Acupuncture for the Treatment of Arthritis
As the number one cause for disability in the United States, arthritis affects around 70 million Americans each year. It is a complicated disease that can practically affect anyone regardless of age. Arthritis has actually a hundred plus different types; the most typical ones, however, include rheumatoid arthritis as well as osteoarthritis. For this reason has the surge of popularity in physiotherapy and acupuncture become more apparent.
Rheumatoid Arthritis
This condition can actually impact several of your joints. There are sufferers who have experienced this condition in other areas of their body (besides their ankles, shoulders, elbows, wrists, spine, fingers, knees and hips), including the tissue of the skin, the lungs, blood and in some cases, the heart. Rheumatoid arthritis can be a longstanding disease. It is distinguished by an inflammation of the synovium causing joint warmth, redness, stiffness, and swelling. The affected joints may lose their shape making it difficult for the sufferer to move normally.
Osteoarthritis
Osteoarthritis affects around 21million people in the United States and the most widely experienced kind of arthritis in that country. This disease is a systematic shutdown of the cartilage joint that eventually results in stiffness and extreme pain. The knees, fingers, spine, hips and knees are the most common body areas affected although the shoulders, ankles, wrists and elbows can also be affected in certain cases. When osteoarthritis starts to impact into uncommon regions of affliction, it maybe because of a sufferer’s pre-existing injury. Work-related Injuries are often the reasons for the occurrence of osteoarthritis. Professions that involve, for example, frequent kneeling, squatting, and bending bring about a high likelihood for the development of this disease.
Physiotherapies and Acupuncture to Treat Arthritis
Over the past few years, the popularity of massage therapies and acupuncture in treating arthritis has risen because of people’s aversion in using painkillers that have a lot of unwanted side effects. Massage therapy and acupuncture are very safe procedures that provide a myriad of health benefits compared to Western forms of treatment. These two alternative types of treatment both have roots in the golden age of ancient medicine.
Massage Therapy for Arthritis
Massage therapy got its start in the ancient world. It was inferred by the ancient Greek physician, Hippocrates who suggested that a rubbing procedure done on the body can be a good way of relaxing a “hard joint.” This two thousand year old recommendation is still very much applicable and true today. Massage therapy works in a number of ways to help treat arthritis. It does so by:
Stimulating the circulation of blood to the skin
Relaxing tight and painful muscles
Improving the movement of the joints
There are many types of massage therapies and so, if one does not seem effective for you, don’t worry. There are other effective and quite popular massage therapies you can choose from. They include:
Reflexology
Acupressure
Trigger Point Therapy
Deep Tissue Massage
Swedish Massage
Acupuncture for the Treatment of Arthritis
Acupuncture is an important part of an ancient Chinese medical codex known as traditional Chinese medicine or TCM, for short. It has been hugely effective in treating many types of inflammation and pain related to different forms of arthritis.
Acupuncturists often customize their acupuncture therapy based on their patient’s arthritis symptoms. Oftentimes, acupuncture is combined with other therapies including lifestyle modifications, dietary alterations, bodywork, and herbal therapy. Energetic exercise also plays a big part in treating arthritis if it is combined with acupuncture.
The acupuncture points that are needled both include the affected areas of the body and the body parts unaffected by the disease. The acupuncturist may insert the needles in your legs, arms and even in your toes, if needed. The needles should not be things that frighten you. They actually do not cause pain when they’re inserted into your skin. Some people actually get acupuncture to help them sleep well. A typical treatment may take just a few minutes to 30 minutes; however, most arthritis patients, depending on the gravity of their condition may need several sessions of treatment.
Your acupuncturist can give you a prescription of Chinese herbal formulas that is specifically concocted to treat your arthritis symptoms. These Chinese herbs are part of your acupuncture treatment and they include remedies such as:
Angelica Pubescens
Cinnamon Twig
Peony
Huan Bi Tang
A Scandinavian study on 32 arthritis patients who need hip replacement surgery and who received acupuncture treatment showed a great improvement in their joint function that surgery was no longer needed.
DeJongh Acupuncture Clinic
2929 SW 3rd Ave #610
Miami, FL 33129
(305) 677-3214
http://www.miamiacupunctureclinic.com