Acupuncture
What is Acupuncture?
This treatment is rooted in traditional Chinese medicine: acupuncture is a needle insertion technique that is highly effective in promoting healing, decreasing pain, and increasing overall functions. The needle points are selected with a focus on the restoration of your body’s nervous system balance and inhibiting pain pathways.
Physiotherapists use acupuncture for the treatment of musculoskeletal pain by combining their knowledge of acupuncture with learned anatomy, physiology and pathophysiology.
How Does It Work?
In traditional Chinese medicine, the network of the meridians, which run up and down the human body carrying life-energy known as “Qi” (pronounced “Chee”), plays an important role in the diagnosis and treatment of one’s bodily issues. By applying acupuncture to certain points, It is thought to improve the flow of “Qi”, thereby improving overall health.
In western medicine, the stimulation of acupuncture points along this meridian sends new sensory messages along nerves to the brain, activating control centers and the nervous system. Acupuncture has a natural analgesic effect and releases endorphins which people with chronic pain have been found to have low levels of in their spinal fluid. These levels rise after treatment.
Acupuncture treatment
Acupuncture has a solid scientific basis; it has been proved to stimulate the endorphin system, and the wide ranging effects of these peptides may account for many of acupuncture’s clinical effects, other than analgesia, which have been documented throughout the world.
The response rate to acupuncture treatment is high, especially in patients with pain of musculoskeletal origin or headaches. The complication and side effect rate is extremely low. Both these facts make acupuncture a desirable treatment of first choice in some conditions, rather than a last desperate attempt to help the patient when all else has failed.
Dr. Linda M. Rapson
Acupuncture: A Useful Treatment Modality
Can Fam Physician Vol 30: January 1984 pg 109 – 115
Benefits
There are many benefits to acupuncture with the main one being that it allows the painless relief of someone’s symptoms without the need for drugs. It also improves the balance of bodily energies leading to the prevention of illness, and the elimination of the presented problem.
Because acupuncture stimulates the central nervous system and releases endorphins It is known to reduce stress, give you energy, boost your immune system, relieve headaches, and help you sleep.
What Conditions Will Acupuncture Help With?
Acupuncture can help with many different conditions or disorders within the body, and a registered acupuncturist will be able to use acupuncture to help the following:
- Mental Emotional: anxiety, depression, stress
- Sleep disorders: Insomnia, sleep apnea
- Disorders of the mouth and eyes
- Gastro-intestinal disorders
- Respiratory disorders
- and more…
As physiotherapists, we use acupuncture on our patients as a modality for musculoskeletal pain relief only whether that be chronic or acute pain.
Some conditions physiotherapists use acupuncture for are:
- Chronic pain
- Migraines and headaches
- TMJ Disorders
- Osteoarthritis
- Sciatica
A Note on Needles
To reduce the possibility of infection from acupuncture, all needles are sterilized, one-time-use needles made of surgical stainless-steel. There are many different brands of acupuncture needles, our clinic normally uses TeWa acupuncture needles which are coated with a micro-layer of medical-grade FDA approved silicone which reduces friction on insertion, enabling practitioners to reach target depth while minimizing patient discomfort.
After each treatment they are disposed of as medical waste, and your physiotherapist has had training in clean needle technique/disposal.
Case Studies
Case Study: Acupuncture for Chronic Condition
A patient who is very active and enjoys running and biking developed a slight bunion (hallux valgus) which caused enough pain in their big toe to prevent them doing the things they loved.
Although acupuncture couldn’t fix their hallux valgus, it does give them sufficient ongoing pain relief to allow them to continue running and hiking.
The patient’s maintenance treatment is scheduled for every 3 to 4 weeks and that is working well.
Case Study: Acupuncture for Acute Injury
The patient rolled their ankle and fell a few days ago. Their treatment included ultrasound and laser locally on the ankle to reduce the swelling.
Acupuncture was used on their hands and around both ankles and knees to reduce pain and speed up the healing process. Note: In some cases treating the same area on the other side will help with pain as well. So if the patient rolled their left ankle, needles can be used on their right ankle to achieve pain reduction.
Dry Needling and IMS
Intramuscular Stimulation, also known as Gunn IMS, is a needle technique based on the work of Dr. Chan Gunn, president of the Institute for the Study and Treatment of Pain (ISTOP). It uses a fine, flexible needle to treat peripheral nerve dysfunction, which causes pain and altered function. This nerve dysfunction results in tender and shortened muscle bands causing pain in muscles, tendons, their connective tissue attachments, and joints. Unlike acupuncture, needles are inserted directly into the source of the pain in the muscle to release tension and are immediately removed. These nerve dysfunctions are detected by performing a full musculoskeletal examination, and IMS is offered when appropriate.
Learn more about the differences between acupuncture and IMS
Acupuncture with Electric Stimulation
Electro-acupuncture is a modern variation of acupuncture that utilizes electricity to enhance the benefits of this ancient treatment. Acupuncture needles are still placed in the same spots but unlike traditional acupuncture, small clips are attached to the needles which connect to a machine that produces a small amount of electricity.
When you get electro-acupuncture, it activates your sympathetic nerve fibers. By activating these fibers, your body releases chemical hormones such as endorphins, which help to reduce inflammation. The activated nerve fibers may also help to reduce feelings of persistent pain. This makes it a good treatment for chronic pain and stress
Acupuncture FAQ
Is an Acupuncture Treatment Painful?
Typically acupuncture is not painful. Acupuncture needles are very thin, many people don’t feel the insertion of the needle at all and if they do the discomfort is minor. The needles can cause temporary soreness at the site of needle insertion.
What to Expect
All bodies are different and people will experience different things depending on the body and the condition. Some people obtain relief immediately, some notice improvements after a few hours, or a few days. Some may even require several treatments before responding, and some do not respond at all.
Occasionally symptoms can become worse before they improve, this usually lasts only 1 – 2 days. You can continue to take pain pills or other medications as directed by your doctor.
Before Your Treatment:
- Have a light meal
- No alcohol, barbiturates or tranquilizers for 4 hours before treatment
- Do not smoke tobacco for 1 hour before treatment
- Be well rested, if possible
After Your Treatment:
- Rest for 2 hours after you get home, if possible
- Avoid strenuous activity for two days after treatment, even if you are pain-free
- Do not drink any alcohol or caffeine for 2 hours after treatment
- Do not smoke tobacco for 1 hour after treatment
Treatment Cost
If you are coming in privately, we charge $115 for the initial assessment followed by subsequent sessions at $110. This can be directly billed to extended health insurance under your physiotherapy coverage.
As this is more of a specialty treatment our physiotherapists provide, we have a user fee of $30 per session if you are coming in under an ICBC claim. This is paid out of pocket and cannot be refunded by ICBC.
How many sessions are needed?
The number of treatments required varies with each person and condition. Our clinic recommends receiving acupuncture for at least 4 – 6 sessions to see improvement. An average of 10 sessions along with a home rehabilitation program will frequently result in dramatic progress.
After a car accident ICBC will cover up to 12 Acupuncture treatments – Learn more about ICBC Coverage & Acupuncture Treatment
Take the next steps to feeling better…
If you have questions about whether this treatment is right for you please give us a call (604) 474-1276
