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Acupuncture, Acupressure and Anxiety
What is Anxiety?
If you have feelings of being worried, overwhelmed, or uneasy, then you are feeling anxiety. Currently, in Western treatments, there are various kinds of terms for anxiety. Interestingly, there are certain parallels between them all.
The Symptoms of Anxiety
Anxiety signs and symptoms may include the following:
• Too much worrying/ too much -thinking
• Sweats
• Feelings of being overwhelmed
• Tightness in the chest
• The sensation of being unable to properly breathe
• Palpitations
Western Modes of Anxiety Treatment
Conventional Western treatments for anxiety are usually anti-anxiety medicines to prevent the signals of emotions from reaching the brain.
The issue with this kind of treatment is that only the symptoms are treated but the underlying reason for anxiety is not addressed. So, once the block is lifted and then you halt taking these medications, the symptoms will likely return.
Acupuncture Treatment for Anxiety
Most acupuncturists will agree that there is not one treatment that’s most effective and safer for the treatment of anxiety than acupuncture.
Pain-free acupuncture treatment for anxiety focuses on three major internal organs: the spleen, kidneys, and liver.
Spleen Deficiency
A deficient spleen makes it more difficult to break down the foods we consume and when food these foods become hard to break down, the nutrients are poorly absorbed by the body. As a result, the body does not get the adequate production of blood. When our body does not have enough blood, the heart starts to feel a bit tired and weak. We then start to feel weak and worn which make us prone to feelings of anxiety.
Kidney Deficiency
The kidneys, in Chinese Medicine, control everything that relates to the coolness and water in our body. This coolness helps in keeping the heat down and calms the mind. If the Kidneys become weak, heat takes over and coolness becomes deficient. Heat elevated to the top of our body and affects our mind and heart resulting in anxiety.
The kidneys also are associated with fear. So, any time a person has a real fear of something his kidneys weaken resulting in anxiety.
Liver Imbalance
It is the liver that controls the information, flow of energy and nutrients to all the cells of our body. the liver is also the first organ to be affected by stress and the emotions as drug overuse and alcohol. When the liver is attacked by stress the liver tightens up and when the liver tenses up, information, flow of energy and nutrients that was smoothly flowing along the channels now start to stagnate, as well.
This stagnation is a sign that our cells and organs are not receiving the right amount of nutrients and information to effectively function causing our body to fall out of balance. When the body becomes imbalanced and suffers from stagnation, we start to feel anxiety..
Persons suffering from liver imbalances are likely to become emotionally hypersensitive. They become easily frustrated and irritated which they internalize. This results in stagnation and heat in the body leading to anxiety.
Basically, acupuncture for the treatment of anxiety eliminates the heat and stagnation in the patient and he/she then starts to feel better rather quickly due to the rapid rush of hormones, energy, and nutrients in their cells and organs.
Acupressure Points for Anxiety
You can apply acupressure on a few acupoints to help lessen the symptoms of anxiety. One should be aware that that acupressure is certainly not a good option to expert diagnosis and acupuncture treatments required by an individual.
Acupressure is an ideal complementary treatment to acupuncture therapies since it is a healing technique that you can do on yourself in between acupuncture treatments to boost the overall effects of your treatment.
To do acupressure, apply pressure using your fingers to the following acupoints for around two to three minutes whenever you start to become anxious.
1. Sp 6 (Sanyinjiao) – This point is situated in a cavity three fingers above the inside ankle along the bone. It is used to help calm the mind, increase blood and coolness, and strengthen the stomach and spleen.
2. Pc 6 (Neiguan) – Located two fingers above the wrist in between the two major tendons which can be seen by flexing your wrist. It is used to calm the mind, clear heat and stagnation, and alleviate pain.
Phoenix Acupuncture
468 Irvington Ave
South Orange, NJ 07079
(973) 821-5340
http://www.phoenixtcm.com/
Get Help from Pain with Acupuncture
Acupuncture is one of Chinese medicine’s ways of treating pain that has been practiced for a very, very long time. This healing tradition makes use of meridian points wherein reed-thin acupuncture needles are inserted into strategic areas of the body in order to stimulate the meridian points which are carriers of energy flowing through channels throughout the body. Stimulating these points also helps increase vitality in the body and clears up the blockages in the channels.
Types of Pain
Acupuncture can treat several varieties of pain. Some of the most common type of pain are:
1. Shoulder pain – Meridian points on the shoulder area are treated with needles to resolve this issue.
2. Leg pain – In this type of pain, the acupuncturist treats 11 acupoints found along the length of the leg and foot. If the patient has also lower back pain along with the leg pain, the acupoints located in the lower back are also used to resolve the issue.
3. Headaches and migraines – Headaches and migraines are related to the dilation of blood vessels in the head. To relieve the pain needles need to be inserted into the neck and heat areas. To slow down the activity of blood vessels in the neck and head, you need to insert needles in the leg and arms.
To lessen the likelihood of unwanted blood vessel dilation, you need to undertake the treatment in a sitting position rather than lying down.
Visiting an Acupuncturist
A lot of things can occur when you visit an acupuncturist. The first thing the practitioner does is to examine and evaluate your condition. You need to mention the parts of your body where pain is felt as well as other important information the practitioner needs to know.
After your acupuncturist takes your medical history he/she will stick acupuncture needles at the proper acupoints determined during the examination phase of the treatment. The needles used are a few centimeters long and are usually fine.
Your acupuncturist will insert the needles deep into the muscle tissue or superficially on your skin, depending on the kind of pain you have. After the needles are inserted, you may have to wait for around half-an-hour for pain to go away.
Some Points to Consider
If you are planning to undergo acupuncture treatment for the relief of pain, you should remember that the acupuncturist may require you to remove your clothes so that he/she can access the areas of your body that need to be treated. As the needle is inserted, you may feel a dull ache or a tingling sensation but no pain.
Galina Semyonova is a licensed acupuncturist and massage therapist in New York City. She has studied extensively in the fields of biofeedback therapy, SCENAR therapy, Chinese herbal treatments and Chinese and Western nutrition.