Many people suffer from joint pain and they do so for a variety of reasons. Whether the pain is a result of an ongoing condition such as arthritis, or sudden onset from overuse or injury, pain in joints can be bothersome enough to interrupt daily life and curtail regular exercise and activities.
For some situations, surgery and/or rest may be the only remedy, but for uncomplicated chronic conditions, and when traditional treatments prove ineffective, many joint sufferers have discovered acupuncture as natural way of finding relief.
Through the insertion of tiny, hairfine needles, acupuncture stimulates strategic points in the body, encouraging the nervous system to release natural pain-relieving endorphins to specific areas. Unlike steroid injections, a common treatment for many kinds of joint pain, the acupuncture needles do not necessarily have to be placed into already painful spots to target them. In fact, because pain to one joint might actually be caused by irritation in a different joint, acupuncture utilizes related points along the body’s meridians (lines of energy flow) to reach the source of the pain to achieve overall balance, reduce inflammation, improve blood flow and decrease, and often eliminate, pain.
There is a good deal of research confirming acupuncture’s effectiveness for reducing chronic knee and back pain, as well as general pain due to arthritis inflammation. As more people try this pain relief technique instead of, or in addition to, traditional joint pain relief methods, more research is being done to confirm its efficacy in the treatment of shoulder and hip pain as well. Many are already believers.
The length, frequency and duration of treatment varies by patient and is determined by the severity and type of pain experienced. If you’ve never tried acupuncture for pain relief, the high success rate and low risk associated with this ancient healing method makes it worth checking out. Consider acupuncture as a means of easing pain and improving the function in your joints.