12+ Acupuncture Benefits For Your Body And Soul

1. Reduces stress

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When you stimulate sensory nerves with acupuncture needles, it can actually naturally release endorphins into your body. Endorphins are naturally released by your body when you're doing something enjoyable, like sport or having sex. So, the release of endorphins through acupuncture can make you feel less stressed, and if you keep up the practice, can leave you feeling much more relaxed generally.

2. Manages chronic pain

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One of the most popular uses for acupuncture is to help with the treatment of chronic illnesses. If you have a chronic illness, you may have tried traditional medicine and found that it doesn't work - whereas acupuncture comes with very few side effects and can be more relaxing.

3. Relieves headaches

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Traditional acupuncture doctors believe that there are specific zones on your body that can correspond to different aches and pains. One particular pressure point that is good for headaches is found on the back of your hand. It's called the LI-4 pressure point, and applying pressure there can help reduce pain caused by headaches. During an acupuncture treatment, you may have needles placed here and across your forehead to strengthen the effects.

4. Stops migraines

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While it's easy to dismiss acupuncture as a scam, reliable studies have been done on the effects of acupuncture on chronic migraines. In fact, acupuncture was found to have a similar positive effect as prophylactic drug treatment, with fewer side effects than strong migraine medicine. So, if you're suffering with frequent migraines, you might consider booking yourself in for an acupuncture treatment!

5. Reduces lower back pain

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There haven't been a lot of studies on the lower back pain and acupuncture, but from anecdotal evidence, it's clear that those needles do have some effect on lower back pain! There are a few specific areas of the body that relate to lower back pain, including the stomach, back of the knee, and your feet. Placing needles here can reduce your back pain to a significant degree.

6. Helps fight allergic asthma

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The theory behind traditional Chinese acupuncture is that there is a flow of energy through your body, and when this becomes blocked, you can experience pain and discomfort. Well, freeing this energy flow can also supposedly help with allergic asthma, allowing you to breathe freely again.

7. Relieves nausea and vomiting

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Nausea is a really common symptom for many people - especially if you're currently completing a course of chemo. In one small study, it was found that acupuncture can help relieve symptoms of nausea and vomiting associated with chemotherapy, and that people having cancer treatment could consider getting acupuncture to help relieve symptoms. Regardless of whether you're going through cancer or not though, it seems that acupuncture could help you with nausea.

8. Improves your sleep

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Because of its stimulation of endorphins, acupuncture can be great at helping you get to sleep and improving the quality of your sleep, especially if you suffer from anxiety that can make drifting off difficult. Regular acupuncture treatments can help improve your general wellbeing and help you drift off more easily.

9. Eases period cramps

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We know that acupuncture can be used to treat pain, but what about monthly period pains? Those little needles can actually be good for that, too. In fact, acupuncture can be more helpful for easing period pains than pain relieving drugs. So, if you know your period is coming up, maybe schedule in some acupuncture treatments!

10. Recover faster after surgery

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Recovery is so important after having a medical procedure, but for many people, it's just more pain. You might experience nausea, constipation, vomiting, and pain, as your body recovers from surgery. However, acupuncture can offer effective relief from all of these symptoms - so much so that some doctors recommend heading to an acupuncture clinic during your recovery.

11. Relieves eye strain

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We're straining our eyes like never before in the 21st century. From working on computers all day to looking at our phones and watching TV, our eyes are under strain from the moment we wake up to the moment we sleep. But acupuncture can help relax your eye muscles and even improve symptoms like dry eyes.

12. Reduces symptoms of Alzheimer's

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Many people assume that once you're diagnosed with a neurological disorder like Alzheimer's that there's nothing more you can do to improve your condition. However, routine courses of acupuncture has been proven to improve cognitive processing and memory recall in some patients.

13. Improves your digestive system

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Approximately 25 to 45 million people in the US report suffering from IBS, or irritable bowel syndrome. This gut and stomach disorder can cause painful symptoms like pain, diarrhoea, constipation, and bloating. But acupuncture can provide medicine-free relief from these symptoms, allowing you to live a more normal life.

14. Reduces your risk of getting ill

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Your immune system is so important to your general health, regulating how your body fights off diseases and protecting your cells from disruption. If you find yourself getting sick a lot, then get yourself to an acupuncture clinic - regular acupuncture can help regulate your immune system and get you feeling healthier.

15. Gives you higher energy levels

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According to traditional acupuncture lore, it's a disruption of yin and yang energy in the body that causes you to feel fatigue or sickness. Acupuncture can stimulate points in the body associated with yin energy, leaving you feeling more energized. However, remember that directly after your treatment, you may feel some tiredness as your body recovers from the process.

16. Lowers your blood pressure

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Almost half of US adults live with high blood pressure, which can cause lots of health issues if left untreated. While doctors are still investigating how acupuncture works from a scientific standpoint, it may help lower blood pressure by stimulating the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS), which helps regulate your blood pressure.

17. Improves your fertility

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Today, many women suffer from fertility issues, which can be painful (and expensive) to resolve. However, acupuncture can be an effective choice if you're looking for minimum medicine intervention. In fact, acupuncture can both improve the quality of eggs and reduce your stress levels, making for a better chance of getting pregnant.

18. Reduces joint pain

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Whether you're recovering from an injury and feeling lingering pain, or just have a mysterious ache somewhere, acupuncture can help you find relief from joint pain without turning to painkillers. Acupuncture needles can stimulate muscles, helping them to relax and reducing pain, as well as improving blood flow and lowering inflammation.

19. Treats osteoarthritis

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More severe joint pain like osteoarthritis can also be treated with acupuncture. While it can't necessarily reverse osteoarthritis once it's set in, it can help you manage painful symptoms of the condition. With frequent treatments, these painful side effects can be kept in check, allowing you to live your life more normally.

20. Reduces muscle spasms

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If you think about muscle spasms being caused by distinct pressure in muscles, and those needles increasing the flow of energy through muscles, it makes sense that acupuncture can treat uncomfortable muscle spasms. In many cases, acupuncture practitioners use the zu san li point just below your kneecap, which is linked to overall energy balance and better health.

21. Treats insomnia

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It won't just improve the sleep you have, it could actually help you fall asleep. Studies have been done with people with insomnia to see if acupuncture could improve their sleep quality, those who got an acupuncture treatment three times a week for a month reported better sleep, than those who received "sham" acupuncture (when the needle doesn't actually penetrate the skin.)

22. Helps with morning sickness

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We've already mentioned that acupuncture can increase the production of endorphins in your body, but did you know that these can also help relieve severe morning sickness? When your body produces endorphins, these hormones can help stop the electrical impulses coming from the area of the brain responsible for nausea and vomiting.

23. Assists with cancer treatment

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Common cancer treatments like chemotherapy come with lots of unintended side effects that can be equally devastating. Patients may have to deal with things like fatigue, dry mouth, hot flushes, pain, and nausea. Alongside traditional medicine, acupuncture can help patients deal with these side effects, leaving them stronger.

24. Reduces joint stiffness

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Acupuncture needles in the skin can affect a whole range of process in the body, one of which is the production of cortisol. This is an anti-inflammatory hormone that can also help with your stress response and control your blood pressure. Overall, cortisol can be really helpful for controlling joint stiffness and helping you move more easily.

25. Makes you feel happier

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There are so many different things that can impact happiness, from how well you're sleeping to stress and your gut health. And studies prove that acupuncture can help with almost all of these aspects of your life, allowing you to simply feel happier and more relaxed.

26. Increases muscle length

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This might sound like a bit of a weird one but, I promise, there's a reason this is a good thing! When your muscles are more relaxed and lengthier, this can reduce the strain of physical activity, reducing your likelihood of getting injured. For casual sportspeople or major athletes, this can have a big effect on your performance.

27. Relieves neck pain

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Acupuncture can help relieve pain almost anywhere in the body (there are around 350 pressure points on the body, so you can imagine how many areas these can relate to!), but neck pain is one of the most common. As well as reducing neck pain, acupuncture may also help with neck stiffness and mobility, reducing the likelihood of getting pain in the future.

28. Helps with jaw pain

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About 10 million Americans have pain associated with their jaw, which can be caused by stress or a physical injury. Most of the time, this can be treated with painkillers and local pain relief (like cold packs), but for more effective relief, you can turn to acupuncture. There are lots of pressure points around the face, jaw, and neck, and applying pressure here can help improve jaw mobility, reduce swelling, and relieve pain.

29. Gets rid of hiccups

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Hiccups are usually just a random occurrence in our lives, caused when we drink or eat too fast. However, some people actually suffer form chronic hiccups, and for this disorder, treatment is necessary. And, according to some studies, applying pressure to a point behind the ear can help with the reduction of chronic hiccups.

30. Helps treat prostatitis

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You've probably heard of the prostate in terms of cancer of the prostate, but did you know that it can also become swollen and painful without being cancerous? This is called prostatitis, and acupuncture is emerging as a valuable treatment for this painful swelling. Acupuncture can help reduce inflammation as well as reduce pain and keep you feeling relaxed, helping overall symptoms.