What can acupuncture treat?

Acupuncture is an ancient system of medicine that diagnoses based on the whole person, considering individual symptoms, lifestyle, personal constitution, subjective and objective data to make a pattern diagnosis. Treatment is individualized to the patient based on this diagnosis.

Acupuncture therefore treats a wide variety of patterns. While acupuncture can help alleviate symptoms of many common Western diseases, acupuncture cannot treat Western diseases. In Traditional Chinese medicine, Western disease can take many different patterns; this is what we consider when offering treatment.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has acknowledged acupuncture as an effective treatment for many health conditions, including:

• Respiratory: allergic rhinitis

• Gastrointestinal: biliary colic, dysentery, epigastric pain, morning sickness, nausea and vomiting

• Pain: facial pain, headache, knee pain, low back pain, neck pain, dental and TMJ pain, periarthritis of the shoulder, postoperative pain, rheumatoid arthritis, sciatica, sprain, tennis elbow

• Gynecologic: primary dysmenorrhea, induction of labor, correction of malposition of fetus

• Cardiovascular: hypertension, hypotension, sequalae of stroke​                                                    

• Psychiatric: depression

• General: adverse reactions to radiotherapy and/or chemotherapy, leukopenia

The WHO acknowledges therapeutic effect of acupuncture, but further evidence is needed:

• Respiratory: asthma, whooping cough

• Ear, nose, throat, eyes and mouth: eye pain, epistaxis (nose bleeds), herpes zoster, Meniere's disease, sore throat, Sjogren syndrome

• Gastrointestinal: cholecystitis, cholelithiasis, gastrokinetic disturbance, ulcerative colitis

• Neuro-psychiatric: anxiety, Bell's palsy, depression, facial spasm, neuralgia, dementia, schizophrenia, Tourette’s syndrome

• Pain: abdominal pain, cancer pain, earache, fibromyalgia, gouty arthritis, osteoarthritis, radicular pain, spinal pain, pain due to endoscopic examination, stiff neck, temporomandibular joint dysfunction (TMJD), Tietze syndrome

• Skin: acne vulgaris, neurodermatitis, pruritus

• Gynecological/renal: female infertility, hypoovarianism, labor pain, overactive bladder, PCOS, PMS, UTI

• Male sexual dysfunction: prostatitis, bladder infections, recurrent UTI, urolithiasis, retention of urine

• Cardiovascular: cardiac neurosis, hyperlipemia, pain in Thromboangiitis, Raynaud's syndrome

• General: alcohol and opioid dependence, competition stress syndrome, craniocerebral injury, diabetes (non-insulin dependent), obesity, insomnia, lactation deficiency, post operative convalescence, tobacco dependence

https://holistic-health.org.uk/world-health-organisation-recommends-acupuncture-100-conditions/

Tori loves treating:

• Mental health and emotional trauma

• Headaches

• Tremor and neuropathy

• Insomnia

• Pain

• Gastrointestinal issues

Can I receive acupuncture if I’m already being treated for my condition?

Yes! Acupuncture is a wonderful supplementary modality and has been shown to promote beneficial outcomes alongside conventional treatments for many conditions, more so than conventional treatment alone.

Is acupuncture safe?

Yes. Acupuncture is performed with sterile, solid, single use needles. The risk of infection from acupuncture is extremely low, and even lower when Clean Needle Technique measures are put in place. Victoria is Clean Needle technique certified through the Council of Colleges of Acupuncture and Herbal Medicine (CCAHM).

Additionally, acupuncturists undergo 2,400 hours of training with focus on local anatomy and cautions and contraindications of acupuncture and supplementary modalities regarding body types, health conditions, and medication interactions.

We place our utmost care is conducting Chinese Medicine safely.

How does acupuncture work?

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, Acupuncture works by directing the flow if Qi in the body to promote correct energy flow, organ function, and health.

Many studies have been done and are still being conducted to find the mechanism of action of acupuncture. Theories suggest:

• Acupuncture influences the fascia network which stimulates the body’s immune response to promote healing

• Acupuncture promotes local circulation to an area resulting in less inflammation and improved healing time

• Acupuncture helps relieve pain by releasing endorphins from the skin

Acupuncture is an accepted course of treatment around the world.

How long is an acupuncture course of treatment?

The answer is as it usually is in Chinese medicine: it depends. And for good reason. Your individualized course of treatment will depend on how chronic your condition is, lifestyle factors that may be contributing towards it, personal constitution, frequency of treatments, and how well a person responds to the energy medicine of acupuncture. A typical course of treatments ranges from 6-12 sessions.

If you have any questions or want to schedule a brief consultation, please email us at victoria@turningpoint-acu.com.