Acupuncture can offer great relief to those who are suffering from back pain, especially for people with muscular tightness. If the pain is related to arthritis, herniated disk or systematic inflammation, you will need more frequent acupuncture treatments initially. People who have multiple surgeries in their back, need long term acupuncture treatment to break the scar tissue and restore blood circulation to the surgical area.
Acupuncture, a form of ancient Chinese traditional medicine is very effective for many ailments including back pain, tendonitis, sciatica, TMJ, infertility, anxiety, depression and glaucoma. Acupuncture protocol for back pain will vary, depending upon the cause. If back pain is due to muscle sprain, you will respond to acupuncture treatment even after one treatment. If back pain is due to arthritis or a herniated disk, you will need twice a week treatments for a few weeks, then once a week for another few weeks. The key is that if the back pain involves nerve inflammation and swelling, then it takes a longer time to get rid of inflammation in order to relieve back pain.
How Acupuncture helps to treat Pain
If one decides to try acupuncture, the first point to remember is to go to a trained and qualified acupuncturist with more than 20 years of experience. Plenty of studies have been undertaken regarding the effectiveness of acupuncture in treating all kinds of pain especially back pain and sciatica pain. The energy that has been blocked is released and moves through the nervous, muscular, circulatory and digestive systems of the body. By inserting needles at the acupuncture points, the nervous system is stimulated to release different kinds of natural pain killers in the spinal cord, brain and muscles. The endorphins, serotonin and dopamine can change how people feel pain. For instance, if you have a higher level of endorphins and serotonin, you will feel less pain with the exact same kind of disc or joint problems. That is why athletes and happy people can tolerate more pain than regular people. Acupuncture can also reduce inflammation in the nerves, blood vessels and joints to reduce pain. If a person has diabetes, she may experience more pain because of poor circulation and general inflammation in the body. Acupuncture for back pain can also relax the muscles in the back and other areas to relieve pressure on the nerves.
When people are suffering from back pain, they tend to go to a physical therapist or chiropractor first because insurance pays for those services. When people sprain muscles, their back muscles are in a very tight condition. Acupuncture can quickly relieve spasms, so nerve swelling will go down. If they start physical therapy or chiropractic treatment first, the muscle spasms and nerve irritation can get worse. When your muscles are tight, it is difficult to manipulate the joints. The best way to get rid of back pain is to have acupuncture first. Once the pain is gone, you can stretch or strengthen the back muscles with PT or ask a chiropractor to re-align the back joints.