Acupuncture For Allergies - Treating Allergies With Acupuncture

Acupuncture is an ancient Chinese medicine practiced for treating a wide variety of health related problems, including allergies, and chronic pains of the body.

The way it is done is by using very fine metal needles that are inserted into the body in order to reduce inflamations, promote smooth blood flow and restore the chi energy balance. The needles are inserted in very specific places, called acupuncture points.

Before the acupuncture treatment, the practitioner needs to first diagnose the problem. Basically acupuncture treats the illness from the inside out. The practitioner needs to know the eight principles, the channels and the zang-fu theories (the inner organs of the body) for a proper diagnosis.

The allergies are not some of the easiest to treat because they can be so many and can be caused by a lot of different factors, causing an imbalance in the body.

Just some of the factors influencing the occurance of allergies are too much stress, improper diet, air pollution, toxins from the environment, and even a weaker immune system.

As these imbalances remain in the body over a prolonged time, they create various allergies, which are the way the body is trying to fight off / to respond to the problem.

The acupuncturist will first examine the body, and just like a regular doctor, will take a full health history. Based on this he or she will develop the proper acupuncture treatment that will get rid of the symptoms of the allergy and also restore the balance of the body.

(public domain image courtesy of wikipedia.org)

Acupuncture is very useful for a wide variety of health related problems. Starting from allergies, headaches and migraines, anxiety and panic attacks, paralysis of the body (including facial paralysis), stomach pains, back pain, morning sickness, urine retention, tinnitus, tooth pains and even the common cold. As you can see, acupuncture is used for pretty much any common disease and some less common as well.

To treat each of these illnesses, the acupuncture practitioner uses specific acupuncture points on the body that are related to the various problem areas.

The needle are usually made of gold, silver or some kind of alloy. In most cases due to the price of the material, the most common needles are made of stainless steel of good quality. 

The needle has to be strong, flexible and the tip is usually shaped like a pine-needled for best entry way. Due to the flexibility of the needle, and the fact that it is so thin, using it needs skilful precision by the practitioner. This is why the trainees in accupuncture are first practicing on regular paper or some small cotton cushions.

To use the needle for treatment you hold it in your right hand (the puncturing hand) with the index finger and the thumbs holding the top end (handle), while the middle finger holds the root of the needle (the middle part of it).

With the left hand (the pressing hand) you press on the area where the needle has to penetrate the skin. It is very important that proper hand coordination is developed so that the needle enters at the right point for it to work on the allergy.

There are a few ways to hold the skin for puncturing with the needle, such as stretching the skin or pinching it.

When it comes to withdrawing the needle, in order to prevent bleeding, it needs to be first rotated back and forth, after which the place will be pressed down a bit with a cotton ball, just like after a vaccin.

(acupuncture needle image courtesy of wikipedia.org)

Sadly accidents have been known to happen during an acupuncture treatment. One of the most common one is when the needle breaks or it gets stuck. Also people have been known to faint or become dizzy in the process. Symptoms such as nausea, vertigo and irritability are not uncommon.

However as scary as these problems sound, they are rather rare and most people will never experience any of them.