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The Effectiveness Of Acupuncture For Anxiety Treatments

By Oktay

If you happen to be Chinese, chances are that acupuncture may prove to be a terrific treatment for anxiety if you ever need it. But if you grew up in a culture with an aversion to pins and needles, acupuncture for anxiety may not work for you.

Chinese researchers studying acupuncture for anxiety have found that either body acupuncture (placing needles in the feet, legs, hands, arms, face, and torso) or auricular acupuncture (placing needles in the outer ear, not in the ear canal) can help relieve anxiety. The explanation of how acupuncture works, in terms of traditional Chinese medicine, probably would increase anxiety for people unfamiliar with the procedure.

One Chinese medical journal explains that acupuncture directs troublesome forms of the universal life force called chi. Inserting a needle into the torso's "three yang and five gather" point, for example, is said to make the active energy of yang more "lucid." Placing a needle in this point also increases emotional energy.

Placing needles in "Inner Pass" and "Four Gods' Cleverness" calms the nerves. Acupuncture at "Food Three Li" stops "brooding in the chest." The venerable explanations of Traditional Chinese Medicine of how acupuncture works simply do not satisfy the scientific mind.

But the fact is, if you aren't afraid of needles, there is something about acupuncture that can go a very long way for reducing anxiety levels. For most people outside of Asia, however, placing needles in the fleshy parts of the outer ear, where they are not seen and are not felt as acutely, works better.

When is acupuncture especially helpful? There is a well-known relationship between serotonin and depression. When serotonin levels are increased so much by changes in medication or changes in diet (bananas, for example, contain natural serotonin), depression may be replaced by anxiety. Acupuncture and acupressure are useful for correcting this drug-induced form of anxiety.

Acupuncture may also be helpful when nutritional factors aggravate depression. The relationship between vitamin B6 and depression is that vitamin B6 deficiencies, usually occurring people who have alcohol issues, can cause alternating depression and anxiety that is not "bipolar," but rather a function of the way the brain uses sugar. Along with vitamin supplementation, acupuncture can relieve anxiety.

The greatest advantage of the use of acupuncture in the treatment of anxiety and depression is that when it works, it works very quickly. Even before the end of the session, acupuncture can help the patient feel better. Pharmaceutical interventions, on the other hand, may take hours or days to relieve anxiety and weeks or months to relieve depression. Acupuncture almost never causes side effects, does not create dependency, and works right away. But you may find that you prefer acupressure massage as your alternative treatment.

About the Author

Oktay writes for www.nutritional-supplements-health-guide.com

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The above guest post is published based on the premise that it will be helpful and informative. The opinions made within it are those of the author and not of sunnyray.org. The links you may find within this post do not necessarily imply our recommendation or endorsement of the views expressed within them.

Comments:

Ryan Rivera says:
10-21-2011

Dear Olga,

My name is Ryan Rivera and I have been reading your website for a while now. I really liked this article - How-effective-is-acupuncture-for-anxiety.htm I agree that traditional medicine does help patients who are suffering from anxiety disorder.

I have about 5 years of experience helping people with anxiety and related issues and I was wondering if I could provide you with a high quality article based on my expertise that would be useful for your readers? It would be around 800 or so words.

I will also share your story with my 900+ subscribers once published.

Please let me know if you would be interested.

Kind regards,
Ryan Rivera

sunny says:
10-23-2011

Yes, we are always interested in quality, original and informative articles, especially if an expert is willing to share their expertise with us. Please, take a look at our guest articles section for more details on how to submit and what the requirements are.

superior says:
12-10-2013

I was wondering as to the effectiveness of acupuncture treatment. In particular, how long does an acupuncture treatment for anxiety stay effective?

sunny says:
12-10-2013

Thanks for the question. However, it should primarily be directed to an acupuncture specialist. I believe the effectiveness varies from case to case based on many individual factors.

tabo says:
06-05-2015

I was wondering, what about acupressure points? Are they equally effective as the acupuncture points? Regards, tabo.

sunny says:
06-05-2015

Hi tabo
I think acupressure points should work equally fine. For example, try pressing onto the "3 Mile point". It is about 2 inches below the knee, on the outside part of the leg. If you apply pressure there for a short period of time, you will increase the flow of energy in your body and relieve some of the anxiety and fatigue you have accumulated during the day.

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