Does Acupuncture Really Work?
Shutterstock By Hope Ngo/Dec. 18, 2019 12:49 pm EST
If you’re suffering from chonic pain, getting pricked by a number of long, thin needles in different places might sound counterintuitive to you. But in the hands of a licensed and experienced acupuncturist, the needles could be the first step on your path towards recovery.
WebMD says the Food and Drug Administration first cleared acupuncture needles for use in 1996, paving the way for the conventional medical world to accept this branch of alternative medicine, but the practice itself predates the FDA by more than several centuries. And while the walls of a Chinese practitioner may have copies of ancient posters marking a person’s acupuncture points, LiveScience says the practice of acupuncture today is very different from the way it would have been carried out several centuries ago when it was first invented, or even during China’s Cultural Revolution in the 1970s, when the practice of acupuncture was revived as a way of providing a medical solution to a great number of the population who had no access to healthcare.
Does Acupuncture Really Work?
Shutterstock
By Hope Ngo/Dec. 18, 2019 12:49 pm EST
If you’re suffering from chonic pain, getting pricked by a number of long, thin needles in different places might sound counterintuitive to you. But in the hands of a licensed and experienced acupuncturist, the needles could be the first step on your path towards recovery.
WebMD says the Food and Drug Administration first cleared acupuncture needles for use in 1996, paving the way for the conventional medical world to accept this branch of alternative medicine, but the practice itself predates the FDA by more than several centuries. And while the walls of a Chinese practitioner may have copies of ancient posters marking a person’s acupuncture points, LiveScience says the practice of acupuncture today is very different from the way it would have been carried out several centuries ago when it was first invented, or even during China’s Cultural Revolution in the 1970s, when the practice of acupuncture was revived as a way of providing a medical solution to a great number of the population who had no access to healthcare.
WebMD says the Food and Drug Administration first cleared acupuncture needles for use in 1996, paving the way for the conventional medical world to accept this branch of alternative medicine, but the practice itself predates the FDA by more than several centuries. And while the walls of a Chinese practitioner may have copies of ancient posters marking a person’s acupuncture points, LiveScience says the practice of acupuncture today is very different from the way it would have been carried out several centuries ago when it was first invented, or even during China’s Cultural Revolution in the 1970s, when the practice of acupuncture was revived as a way of providing a medical solution to a great number of the population who had no access to healthcare.
Acupuncture is viewed in different ways
The Mayo Clinic lists several conditions where acupuncture has been known to work. These include dental pain, low back and neck pain, osteoarthritis, and chronic headaches. Given that the risks associated with acupuncture are low, and side effects are minimal (as long as you see an experienced, licensed practitioner), it may be worth giving this traditional alternative medical treatment a try.
