Santa Barbara Acupuncture for Pain - A Good Choice for Alternative Medicine

More and more Americans are choosing Alternative Medicine to deal with problems such as pain and stress relief. In an effort to avoid the operating room or pumping their bodies full of narcotics, many have turned to acupuncture.

According to an investigative report by ABC:

More than 14 million Americans have tried acupuncture, according to the most recent statistics from the National Health Interview Survey, a large ongoing study that tracks healthcare habits in the U.S. The study found that nearly six percent of Americans have allowed themselves to be pricked with dozens of slender needles to help alleviate chronic pain, up from just one percent of patients a decade ago."

Acupuncture is well respected for Pain Relief Therapy

While acupuncture is just now becoming significantly popular among Americans, the tradition has remained largely unchanged for thousands of years. The practice of acupuncture has become so well respected in the field of medicine it is now covered by most health insurance plans, quite a change from the skepticism we saw in the 20th century. In fact, the US military has taken to using acupuncture in pain therapy treatment for wounded warriors.

"Research studies consistently show that acupuncture can be an effective form of pain management, with some studies finding it even more effective than pain-relieving drugs or surgery.

In theory, acupuncture stimulates the body’s meridian points. By easing pressure on these energy-carrying channels, ancient Chinese physicians believed the needles corrected the body’s imbalances by allowing energy or “chi” to flow more freely. Although traditional Western medicine remains skeptical about the idea of chi, Danesh said that many of the meridian points happen to coincide with trigger points, spots on the body where pain radiates away from the center when pressed.

...Meridian points also track closely with major nerve centers, Danesh said. It could be that the needles stimulate the nerves, causing them to release feel-good chemicals known as endorphins. People in pain often have low levels of endorphins, Danesh pointed out, and a release of those endorphins can suppress the sensation of pain."

Alternative Medicine Pain Relief can be your Reality

While acupuncture still has its skeptics, most claim the benefits are strictly psychological. I know acupuncture works. Patients I treat in Santa Barbara, California know acupuncture works for pain relief. Most of them don't care why acupuncture works, so long as it works. The amount of relief they experience is what matters most to them. And the cost empowers patients to make acupuncture work for their lifestyles.

In this article Dr Danesh, director of integrative pain management at Mt Sinai Hospital in New York, shares medical research and theories on why acupuncture works. He also admits, "why acupuncture works", is still a mystery. In the end, like many of my patients, Dr Danesh "doesn't care why it works, so long as it works."

If you have tried clinical medicine without good results, acupuncture for Santa Barbara workers, students, seniors and women may be right for you.

Skeptics walk in, believers walk out. Contact us!

Downtown Community Acupuncture - Healing Space

Source: http://abcnews.go.com/Health/close-acupuncture-pain/story?id=23411898