Studies Prove That Acupuncture Can Help Treat the Symptoms of Acid Reflux

With the wish to avoid drugs and chemicals and the risk of side effects, a natural healing approach to acid reflux natural remedy is a really attractive option for a lot of heartburn sufferers.

A surge in popularity in Chinese medicine as well as for the above mentioned reasons, a lot of individuals wonder if there is proof behind the treatments offered by many acupuncturists.

Since people react differently to acupuncture treatment and that in Chinese medicine, a condition can have different causes, it is impossible to say whether acupuncture will work for you. The best thing to do is to try it out and see if it helps you with your problem or not.

These past recent years, there has been a rise in interest in acupuncture therapy. Nine years ago, a Chinese gastroenterologist performed a few experiments that studied the effectiveness of acupuncture and other traditional Chinese medicine modalities in the treatment of acid reflux.

In these experiments which were published in the American Journal of Physiology-Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology, August 2005, it was showed that the TLESRs (transient lower esophageal sphincter relaxations), functions that directly involve acid reflux, were lessened with the use of an enhanced acupuncture technique known as electrical acupuncture point stimulation. The experiments utilized very weak stimulation on the wrist acupoint known as the Neiguan point.

The TLESRs was significantly lessened by about 40% from 6/hour to just about 3.5/hr. The placebo group whose members received sham or placebo acupuncture (acupuncture treatment on the hip) also experienced a lowering of their TLESR’s but the decrease was quite insignificant (only 0.02/ hour).

Your own unique constitution, of course, will determine whether acupuncture would work for you or not. It’s best to try it a few times and see how you respond to the treatment. For a lot of acid reflux patients, a traditional form of acupuncture which is much less expensive than electrical acupoint stimulation has worked successfully for them. Furthermore, traditional modes of acupuncture therapies are now covered by a lot of health insurance companies.

Treating acid reflux using acupuncture and Chinese medicine in Linwood has actually been performed by acupuncturists for thousands of years. Acupuncture has been used to treat acid reflux and GERD symptoms including vomiting, nausea, burning, and pain. Recent studies have shown that acupuncture treats acid reflux by changing the way nerve cells communicate with one another. It also has the ability to affect the manner the central nervous system secretes specific chemicals in the bloodstream which normalizes the function of the lower esophageal sphincter.

Although electro-point stimulation was used in lieu of needles in these studies, the research conductors believe that traditional needling acupuncture will work the same way for the stimulation of a specific acupoint and thus have the same therapeutic effect as that of electro-point stimulation therapy.

Acupressure can also be used as an alternative to acupuncture or electro-point stimulation especially if the patient has a dislike for needles. Applying manual pressure on the P6 or Neiguan acupoint can help relieve the symptoms of acid reflux and GERD.