Treating pain with acupuncture

Acupuncture is effective in treating pain without placing needles in the pain area. Both acute and chronic pain symptoms can be alleviated, often during the first treatment. Acupuncture also offers support for complex pain symptoms.

Chinese medicine — and acupuncture in particular — are highly effective in treating pain. The methods we use at Nurture Your Nature are special because they often provide immediate relief without placing needles in the painful area itself.

In this blog, you can read how the treatment works and what to expect.

What does the treatment look like?

During the intake, we discuss where the pain is, how intense it is and whether there are additional complaints, such as loss of strength, movement restriction, swelling, deafness or tingling.

Depending on the complaint, you will sit or lie down and a few needles will be placed in the forearms and/or lower legs. These are connected to the pain area via meridians.

Then the test is carried out carefully: you move, walk or take the position that normally causes pain. You often notice lighting immediately. Then we see how much pain is still present and where it can still be felt. This process is repeated a few times, until the pain has completely or sufficiently subsided for that moment.

After this active phase, you will lie or sit in a relaxed position for another 20 to 30 minutes. During this period, the effect can continue to work and the pain often goes even further away.

The course of treatment is usually as follows:

• In the initial stages: 1—2 treatments per week
• If the pain stays away: reduce to once every 4 weeks
• If the pain has gone away for four weeks, the treatment is complete

Treating all types of pain

Almost all pain symptoms are eligible for treatment with acupuncture. Common complaints that we successfully treat include:

• Back pain
• Neck and shoulder pain
• Headaches
• Frozen shoulder
• Sciatica (hip, buttock and/or leg pain)
• Knee pain

This can be done by both acute and chronic complaints are.

A clear analgesic effect is often noticeable even when there is wear and tear or deformations. Recovery is sometimes possible, but is usually slower than with a “normal” pain complaint. In these cases, Chinese herbs often a valuable supplement, because they are taken daily and continuously support the body in recovery.

Complex pain symptoms

Acupuncture can also provide relief for more complex pain symptoms, such as rheumatism, fibromyalgia or osteoarthritis. Whether the effect is completely healing and permanent varies by situation. In practice, we often see a clear improvement in the symptoms, so that, for example, less pain medication is required.

Acupuncture and Chinese herbs fit well into a broader treatment plan aimed at improving the quality of life for chronic pain.

It is not necessary that you experience pain at that time during treatment. Sometimes pain only occurs during specific activities or times, such as at night or during certain movements. It is then important to exact location to remember the pain so that it can still be treated in a targeted manner.

If you want to know more about specific types of pain, such as stomach pain due to digestive problems or stomach pain around menstruation, check out the links at the bottom of this page.

Looking at the whole person

At Nurture Your Nature, we look beyond just the pain complaint. Pain can be tiring, cause stress, and interfere with sleep. During the treatment, we take this into account and also support relaxation and recovery where necessary.

In addition, we provide practical tips to better distribute your energy and contribute to the recovery process yourself.

Preparation & tips

A few practical points of attention about the treatment:

• Do not use any or less pain medication one day before treatment (if possible)
• Take extra rest; pain takes a lot of energy
• Drink warm water to support the elimination of waste
• Watch out for unconscious snapping or eating out of fatigue
• Move and stretch the painful area gently, without overloading

Read more

• Page about treating pain with acupuncture
• Page about stomach pain and digestion
• Page about menstruation and abdominal pain