. It is a treatment that uses thin needles to activate specific points on the body, helping to strengthen the immune system, improve energy levels and promote well-being. Most people who have tried regular acupuncture treatments have experienced relief and improvement in their symptoms. The question is, what kind of issues can acupuncture be used for?Â
Acupuncture is recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a sustainable, human-centered, safe, evidence-based, traditional and complementary medical service. Today, WHO recommends acupuncture for more than 100 different diseases and conditions.
Here is a list of symptoms, conditions and diseases that have been shown in controlled studies to be effectively treated with acupuncture:
Side effects of radiotherapy and/or chemotherapy
Allergic rhinitis (including hay fever)
Biliary colic
DepressionÂ
Dysentery, acute bacillary (gastrointestinal infection)
Menstrual pain
Acute epigastric pain (in peptic ulcer, acute and chronic gastritis and gastrospasm)
Facial pain (including craniomandibular disorders)
Headache
Hypertension, essential
Hypotension, primary
Induction of labor
Knee pain
Leukopenia
Low back pain
Fetal malposition, correction of
Morning sickness
Nausea and vomiting
Neck pain
Dental pain (including dental pain)
Temporomandibular dysfunction (TMD)Â
Periarthrosis of the shoulder (frozen shoulder)
Post-operative pain
Renal colic
Rheumatoid arthritis (chronic inflammatory joint disease)
Sciatica
Sprain
Stroke (blood clot in the brain)
Tennis elbow
List of diseases, symptoms or conditions for which WHO recommends acupuncture as a proven therapeutic effect, although more evidence is needed:
Abdominal pain (in acute gastroenteritis or due to gastrointestinal tract spasms)
Acne
Alcohol dependence and detoxification
Bell's palsy (half-sided facial paralysis)
Bronchial asthmaÂ
Cancer pain
Cardiac neurosis
Cholecystitis, chronic, with acute exacerbation
Gallstone disease (including gallbladder inflammation or jaundice)
Competitive stress syndrome
Craniocerebral injury, closed
Type 2 diabetes
Earache
Epidemic hemorrhagic fever
Nosebleed, simple (without generalized or localized disease)
Eye pain due to subconjunctival injection
Female infertility
Spasms in the face
Urethral syndrome in women
Fibromyalgia and fasciitis (inflammation of the tendon)
Gastrokinetic disorder
Gouty arthritis
Hepatitis B virus carrier status
Herpes zoster (human (alpha) herpes virus 3)
Hyperlipemia (metabolic disorder)
Hypo-ovarianism (ovarian hypoplasia)
Insomnia (sleeplessness)
Labor pains
Lack of lactation (decreased milk production in women)Â
Male sexual dysfunction, non-organic
Ménière's disease (attacks of ringing in the ears, severe dizziness and hearing loss)
Nerve pain, post-herpetic
Eczema
Obesity (overweight)
Opium, cocaine and heroin addiction
Osteoarthritis
Pain due to endoscopic examination
Pain due to thromboangiitis obliterans (Buerger's disease)
Polycystic ovary syndrome (Stein-Leventhal syndrome)
Post-textubation in children
Postoperative convalescence
Premenstrual syndrome (PMS)
Prostatitis, chronic (Inflammation of the prostate)
Pruritus (Itching of the skin)
Radicular and pseudoradicular pain syndrome
Raynaud's syndrome, primary
Recurrent lower urinary tract infection
Reflex sympathetic dystrophy
Urinary retention, traumatic
Schizophrenia
Sialism, drug-induced
Sjögren's syndrome
Sore throat (incl. laryngitis)
Pain in the spine, acute
Stiff neck
Temporomandibular joint dysfunction
Tietze syndrome (an irritation condition of the rib cartilage)
Tobacco addiction
Tourette's syndrome
Ulcerative colitis, chronic (Bleeding colon inflammation)
Urolithiasis (Kidney stones)
Vascular dementia
Whooping cough (pertussis)
List of diseases, symptoms or conditions for which individual controlled trials have shown therapeutic efficacy. WHO recommends acupuncture for these when treatment with conventional and other therapies is difficult:
Melasma (pigment changes in the skin)
Choroidopathy, central serous
Color blindness
Deafness
Hypophrenia
Irritable bowel syndrome
Neuropathic bladder due to spinal cord injury
Pulmonary heart disease, chronic
Small airway obstruction
Acupuncture is not a miracle cure, but many people have found relief and improved quality of life through this treatment. It is important to talk to a professional acupuncturist before receiving acupuncture, so they can create an individualized treatment plan to suit your needs and condition. No human bodies are the same, so their treatments should not be either.