+1-617-394-8820 contact@baybiosciences.com

Acupuncture Treatment

by | Aug 14, 2023 | Info | 0 comments

Acupuncture Overview

Acupuncture, the practice of treating conditions through triggering certain points on the skin with needles, may help with allergies, migraines, or insomnia. But this ancient Chinese practice isn’t based in science and medicine. Acupuncture has roots in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and is now a common complementary treatment worldwide.

It involves inserting very thin needles into the body at different locations and depths. It aims to balance the life forces known as Qi that are responsible for different health issues.

Acupuncture can help relieve pain and treat a range of other complaints. However, the exact way in which it works remains unclear. Some people believe it works by balancing vital energy, while others believe it has a neurological effect.

The acupuncture procedure involves inserting needles into the body to stimulate sensory nerves in the skin and muscles. This may help treat chronic pain and other physical conditions.

How Acupuncture Works?

Traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) explains that health is the result of a harmonious balance of the complementary extremes of yin and yang of the life force known as Qi, pronounced “chi.” Advocates believe that illness is the consequence of an imbalance of these forces.

According to TCM, Qi flows through meridians, or pathways, in the human body. These meridians and energy flows are accessible through 361 acupuncture points in the body. Inserting needles into these points with appropriate combinations will bring the energy flow back into balance.

A 2017 review suggests that many acupuncture points are at sites where stimulation can affect the activity of multiple sensory neurons. These sites are also known as receptive fields.

The physical stimulation of needle insertion at these sites may affect pain processing in the central nervous system and muscles and increase blood flow to certain parts of the body.

A 2018 meta-analysis of acupuncture’s effect on chronic pain found that the practice can provide pain relief benefits distinguishable from placebo. However, the exact mechanism by which acupuncture works is not clear.

Acupuncture is an ancient Chinese medicine-based approach to treating a variety of conditions by triggering specific points on the skin with needles. Paul Kempisty, licensed acupuncturist with a MS in traditional Oriental medicine, explains, “[Acupuncture is] a minimally invasive method to stimulate nerve-rich areas of the skin surface in order to influence tissues, gland, organs, and various functions of the body.”

“Each acupuncture needle produces a tiny injury at the insertion site, and although it’s slight enough to cause little to no discomfort, it’s enough of a signal to let the body know it needs to respond,” Kempisty says. “This response involves stimulation of the immune system, promoting circulation to the area, wound healing, and pain modulation.” Contemporary research on acupuncture relies mainly on this theory.

Philosophy Behind Acupuncture

The Chinese philosophy behind acupuncture is a bit more complicated, as the ancient practice isn’t traditionally based in science and medicine. “They believed that the human body was filled with and animated by an invisible life-giving force which they called ‘qi’ (pronounced ‘chee’) and when the qi was flowing well and going to all the right places, then a person would experience good mental and physical health. When the qi was flowing incorrectly (blocked or deficient) that would result in illness,” says Kempisty.

The concept of qi isn’t too out there, think of it as your body’s natural inner workings. Sometimes you’re more prone to illness when feeling stressed or anxious. When you’re relaxed and healthy, your body physically reflects that too. After all, your mood, mental health, and general well-being do affect your physical health. Thus, acupuncture aims to assist people in achieving balance, or qi, and, as a result, provide relief for many ailments.

Benefits of Acupuncture

Acupuncture is a common complementary therapy that can help people manage many different conditions.

Benefits of acupuncture include the following:

  • Acupuncture carries a low risk of side effects
  • Effective acupuncture can help manage chronic pain, migraine, and headaches
  • It is a flexible form of treatment that can target numerous health concerns at once 
  • People can effectively combine acupuncture with other treatments

The National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) advises people not to use acupuncture as a replacement for conventional medical help.

Risks of Acupuncture

All therapies come with both risks and benefits. A person should always seek medical advice before undertaking any therapy.

Possible risks of acupuncture are the following:

  • Bleeding, bruising, and soreness may occur at the insertion sites
  • In rare cases, a needle may break and damage an internal organ 
  • Unsterilized needles may lead to infection

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulates acupuncture needles as medical devices. Their manufacture and labeling need to meet certain standards. The needles must be sterile, nontoxic, and labeled “for one use only” by a licensed practitioner.

As with any complementary therapy, it is advisable to use acupuncture alongside conventional treatments in cases of chronic or severe conditions.

Uses of Acupuncture

The NCCIH states that acupuncture can effectively assist in the treatment of:

Other studies suggest that acupuncture can also assist in the treatment of:


Acupuncture Procedure

An acupuncturist will examine a person and assess their condition, insert one or more thin, sterile needles, and offer advice.

Individuals will typically sit or lie down during the procedure. The acupuncturist should use single-use, disposable, sterile needles. People may feel a very brief stinging or tingling sensation upon needle insertion.

They may then experience a dull ache at the base of the needle.

Typically, the needles will stay in place for 20–60 minutes, although this will vary depending on the procedure.

In some practices, the acupuncturist will sometimes heat needles after insertion.

The number of treatments a person will need depends on their individual case. Someone with a chronic condition may need one or two treatments per week over several months. An acute health issue typically improves after 8–12 sessions.

Factors to be Considered

Acupuncture is a complementary therapy and should not take the place of doctor-recommended treatments.

Before undergoing acupuncture to treat chronic pain or other conditions, a person should seek advice from a primary care physician. In some U.S. states, acupuncturists themselves can be primary care physicians.

Summary

Acupuncture is a traditional complementary therapy that has a historic origin in China. It involves inserting small needles to stimulate specific parts of the body and its neural network.

Studies show that acupuncture can help manage chronic pain, headaches, and migraine.

Acupuncture carries little risk of side effects, and practitioners must carry a license to perform acupuncture procedures.

Bay Biosciences is a global leader in providing researchers with high quality, clinical grade, fully characterized human tissue samples, bio-specimens, and human bio-fluid collections.

Samples available include cancer (tumor) tissue, cancer serum, cancer plasma, cancer, peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC). and human tissue samples from most other therapeutic areas and diseases.

Bay Biosciences maintains and manages its own biorepository, the human tissue bank (biobank) consisting of thousands of diseased samples (specimens) and from normal healthy donors available in all formats and types.

Our biobank procures and stores fully consented, deidentified and institutional review boards (IRB) approved human tissue samples and matched controls.

All our human tissue collections, human specimens and human bio-fluids are provided with detailed, samples associated patient’s clinical data.

This critical patient’s clinical data includes information relating to their past and current disease, treatment history, lifestyle choices, biomarkers, and genetic information.

Patient’s data is extremely valuable for researchers and is used to help identify new effective treatments (drug discovery & development) in oncology, and other therapeutic areas and diseases.

Bay Biosciences banks wide variety of human tissue samples and biological samples, including cryogenically preserved at – 80°C.

Including fresh frozen tissue samples, tumor tissue samples, formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE), tissue slides, with matching human bio-fluids, whole blood and blood-derived products such as serum, plasma and PBMC.

Bay Biosciences is a global leader in collecting and providing human tissue samples according to the specified requirements and customized, tailor-made collection protocols.

Please contact us anytime to discuss your special research projects and customized human tissue sample requirements.

Types of Biospecimens

Bay Biosciences provides human tissue samples (human specimens) from diseased and normal healthy donors which includes:

We can also procure most human bio-specimens, special collections and requests for human samples that are difficult to find. All our human tissue samples are procured through IRB-approved clinical protocols and procedures.

In addition to the standard processing protocols, Bay Biosciences can also provide human plasma, serum, and PBMC bio-fluid samples using custom processing protocols; you buy donor-specific collections in higher volumes and specified sample aliquots from us.

Bay Biosciences also provides human samples from normal healthy donors; volunteers, for controls and clinical research, contact us Now.

  • 日本のお客様は、ベイバイオサイエンスジャパンBay Biosciences Japanまたはhttp://baybiosciences-jp.com/contact/までご連絡ください。