TREATING ANXIETY WITH ACUPUNCTURE

A documented 3% of the US population suffers from Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD).  Common symptoms include excessive worrying, difficulty focusing, sweating, trouble sitting still, disrupted sleep, and irritable bowel.

While pharmaceutical options certainly have their place in treating anxiety, they often come with side effects like fatigue, easily bruising, headaches, changes in blood pressure, and digestive disruptions.  

A 2013 study on the treatment of Generalized Anxiety Disorder with acupuncture confirms the efficacy of two points that are commonly needled in our practice, LU7, and KD6.  The combination of both points encourages the body to disperse qi and blood so that a patient can feel at ease on a deep level.  Read more about the point functions.

Effects of acupuncture treatments are cumulative, and we often say that for every year someone has had an imbalance, we need a month to treat and reverse the imbalance. At 8 Point Wellness we have worked with many patients with a history of anxiety.  Whether that anxiety has affected digestion, sleep, caused heart palpitations, or created migraines (to name a few) we have had great success reducing intensity and frequency of symptoms with acupuncture and Chinese herbal formulas.

For a few quick tips, see related article, Settle Your Qi

References:

Acupuncture Calms Anxiety Disorder Research. (2014, February 23). Retrieved June 12, 2016, from http://www.healthcmi.com/Acupuncture-Continuing-Education-News/1256-acupuncture-calms-anxiety-disorder-new-research

Observation on the mechanism of acupuncture treatment for generalized anxiety disorder using Lieque (LU7), Zhaohai (KI6) as the main acupoints. Lin, Chuhua; Zhao, Xiaoyan; Liu, Xing; Fu, Wenbin. Bioinformatics and Biomedicine (BIBM), 2013 IEEE International Conference on. 18-21, 12-2-13.