What is Acupuncture?
Acupuncture is a Chinese art of medicine dating back to thousands of years in China and other parts of east Asia.
Chinese medicine states that an illness is due to an imbalance in the body’s energy. This energy is known as Qi.
Qi runs throughout the body by way of channels and meridians that run both superficially & deep.
Acupuncture promotes the free flow of the body's Qi (energy) to bring the body into it's natural balance.
How Can Acupuncture Help You?
Acupuncture is for almost everyone. The great thing is, you don’t even necessarily need to be unwell to benefit from acupuncture. Acupuncture can be effective in preventing the severity of colds and flues, muscle tension, cramping & other minor problems associated with everyday life.
Acupuncture can also treat specific disorders to relieve symptoms and reduce recurrence. It can also be used for maintenance treatments of a long-term condition.
Do Acupuncture Needles Hurt?
No. When using proper placement techniques, you should not feel any pain. You may feel a slight tingling or heaviness after they are inserted. This is a very common and encouraged sign.
Acupuncture needles are extremely thin and solid unlike injection needles, which are hollow. The main reason that a drug injection needle hurts is not due to the needle, but rather the pressure of the liquid drug entering your body.
At PhysioWorks, we only use single use, individually wrapped and sterilized needles that we discard immediately after use.
Can Children Have Acupuncture Treatment?
Yes. Older children are usually comfortable with acupuncture. However for small children or patients who fear needles, needle acupuncture is not recommended. Laser acupuncture is an alternative for these patients.
Laser acupuncture therapy is the use of a high frequency laser light to stimulate acupuncture points. Children respond well to both acupuncture and laser therapy as their energy is close to the surface and responds rapidly to treatment.
How Much Acupuncture Treatment Will You Need?
The response to acupuncture treatment varies from person to person. Generally for recent injuries or current conditions, only a few acupuncture treatments are needed in a short space of time.
Chronic conditions involving severe pain, or conditions that have been drawn out, may require some intense initial treatment followed by ongoing treatment on a monthly or six-weekly cycle may to simply maintain your improvement.
There are also additional methods that can be used for long term suffers such as “tense”. This is the use of a small electric current used in conjunction with the needle for stronger results.
Obviously, your treatment schedule will vary depending on your condition. For more specific discussion, you are best consulting your acupuncture practitioner.
Can Acupuncture Be Used in Combination with Modern Medicine?
Yes, acupuncture does not interfere with existing drug therapy. People seeking physiotherapy, massage and other modalities often combine their treatments with acupuncture for greater recovery time and better mobility.
What Conditions Does Acupuncture Help?
Acupuncture is now officially recognised as an effective treatment for pain.
The main reason behind its success appears to be related to chronic pain patterns. The establishment of chronic pain patterns occurs within a few months of an injury.
Once established, these pain patterns are difficult to reverse by other conservative treatment techniques. Acupuncture is often very useful in breaking this pain cycle.
In particular, acupuncture is useful when other forms of traditional western treatments have failed to fully eliminate your pain. In our experience, acupuncture is very useful in the relief of:
- Back Pain
- Neck Pain
- Shoulder Pain
- Knee Pain
- Sciatica
- Headaches
- Muscle & Joint Pain
- Infertility
- Pregnancy Related Symptoms
- Breech Babies
- Natural Labour Induction
For more advice please ask your acupuncture practitioner.
Most Private health funds offer rebates on acupuncture treatments.
More info about: PhysioWorks Acupuncture in Brisbane
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