Acupuncture can help treat anxiety and panic attacks

by urban-acupuncture | Apr 1, 2020 | Acupuncture

Understanding Anxiety and Panic, and How Acupuncture Can Help 

Let’s face it: modern life is stressful. Navigating a busy schedule, managing responsibilities at work, keeping up with the bills: it’s no wonder that we always seem to feel stressed. For most of us, this type of stress comes and goes over time, without really interfering with our ability to get through the day. Yet for some individuals, feelings of stress, anxiety, and panic are more than a temporary response to a specific stressor. Instead, the feelings of anxiety and panic actually grow stronger over time, even when the source of the anxiety seems to have faded. 

If you suffer from excessive worry or anxiety or experience frequent panic or recurrent panic attacks, you know just how difficult it can be to cope with even normal activities such as school or a job. Even everyday social interactions or managing a relationship can be challenging. And anxiety and panic don’t simply impact your emotional well-being; it can undermine your physical health as well, causing physical discomfort and symptoms such as shortness of breath, elevated heart rate or chest pain, muscle tension, dizziness, trembling and/or numbness in the fingers and toes, and nausea.  

Standard treatment for anxiety disorder and panic disorder varies greatly from individual to individual, depending on the severity of disorder and each individual’s unique physical and psychological health and well-being. Traditional treatment approaches usually involve some combination of therapy and medications such as antidepressants. Increasingly, however, many medical practitioners are recognizing that traditional Chinese medicine, such as acupuncture, may also play a role in treating anxiety and panic disorders. For some individuals, regular acupuncture treatments alone can relieve anxiety and enable them to manage both physical and emotional symptoms; for others, acupuncture may work best when combined with therapy and/or medications. 

How Acupuncture Works for Anxiety and Panic 

Acupuncture is premised on the belief that many mental health concerns, as well as many physical ailments, are brought about by an imbalance in our vital life energy (chi or qi). When our body and our mind are in balance, our chi flows freely through energy channels called meridians. If our body is not in balance, chi becomes blocked or congested.  

The root of anxiety and/or panic disorders can also be described as an imbalance between the sympathetic nervous system, our “fight or flight” response, and the parasympathetic nervous system, our “rest and recover” response. For individuals suffering from anxiety and panic, the “fight or flight” response controlled by the sympathetic nervous system takes over, while the “rest and recover” response controlled by the parasympathetic system is stifled.   

Acupuncture helps relieve anxiety and panic by addressing this fundamental imbalance in the body, restoring the proper flow of chi along the body’s meridians and enabling the “rest and recover” response to appropriately counter the “fight or flight” response. A licensed acupuncturist will place small, sterile needles at the appropriate points along the body’s meridians, known as acupuncture points; for anxiety, for instance, the acupuncture points are usually believed to be the breastbone, between the eyebrows, and/or along the insides of the wrists. And while it can sounds scary, when done properly, the treatment is not painful and should not hurt; in fact, most patients find it both soothing and relaxing!   

If you suffer from anxiety, panic attacks, or anxiety or panic disorder, how do you know if acupuncture is right for you? The first step is to talk to your doctor. Acupuncture is generally considered to be risk-free for most people, when performed by an accredited, licensed acupuncturist, so many practitioners may encourage you to incorporate it into your comprehensive treatment plan. And while it may not be appropriate as a stand-alone approach, many patients do feel the relaxing impact of acupuncture immediately. If you think acupuncture might help you cope with anxiety and stress, we encourage you to contact Urban Acupuncture Center to schedule your appointment today.   

For more information about how acupuncture, massage therapy and other treatments can help you, please contact the Urban Acupuncture Center Board Certified Licensed Acupuncturist’s team at Indianola Ave, Clintonville (614) 725-2488    |    Main St, Westerville (614) 426-4406 or  click here. Taking new patients in and around greater Columbus, Ohio.

Acupuncture May Help Treat the Flu 

by urban-acupuncture | Mar 1, 2020 | Acupuncture

Alternative Flu Treatment

The flu (short for influenza) is a potentially serious illness caused by the influenza virus. Although the flu is commonly confused with “the common cold”, a “cold” is caused by a bacterial infection; a cold may come on slowly and is not severe or dangerous (although colds are certainly unpleasant). The flu, on the other hand, usually comes on quite suddenly and if left untreated with anti-viral medications, can lead to dangerous, and even fatal, complications.  

The most common symptoms of the flu can include: 

• Fever 
• Feeling feverish or experiencing chills 
• Cough 
• Congestion/runny and/or stuffy nose 
• Sore throat 
• Headaches 
• Fatigue/exhaustion 
• Body or muscle aches 

The Best Defense against the Flu is a Great Offence 

The old saying is “the best defense is a great offense”, and when it comes to the flu, the old saying really is true. The best way to handle the flu is to avoid it altogether! And the best way to prevent ourselves from getting sick is to ensure that the body is healthy and well-balanced in order to be better able to fight invading, illness-causing viruses. Studies have shown that a regular regime of acupuncture treatments before and during flu season can help prevent illness by boosting your immune system for up to three days, stimulating hormonal homeostasis (balance), and reducing fatigue and stress that can undermine the body’s ability to self-heal.  

If you do begin to feel sick and think you might be developing the flu despite regular acupuncture treatments (after all, nothing works 100% when it comes to preventing the flu), it’s important to take proactive steps immediately! When performed before flu symptoms have really set in (usually within the first 24 hours), acupuncture has been shown to potentially mitigate and even shorten active symptoms. For example, acupuncture can help relieve sinus pressure, nasal congestion, and sinus headaches, relieve the discomfort of a sore throat, reduce body aches, and help speed up the process of killing harmful toxins and viruses.  

However, for the health and safety of our practitioners and other patients (some of whom may be immuno-compromised), we ask that you do not come for acupuncture treatment if you have a fever and/or an active cough. Once flu symptoms set in, we encourage you to visit your primary care physician quickly for anti-viral medications, especially if symptoms persist or become serious.  

Acupuncture Boosts the Efficacy of Flu Treatment 

Several recent studies support the idea that an acupuncture treatment at the onset of flu symptoms, when combined with anti-viral medications such as Tamiflu, can help decrease the severity and the duration of flu symptoms. These studies, performed at Taizhou Municipal Hospital and Nanjing University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, indicated that when administered within the first 24 hours of symptom onset, in conjunction with antivirals administered within the same time frame, can improve the ability of the body to identify and target the influenza virus, increase serum interferon levels, and most critically, reduce the occurrence of flu-related fatalities.  

Acupuncture can’t cure the flu, unfortunately. However, acupuncture can play a vital role in keeping your body healthy by promoting your body’s own self-healing mechanisms, which can help prevent you from getting the flu to begin with. And if you think you might have the flu: don’t delay! An acupuncture treatment before the full onset of symptoms can help you feel better, and feel better faster! 

For more information about how acupuncture, massage therapy and other treatments can help you, please contact the Urban Acupuncture Center Board Certified Licensed Acupuncturist’s team at Indianola Ave, Clintonville (614) 725-2488    |    Main St, Westerville (614) 426-4406 or  click here. Taking new patients in and around greater Columbus, Ohio.