Acupuncture Miami and Hypertension

According to traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), hypertension is the state where the heart needs to churn out more energy when an individual performs its normal daily functions.  Symptoms are oftentimes nonexistent or subtle with hypertension, which is why it needs to be seriously and immediately addressed and also why it is called the “silent killer”.  Hypertension affects about 50 million US citizens and a substantial amount of these have no clue that they suffer from hypertension.  Hypertension can easily be known though by having a nurse or any medical practitioner trained to take vital signs measure one’s blood pressure. One has hypertension when one’s systolic reading reaches 140mm Hg or higher and/or has a diastolic pressure of 90mmHg or higher.  Acupuncture Miami is widely known as an effective alternative form of therapy for treating high blood pressure.

Medical science has classified hypertension into two:  Essential or labile hypertension and organic or secondary hypertension.  There is no known origin for labile hypertension but some experts believe it is connected with extreme stress.  Organic hypertension happens due to a specific cause like a vascular or glandular disease, which makes the blood pressure rise.  TCM sees hypertension in a different perspective.  Hypertension for TCM is a sign of disharmony and imbalance and the presence of disease in the body’s physiology.  TCM believes that hypertension is a manifestation of an imbalance in the presence of chi, blood and moisture in some parts of the body.  It also believes that the liver is the organ where chi flow has stagnated causing the blood pressure to stay elevated.  However, it is the responsibility of the acupuncturist to determine precisely where the imbalance lies before starting treatment.  Acupuncture points where needles are inserted may vary depending on the state of health of the hypertensive patient.

Acupuncture is the treatment where needles are inserted into certain strategic points in the body with the acupuncturist manipulating the needles as they are inserted to elicit the desired reaction.  The points are connected to energy networks called meridians, which are in turn connected to specific organs, tissues and other parts of the body.  The needles transmit a neuro-chemical signal through the neural and endocrine systems to the part of the brain that correlates to the unbalanced part of the body.  The imbalances may not be in accordance with Western medical viewpoint as they (the imbalances) refer to TCM concepts such as chi energy, yin-yang forces and the five elements imbalances interacting in the body causing the hypertension.  Acupuncture stimulates the brain to release endorphins (natural pain killers) to the affected areas. These endorphins enable the body as a whole to relax and perform at their normal performance levels.  This relative soothing sensation and calmness, in turn causes the blood pressure to fall and normalize to its proper level.