4 Tips for Choosing the Right Acupuncture NC Practitioner

When you’re searching for acupuncture NC clinics, keep in mind that not all practitioners are the same. Experience, education and even general methods and ways of practicing can affect how comfortable you feel during your sessions and how effective the treatment turns out to be.

Here are four things to keep in mind when searching for the right acupuncture professional:

#1: Ask about their experience treating a specific condition

Most, if not all, acupuncturists will know how to deal with general issues such as aches and pains, smoking cessation, and chronic fatigue syndrome. But if you need help with a particular problem – such as side effects of chemotherapy treatment or women’s reproductive health issues – you might want to look for a practitioner who understands that specific issue:

Ideally, you want somebody who has worked with those conditions before and already knows the best treatment course for them.
Your second best option is an acupuncture practitioner with a great deal of experience, who knows how to research treatment for specific issues and is willing and open to working with you.

#2: Find out about their educational background

It’s true that many acupuncture NC practitioners learn through hands-on experience, but that doesn’t mean that their education and licensure background are any less important. In fact, well-educated acupuncturists are also likely to know a lot about Chinese medicine, herbal medicine and other complimentary theories. Many pursue additional certifications or even degrees in those areas, making them well-rounded professionals.

The highest level of training currently available results in the title of Licensed Acupuncturist (LAc). In order to become an LAc, an acupuncture NC practitioner will need a minimum of 1800 hours (and up to 2400 hours, depending on the state) of coursework and clinical training.

#3: Beware of medical professionals offering acupuncture as an afterthought

There are no standardized educational requirements to become an acupuncturist. In fact, it’s possible to obtain a basic certification as one in as little as 100 hours. This is why many chiropractors or other professionals involved in the medical profession sometimes offer acupuncture as an additional service in their practices. The problem with this, however, is that you’ll be receiving treatment from somebody who doesn’t specialize in acupuncture – and as a result might not have the experience or knowledge needed to treat certain conditions.

To be safe, always inquire about the educational background of anybody offering acupuncture services.

#4: Inquiry about styles

Another thing to keep in mind when searching for an acupuncture NC clinic is to look at the type of acupuncture being offered. While traditional Chinese acupuncture might be the best-known form of acupuncture, some practitioners specialize in:

Japanese style acupuncture
Scalp acupuncture, or
Ear acupuncture.

While each type focuses on very different treatment points, there is another important difference to keep in mind: some types of acupuncture are more effective than others for treating certain conditions.

For example, ear acupuncture has long been considered highly effective for functional disorders, weight loss, smoking cessation and the treatment of conditions related to the nervous system. Traditional Chinese acupuncture is usually the right choice if you’re searching for pain treatment or to control certain symptoms or side effects, such as nausea connected to chemotherapy treatments.

5 Reasons to Consider Acupuncture for Depression

Acupuncture and depression have been closely linked for many years. In fact, the use of acupuncture to treat depression, anxiety, and other mood disorders is becoming increasingly popular because of research supporting its efficacy. Here are 5 reasons why you should consider acupuncture as part of your treatment for depression:

#1: It’s Customizable – No “One Size Fits All”

A recent article published in the Medical Acupuncture journal pointed to the fact that part of the reason acupuncture is so effective in treating depression is that practitioners are able to customize treatment, selecting the best acupuncture points based on the symptoms of the patient, as well as his or her level of disharmony and imbalance.

#2: Acupuncture is Complementary

In addition to customizability, some experts are now finding that adding acupuncture to the scope of treatment might provide faster and more effective results than just using drugs alone to treat the problem. This makes it a complementary treatment, which means it supports the efficacy of the drugs used instead of the patient having to rely purely on one treatment or the other.

An example of this was research conducted at York University with patients who were using drugs and therapy or drugs and acupuncture or medication alone to treat their depression. They found that those receiving either acupuncture or therapy reported a higher level of improvement that lasted up to six months. The level of improvement in patients just taking medication was lower.

#3: Research is Promising

In 2008, Intervention Review looked at seven different studies and trials comprising over 500 patients using acupuncture to treat depression. This was an important systemic review because it allowed researchers to compare outcomes and weigh differences among patients, severity of depression, and whether depression returned after treatment stopped or the results were long-lasting.

The results? The researchers, although they were unconvinced of the efficacy of acupuncture, noted that medication did not seem more effective than acupuncture treatments when it came to results – which technically signals that acupuncture could provide relief in certain cases.

#4: It’s Safe and Has No Side Effects

It’s important to note that acupuncture is considered safe and produces almost no side effects in most cases. This means it could be easily added to current treatment without having to give up medication, therapy or any other form of traditional action being used to address mood disorders.

#5: Experts Support the Use of Acupuncture for Depression

While the current research has not been enough to change the status quo, many researchers and proponents of natural medicine do back acupuncture as an effective complementary treatment for depression.

For example, a small study (19 participants) published in the Complementary Therapies in Medicine journal looked into the use of acupuncture to treat patients with mild to moderate levels of depression.

During the study, participants received either traditional acupuncture (where specific points connected to mood and the brain were targeted) or sham acupuncture (where needles were either applied superficially or applied to random points across the body)

By the end of 12 sessions, participants receiving acupuncture reported improvements in quality of life, depressive symptoms and level/intensity of depression. While the trial was very small, the researchers pointed out that it was conducted under strict supervision and following all proper protocols – making it a great guide to help design and conduct larger randomized controlled trials in the future.

Why Acupuncture for Anxiety is a Promising Treatment

The use of acupuncture for anxiety is nothing new, but researchers are now discovering that this ancient art might be more effective than first thought in the treatment of mood disorders.

Why Anxiety is Difficult to Treat

Anxiety has always been a difficult condition to treat because of how many variations of it you can find. For example, some people only experience anxiety occasionally, under certain circumstances or caused by very specific triggers. Others live stressful lives and deal with anxiety on an almost daily basis. This is in addition to specific anxiety disorders such as social anxiety disorder, general anxiety disorder (GAD), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and more.

Symptoms of Anxiety

Also, anxiety doesn’t present with the same symptoms for everyone. Some cases of anxiety are mild, causing just general discomfort, while others might lead to:

irregular heartbeat
restlessness
fear
negative thoughts

It’s also possible for people to also develop anxiety in conjunction with other mood disorders, such as depression.

While treating anxiety effectively presents many challenges to doctors, the use of acupuncture for anxiety might offer some general relief as an add-on treatment or when other forms of treatment have failed.

Studies and Research

Many studies have been conducted in the use of acupuncture for anxiety. One of the most recent ones, published in the Journal of Endocrinology in 2013, found that acupuncture decreased the release of stress hormone in the brain, helping fight chronic anxiety and stress. A study review, published in the CNSNeuroscience and Therapeutics journal, examined a number of research therapies and studies, and found that acupuncture can be just as effective as cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) in the treatment of anxiety. This is an important conclusion, as CBT has long been considered one of the most effective non-drug treatments for chronic anxiety.

The Final Word

Acupuncture also relieves the symptoms of two other disorders connected to anxiety: depression and chronic stress. Because all three issues are closely connected, an acupuncturist might decide to address all of them during your sessions, hoping the relief of one of them will positively affect the others. One thing to keep in mind when using acupuncture for anxiety is that not every acupuncturist will necessarily target the same points. In addition, different people might require different forms of anxiety treatment depending on the root of the problem. It’s the job of the acupuncturist to figure out the underlying issues (from the perspective of Traditional Chinese Medicine) so that he or she can administer the most appropriate treatment.

Whatever the reason behind your anxiety, using different treatment strategies, including possibly acupuncture, is more likely to help than using a single strategy, or not seeking help at all.

Using Acupuncture to Induce Labor

In Asia, traditional medicine practitioners have been using acupuncture to induce labor for centuries. In Western countries, however, it’s a relatively new experience for women – but one that deserves a closer look, especially if your due date has come and gone and you’re looking for ways to help the baby along.

What the Experts Say

One of the most comprehensive assessments of acupuncture to induce labor was conducted in 2008. A systematic review published in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews looked into three different studies to determine whether acupuncture can indeed induce labor and/or lead to cervical opening in pregnant women. All of the women who participated in the studies were in their third trimester and either very close to or past their due date.

While the studies analyzed were small and more research is required to confirm the findings, the Cochrane study found that women using acupuncture required less medical help and less use of technical induction methods to start labor than women relying only on traditional care.

Even more important, perhaps, is the fact that the review found no adverse effects of the use of acupuncture to induce labor. This means even if it doesn’t benefit every patient who uses acupuncture, it might still be worth consideration.

Other Labor-Related Benefits

One of the studies reviewed by Cochrane was a German study that looked into the use of acupuncture for “cervical ripening and induction of labor at term.” The results were very clear: women who had acupuncture treatments delivered their babies in an average of 2.3 days after the appearance of pre-labor symptoms, but women who did not receive acupuncture averaged 4.2 days.

While women from both groups ended up receiving drugs to speed up cervical dilation and delivery, the women undergoing acupuncture treatments experienced cervical dilation and cervical ripening faster than those in the control group. They also delivered their babies faster than those not receiving acupuncture.

Some Things to Consider

In the Cochrane Review, experts also found that acupuncture is even more effective when used after women have started showing pre-labor signs, including abdominal tightening and lower back pain. In those women, acupuncture sessions were effective in speeding up labor. Some women experience an increase in abdominal tightening and a strong urge to urinate when using acupuncture at this stage, but experts believe these are just natural responses to the treatment and an indication that things are progressing positively.

There’s no such thing as “the perfect time” to start acupuncture sessions to induce labor, so this is something that must be discussed with your doctor. However, experts do agree that the effect of acupuncture on labor is almost immediate, so you should avoid having it done until you are ready to deliver. Women who are past their due date or are within a couple of days of their due date are good candidates.

Another thing to keep in mind: acupuncture has been shown to reduce labor pain. In fact, recent
studies show that women who use acupuncture experience less pain, request fewer pain-relieving drugs and have an overall more comfortable delivery experience than those who use no support treatment of any kind.

Acupuncture For Depression Shows Good Results

Are you thinking of using acupuncture for depression? A number of new studies are showing the results might be a lot more impressive than you might expect.

The use of acupuncture to treat a number of conditions is nothing new. From pain to infertility to emotional disorders, acupuncture has become one of the most common methods of alternative medicine treatment in modern times – and with good reason.

Acupuncture and Depression

Perhaps one of the most telling studies in the subject is the one published in PLoS Medicine journal, where researchers looked at the effect of acupuncture in the treatment of depression – and found that it works slightly better than counseling to help patients.

In fact, after three months, 33 percent of people using acupuncture reported feeling better, while only 29 percent of those in therapy could say the same. About 70 percent of the 755 people in the study also took antidepressants showing that it’s possible to combine both traditional and alternative therapy for optimal results.

Even better, the beneficial effects of acupuncture lasted about three months after the study ended. This could indicate that continuing treatment could help provide long-term relief to those dealing with depression and other mood disorders.

When Nothing Else Works

In another small study, three women with severe depression who didn’t respond to traditional treatment (medication and psychotherapy) were treated with acupuncture. For all three, the addition of Acupuncture Electric Stimulation Therapy (Acu-EST) helped. This is a type of acupuncture where needles are stimulated by a small electrical current. The women experienced improvement in their symptoms after just a few sessions without any of the side effects associated with more invasive forms of treatment.

Another example of the power of acupuncture is the fact that it can be effectively used to treat endogenous depression, a less common form of depression that doesn’t respond well to treatment and is connected to thyroid hormones. This type of depression also presents additional symptoms that make life difficult for the patient – including insomnia, loss of appetite and even unusual body aches.

When treated with acupuncture, patients suffering from endogenous depression improved significantly.

Acupuncture has also been shown as very effective in treating anxiety, which many people with depression also experience. Anxiety often appears in the form of negative thoughts, irregular heartbeats, emotional unbalance and restlessness.

So How Does Acupuncture Work?

Although there’s speculation, scientists haven’t quite figure out how and why acupuncture works. The most accepted theory is that applying the needles at certain points in the body causes the release of endorphins and enkerphalins, two substances responsible for a number of things in the body, including mood and an overall feeling of health and wellbeing.

Other experts believe acupuncture also helps with the production and release of dopamine, serotonin and norepinephrine. These are the “feel good” hormones that are often in low supply in people with depression. Anti-depressant medications usually work by addressing the low level of these hormones as well, so it makes sense that acupuncture would be an effective treatment for depression.

It’s important to keep in mind that clinical depression is a very serious problem and you should not self-treat it without the guidance of a professional. If you’ve been prescribed medication to treat your depression, you should not discontinue its use without approval of your doctor. If you want to try acupuncture, you can do so in addition to any Western treatment you are currently using.

Is Acupuncture for Menopause a Suitable Treatment for Hot Flashes?

Hot flashes have always been one of the major complaints in peri- and postmenopausal women. Modern medicine addresses hot flashes by suggesting the use of a number of drugs, including some designed specifically for hot flashes and some being prescribed off label. And many women simply learn to understand what are hot flashes and live with them as something inconvenient that is part of growing older.

But it doesn’t have to be that way. In fact, complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) can offer a number of solutions to a problem that has plagued women for centuries – and, even better, offer solutions that are not invasive and with few side effects. One of those options is using acupuncture for menopause to ease the intensity and frequency of hot flashes.

An Interesting Study

In a study published on Menopause: The Journal of The North American Menopause Society, a group of researchers from UNC Chapel Hill and Wake Forest University (Drs. Remy Coeytaux, Wunian Chen, Nancy Avis, and others) set out to examine the effect of acupuncture for menopause on the frequency and severity of hot flashes. To do this, they enlisted the help of 56 women under the age of 56 who had already stopped menstruating and were experiencing at least four hot flashes on an everyday basis.

The women were divided into three groups, with the first group considered the control group:

The women in the first group were told to continue whatever they were previously doing to treat their hot flashes.
A second group received Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) acupuncture, where needles were inserted in specific treatment points twice a week for eight weeks. The treatment points were meant to control night sweats, balance out yin/yang and improve kidney function (which acupuncturists believe is connected to hot flashes).
The third group received something labeled as “sham acupuncture.” That meant needles were inserted only shallowly at sites that have no connection to hot flashes and were not expected to produce any results.

The Results Were Surprising

That’s because women in both groups Two and Three experienced improvement. This was a surprising development, since the third group wasn’t receiving traditional acupuncture for menopause.

Still, when women were asked to track the frequency and severity of their hot flashes after starting treatment, both groups reported improvement. In fact, the study showed that women in both acupuncture groups were experiencing 40 percent fewer hot flashes after the third week. They also mentioned better sleep, a positive change in mood, more overall energy, and less anxiety.

What does this mean? Researchers involved with the study believe it could mean two things. One is that the simple act of inserting needles could provide some relief for hot flashes, even if the needles are not inserted at traditional points or deep enough to cause energy movement.

The Placebo Effect

Another possible explanation is that there’s a strong placebo effect in place when using acupuncture for menopause. This could explain why even needles not associated with hot flashes points still produced a beneficial effect. The simple act of receiving acupuncture was relaxing enough and effective enough to induce positive changes in the women going through treatment.

More Research is Needed

Experts do agree that further research is needed to get deeper into the effects of using acupuncture to treat menopause issues, including hot flashes. The same researchers have since conducted a much larger clinical trial sponsored by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The acupuncturists for that more recent study included Drs. Wunian Chen and Helen Wang from Acupuncture Balanced Health. Dr. Remy Coeytaux, also from Acupuncture Balanced Health, was one of the principal investigators. The results of this larger study will be published soon (spoiler alert—the women who received acupuncture experienced highly significant decrease in hot flash frequency and severity within 4 weeks of starting a course of acupuncture treatments).

Acupuncture for Depression

This month’s edition of the magazine, Scientific American, includes a well-written and informative discussion about the evidence in support of acupuncture’s effectiveness in the treatment of Major Depression. This article also provides a good overview of the challenges associated with clinical trials of acupuncture for depression.

As summarized in the Scientific American article, several published studies have demonstrated that acupuncture can be helpful in the treatment of depression. One of the most important studies was conducted by Dr. Hugh MacPherson and colleagues in England. They randomized 755 patients with depression to one of three treatment groups: 1) acupuncture plus usual care; 2) counseling plus usual care; or 3) usual care alone. They found that both acupuncture and counseling were associated with significantly reduced depression compared to usual care alone.

Another randomized clinical trial found that acupuncture in combination with the antidepressant medication paroxetine (Paxil) was more effective at improving symptoms than Paxil alone after 6 weeks of treatment. Yet another study demonstrated that a 6-week course of acupuncture alone was as effective as a course of treatment with the antidepressant medication fluoxetine (Prozac).

In addition to being effective as either a stand-alone or adjunct treatment for depression, acupuncture may be used to alleviate some of the symptoms associated with commonly used medications for depression. A recent study reported “Significant improvement among male participants was noted in all areas of sexual functioning, as well as in both anxiety and depressive symptoms. Female participants reported a significant improvement in libido and lubrication and a nonsignificant trend toward improvement in several other areas of function.” (Reference: Khamba B et al. Efficacy of acupuncture treatment of sexual dysfunction secondary to antidepressants. J Altern Complement Med. 2013; 19(11):862-9).

In my view, acupuncture is not likely to be sufficiently effective to serve as one’s only treatment for depression, but the evidence strongly suggests that acupuncture can play an important and positive role in the treatment of Major Depression and other clinical conditions in which depressed mood and other symptoms commonly associated with depression feature prominently.