Acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine have a broad scope of efficacy. Below is a list of conditions successfully treated.

Women’s Health

Menstruation

Acupuncture and Chinese Herbs can help regulate the menstrual flow without the aid of birth control pills by helping to achieve the correct rhythm and flow of the period while working on the endocrine system to restore better hormone function and help symptoms such as:

Not only can acupuncture help with regulating the menstrual cycle but it can help with fertility and those trying to conceive. The inability to get pregnant can be due to unforeseen reasons:

Fertility

For women trying to get pregnant, acupuncture and herbal medicine promote conception by boosting blood flow to the pelvic organs, providing them with better nourishment, normalizing FSH levels, balancing estrogen and progesterone levels, increasing follicle size and improving and strengthening the lining of the uterus; therefore, promoting conception and a healthy, full-term pregnancy.

Acupuncture not only helps the body get ready to be pregnant but helps women relax and de-stress, so their bodies can become pregnant more easily.  Stress causes the sympathetic nervous system to be overstimulated causing blood flow to be diverted away from the ovaries and uterus to the adrenals instead and contributes to a potential inability to become pregnant.

In my Olympia acupuncture clinic I work with men and women trying to conceive up to the point where they decide to use assistive methods.

Menopause

During menopause, acupuncture and herbal medicine can eliminate:

Acupuncture treatments can also minimize osteoporosis and poor mental function by increasing clarity and focus while also treating anxiety and depression often associated with menopause.

Pain Management

Traditional Chinese medicine has been used for thousands of years to treat pain conditions, both acute and chronic. It is effective and safe to use as a stand-alone treatment for pain conditions as well as being used in conjunction with Western medical treatments and medications. There is no adverse interactions with acupuncture and pharmaceuticals.

Acupuncture is a uniquely suited treatment for pain as the needles are able to work on multiple levels simultaneously. As a non-pharmaceutical treatment method, acupuncture is able to provide relief with no side effects.

Herbal medicine may be combined with acupuncture in the treatment of pain. Acupuncture and herbal medicine both help to reduce pain by enhancing circulation, reducing inflammation, relaxing muscles, increasing tissue healing, changing pain perception, and breaking up scar tissue.

Traditional Chinese medicine is a holistic medical system which encourages the body to promote its own natural healing and improve overall function. Acupuncture is a safe, effective procedure for eliminating or reducing pain.

When should someone seek acupuncture for pain?

Common pain conditions that are effectively treated with traditional Chinese medicine

Anxiety

Anxiety disorders constitute the most common type of mental illness in the United States, with approximately 19% of the adult population, or 40 million people, experiencing an anxiety disorder each year.  An estimated 30% of the population experiences an anxiety disorder at some point during their lives. 

As defined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5), anxiety disorders encompass several different conditions including generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, agoraphobia, and social anxiety disorder, among others. Each syndrome has a specific set of defining criteria, but they often share the following signs and symptoms:

While 19% of the population experiences a clinically defined anxiety disorder each year, many more people experience a milder form of anxiety and/or stress, sometimes on a fairly regular basis. This type of anxiety or stress might not fall under a clinical definition of mental illness, but the experience can still affect one’s quality of life.

Non-clinical anxiety

Anxiety is a normal and natural reaction to different types of events or circumstances we might encounter.  For instance, when we are faced with a threat, feelings of anxiety are part of our body’s fight or flight response which is a protective mechanism.  Even sometimes “good” events, such as a wedding or the birth of a child, can cause anxiety or stress. 

If anxiety is proportional to the degree of the problem, ends once the situation has resolved, and is a response to a realistic, not just imagined, situation, it is not a problem that necessarily needs to be treated.  However, seeking help for any type of anxiety can help improve quality of life and the ability to manage the stress more effectively. 

Importantly, when anxiety or stress occurs in the absence of an identifiable event or in response to an imagined problem, seems disproportional to the actual situation, does not go away once the situation has resolved, or affects one’s ability to work or perform daily functions, seeking help is important.

The COVID Pandemic and Mental Health

Recent data indicates that mental illness in general, and stress and anxiety in particular, have increased since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. A national survey by the American Psychiatric Association (APA) found that 36% of Americans say that coronavirus is having a serious impact on their mental health. Fears about contracting the illness, uncertainty about the future, increased isolation, job loss, and financial distress have all contributed to increased anxiety and other mental health problems. Moreover, frontline medical workers are experiencing burnout and increased levels of depression, anxiety and insomnia. These responses are understandable given the severity of the pandemic and the drastic changes to daily life that many people have experienced. Because we will likely be dealing with the pandemic into next year, it is more important than ever to try to find ways to deal with stress and anxiety and improve overall mental health.

Acupuncture for Anxiety and Stress

Traditional Chinese Medicine is individualized medicine that treats each patient according to his or her unique needs.  Treatments are tailored to each patient’s specific signs and symptoms, medical history, constitutional tendencies, and other relevant lifestyle factors.   Thus, two patients who have been diagnosed with Generalized Anxiety Disorder from a Western medicine perspective might receive different diagnoses from a Chinese medicine perspective and thus receive different treatments and advice.  An in-depth discussion of anxiety in Chinese medicine is beyond the scope of this article, but I am happy to discuss it more with anyone who is interested.  What is important is that you will receive a treatment tailored to your distinct condition and needs and not a protocol-based treatment used for everyone with anxiety.

Numerous studies have shown that acupuncture is an effective treatment for anxiety and stress disorders.  One study comparing acupuncture, conventional treatment, and a treatment that integrated acupuncture and talk therapy found that “both the integrative treatment and therapeutic acupuncture significantly, both statistically and clinically, reduced anxiety and depression compared to usual primary care in patients with psychological distress. Moreover, about half of the patients in the integrative and acupuncture groups with initial depression or anxiety achieved significant improvements after treatment.” Another study focused specifically on patients with “chronic, non-responding anxiety symptoms.”  The findings suggest that “acupuncture, using a standardized approach, is an effective tool in the management of patients who present with anxiety symptoms that have proven resistant to a number of other routine interventions.”

Unfortunately, the quality of research in the acupuncture field is variable and more high-quality research is needed, but some systematic reviews also show promising findings in terms of acupuncture as a treatment for anxiety.  For instance, a 2018 systematic review found that although more research is needed, “overall, there is good scientific evidence encouraging acupuncture therapy to treat anxiety disorders as it yields effective outcomes, with fewer side effects than conventional treatment.”

Research has also shed light on how acupuncture might affect the body and reduce anxiety on a physiological level.  For example, acupuncture can improve Heart Rate Variability, which is associated with lower levels of stress and anxiety.  Additionally, acupuncture can stimulate the release of endorphins, which play a role in the body’s stress response. Finally, acupuncture has been shown to affect the nervous system and balance sympathetic and parasympathetic activities to help lessen the body’s fight or flight stress response.

Overall, as research-based evidence reveals, acupuncture is a safe and effective means of treating anxiety and stress.