Is Acupuncture Right For Me?

by Bi Kun tan

Traditional Chinese and Indian medicines such as ayurveda, homeopathy, and acupuncture have been relied upon for centuries to preserve good health. In recent years, people who havenat been able to find relief elsewhere have been turning to acupuncture in particular to address their problems. The World Health Organization (WHO) endorses acupuncture as a treatment for many diseases.

There are over 40 ailments for which the WHO recommends acupuncture treatment. Many people think of acupuncture only as a cure for pain. While acupuncture has proven effective in this area, as a successful treatment for back pain, shingles pain, carpal tunnel, migraines, etc., its applications are much more extensive.

Acupuncture can treat digestive disorders like nausea, irritable bowel syndrome, acid reflux and other common digestive problems. It can also be used to treat asthma and sinus problems. Acupuncture is extremely powerful in treating gynecological problems including PMS, , endometriosis, Morning Sickness, Kidney Stones Impotence Women Sexual Dysfunction, menopausal symptoms and even infertility.

Depression, anxiety and insomnia can also be improved through acupuncture. Other diseases related to the brain and its proper functioning can also be treated by acupuncture. A proper acupuncture course can be followed for the treatment of any of the diseases. For this purpose, a number of acupuncture institutes have opened up almost everywhere.

The benefits of acupuncture are so far-ranging that it is hard to sum them up in one short article. Basically, all of the major systems of the body: digestive, neurological, respiratory, urinary, reproductive, immune, musculosketetal, and circulatory can be helped with acupuncture treatment, as well as emotional problems and addictions.

Many people choose acupuncture as a preventive medicine or because their illness is too small for other Western medicines to cure. This proves extremely beneficial when one wants to get rid of a small nagging pain or wants to get refreshed and rejuvenated

Recently, people have started taking to acupuncture in the west. Acupuncture is beginning to prove vital in cases of reproductive disorders. Women who couldnat conceive are now being able to do so with the help of acupuncture. Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS),Irregular, Sexual Dysfunction Heavy or Painful Endometriosis, Menopause, Fibroids, Kidney Stones, Impotence, Chronic Bladder Infection, Menstruation, Complications in Pregnancy, Morning Sickness, Infertility in Men and Women are some of the problems treated by acupuncture

This article has only begun to list some of the many disorders than can be treated using acupuncture. From this beginning, there should be no doubt that acupuncture is a powerful tool that has an important role to play in modern healthcare.

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Relieving Back Pain: Medical Equipment You Can Have at Home

by Amy Nutt

Many people have back pain and these people are looking for ways to relieve and treat that back pain at home. There are many devices and medicines out there that states they’re just for back pain, but are they really worth it? Do they really work? The truth is that there are many products out there that work. What results is back pain that is significantly reduced, which improves the quality of life. If you suffer from back pain, then having your own physical therapy equipment or massage therapy equipment in your home can really make a difference in your life.

Products that help

Luckily, physical therapy supplies and massage therapy supplies are not just meant to be in the doctor’s office. They can be brought home.

Here are some products that you may be interested in if you’re looking to bring the physical therapy supplies home so that you can work on your back problems yourself:

The Total Back System by Motion may look like something you see in your local gym. Actually, some local gyms might have it to help those having back pain issues. What this product uses is inversion therapy. This helps alleviate pain, relieve stress, and also strengthens the back. Something about back pain is that it reduces core strength. When core strength is reduced, the back has to work harder to sustain itself. By strengthening your core muscles, you are taking stress off of your back and reducing pain.

The Total Back System is one of the best pieces of physical therapy equipment because it elongates the spine, which relieves pressure from discs and nerves. All it takes is a few minutes a day and it is easy to move around if you need to.

The GT-1000 Gravity Table is another piece of physical therapy equipment that also uses inversion therapy to strengthen your back. It is a gravity table that forces you to use the muscles in your back and core. You are stretched out so you achieve an elongated spine. In the meantime, you are moving in a number of positions, including upside down.

The BW-1 Bio-Stim Belt and TENS is one of those physical therapy supplies that many people enjoy. Actually, it is also used in the massage therapy world as massage therapy equipment when you can’t have a massage therapist right there by your side. This is because it is like having a massage therapist under your shirt. The belt fits snugly so that it is hardly seen. There are electrodes on the inside of the belt that are operated from a small box that attaches to the belt. That way you can go about your daily activities while receiving those muscle stimulating jolts. This loosens up the lower back muscles and relieves pain. The settings are adjustable, you get a certain degree of back support, and you don’t have to take pain killers to make the pain go away.

The ComforTrac Lumbar is a simple piece of equipment to use. By looking at it, it is hard to determine how exactly it will help the lumbar spine, but it does. It is portable, affordable, and easy to use. The surfaces are cushioned, it only takes the push of one button to release the pump, it is strong without the significant weight, the carriage turn is automatic after traction occurs, pumping is quite effortless, and relief is evident. This will work for virtually anyone with lower back pain.

VitalWrap Hot & Cold Compression Therapy System brings about the usual “hot and cold” treatment method for injuries. It uses what looks like a blender, but incorporates both hot and cold temperatures to relieve back pain. You can place ice and water inside the device to produce the cold compression that you need. However, the device can heat that ice and water to give you the hot compression that you need. Everything is in one place so that you do not have to use different compression methods. All of it is in one machine, which is important when a doctor gives orders to use both hot and cold compression to relieve pain and initiate healing.

Importance of these tools

These physical and massage therapy supplies are important to have in your home if you have back problems. Even if you don’t have problems now, something such as the VitalWrap Hot & Cold Compression Therapy System should be present in the home anyway because such a device is helpful on any type of muscle injury. Unfortunately, any type of muscle injury is hard to avoid, especially injuries to the back. The back tends to be the most injured part of a person’s body because of the day-to-day stress placed upon it. At least you can have the proper Physical therapy and massage therapy supplies in your home to take care of it when it occurs.

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A Handy Guide to the Causes and Treatment of Low Back Pain

The following article on the treatment and causes of low back pain was written for all the back pain topic readers out there. Are you one of them?

Back pain is the most common ailment forcing people to see a doctor. And low back pain wins hands down as the most suffered type of back pain.

There are many causes and treatment of low back pain.  Low back pain can develop over-night or attack us suddenly if we bend the wrong way or lift something too heavy. Teens can endure low back pain now and again by straining their lower back from carrying backpacks daily. Although nearly all ages may experience low back pain the age bracket who suffers the most is the 30 to 50 year age range.

Any time you suspect you are developing back problems, it is important to understand all the causes and treatment of low back pain. These can vary with each individual. With the main causes of low back pain being too little or too much work for the body. People may acquire low back pain from weak muscles resulting from lack of exercise. Alternately an extremely active on the go person may strain their back by over using it causing low back pain.

Many causes of low back pain may be very serious if left untreated. Such as heavy lifting, ruptured disc, osteoporosis, age, sciatica and spinal stenosis. One example is a bulging or ruptured disc when left untreated may get pushed in the spinal canal where it will lay against the lumbar and nerve roots. Besides causing severe pain, this condition known as cauda equine syndrome, can also cause permanent neurological damage.

If good ergonomics were employed most low back pain or any back pain in fact, could be prevented. As bad posture or improper lifting bending and sitting are the causes of low back pain. And when it comes to low back pain the patient, coupled with how bad the pain is, will influence the treatment. People usually will only opt for surgery as a last resort. Luckily surgery can be avoided in most cases.

An important first step after a back trauma is applying ice packs to the area for around 15 minutes. This will prevent swelling if practiced every few hours for the first couple of days. And make for a faster recovery and possible prevention of a more serious condition developing. You’ll mostly be prescribed analgesia and/or anti-inflammatory medication when you consult with your health professional about the causes and treatment of low back pain. X-rays would be recommended if your condition has not improved after a couple of days.

As long as your X-rays were ok and surgery is not indicated the physician will normally suggest physical therapy. Physical therapy is helpful for low back pain although during the treatment it may be painful. Exercises are usually given to you for home practice to reduce the pain and help protect your back in times to come.

The author Lorna Hillier has a huge back pain site with an informative free report called “Back Pain Relief Made Easy” The main area reports on popular Back Pain Pills and also includes 15 back pain related sections, one being Low Back Pain

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Try New Back Pain Treatment For Fast Relief

Back pain is a common complaint that affects people for a variety of different reasons. Traditional back pain treatment such as ice, rest and pain medication don’t always work for some types of pain and some people. When these traditional methods fail to relieve the pain, the person is often sent to a physical therapist for therapy, stretches and exercises. In more serious cases, surgery is often required to treat the back pain. Although these different treatment methods usually work for the patient, they often take months. There are now some new back pain treatment methods to help sufferers get relief from their back pains.

Botox treatments are not only used for cosmetic reasons, it is now being used as a new back pain treatment. Botox, acting like a poison, kills the pain signals travelling from the nerves to the muscles, thus removing the pain. The range of motion increases once the pain is relieved. Botox is a valid pain treatment as evidenced by many studies on the subject but should be used on a regular basis and by a qualified physician.

Many people feel that surgery is recommended too readily for back pain sufferers when it often can be treated non-surgically. Some of the new back pain treatment methods offer relief without surgery. One case is with patients that have sciatica problems. Many feel that surgery should be used as an absolute last resort when all else fails. After all most sciatica patients have relief within a year whether they have surgery or not.

Spinal decompression is one of the new back pain treatments for patients with disc problems. Often what causes disc problems are the disc material moves away from the disc, which causes the pain. Spinal decompression is a process where there is decompression to the spine, which forces the disc material back into the disc by means of suction. This also allows fresh blood to flow through the affected area, which increases the healing process. This new back pain treatment, has resulted in patients usually recovering within a couple weeks as instead to months or even longer.

For many people the use of natural herbs, vitamins, minerals and exercises is a new alternative treatment than orthodox prescription pain relievers, traditional physical therapy methods and surgery.  With the use of all natural remedies, the patient is less likely to experience unwanted side effects and does not miss time from work.

Visit Best Back Pain Treatment and Sciatica HELP!

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More Pain in the You-Know-What

There’s a diagnosis called Lumbar Spinal Stenosis.  It’s a fancy name for a spine that has a narrowing channel which squeezes the nerves.  These nerves lead to your butt and your legs, so there can be considerable pain.  There’s lot of reasons why the spinal canal can be too narrow.  For one thing, you can be born that way.  Or it can simply be due to wear and tear over the years. Disc bulges are another culprit.  When a disc bulges and the vertebrae shift, the shape of the spinal canal can change.

This diagnosis isn’t life threatening, but it means you probably have pain in your rear which makes it hard to walk for any distance.  Leaning at the waist usually relieves the pain, but it’s an uncomfortable position.  The normal treatment suggestions for this diagnosis include exercise, steroid injections or even surgery.  Surgery is always an absolute last choice though.
Visit Low Back Pain HELP!

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It Never Stops Hurting

Some people have back pain that just never stops hurting.  It can make almost every activity difficult and is called chronic back pain syndrome.  A syndrome is a group of symptoms that appear at the same time and indicate a problem exists.  When you have chronic back pain syndrome, it means you have pain even after it seems everything has healed. 

The medical community is doing a lot of current research in this area.  If you have no physical reason for the pain then what is causing it?  Well, the theory is your psychological state of mind may be contributing to your pain.  If you live with constant stress and anxiety, it can cause your muscles to tighten and reduce blood flow for example.  Dealing with the problem usually involves exercise and counseling.  There’s really nothing physical the doctor can order for treatment.   This is a greatly oversimplified explanation, but that’s chronic back syndrome in a nutshell. Visit Stop The Chronic Back Pain

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Closing the Gate of Pain

Drs. Ronald Melzack and Patrick Wall developed a theory about back pain in the 1960s.  Research on their theory is being given new life due to the amazing medical research tools available today.  The theory is called the Gate Control Theory of Pain.  It’s an interesting theory that’s being studied closer as doctors learn to appreciate the close relationship between pain and the brain.

Basically this theory says that there are pain gates along the spinal cord.  When your brain sends a message to a nerve telling it to hurt, the open pain gate allows more pain through.  This theory says your thoughts and emotions can affect the opening and closing of the pain gate.  If this is true that means you can control some of your pain by controlling your thoughts.  What a great idea!  It’s much better to reduce your pain through mind control than through medication.  But medication is used to relax the mind when stress is causing the pain gate to stay open.  There’s a lot more research going on, but the pain gate theory makes a lot of sense. Visit Back Pain HELP!

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What are the Benefits Of Acupuncture?

There are many benefits of acupuncture that you can see when you incorporate this method of healing into your daily life.  Today, you can find many skilled and prominent providers of acupuncture who will walk you through the process so that you fully understand what is happening.  You may want to talk to them about the specific benefits of acupuncture to your specific need.  In an overall look, though, acupuncture can help many problems throughout the body including relieving pain, improving function and even curing illnesses.  It is important to note that acupuncture is not often used alone, but as a complimentary treatment alongside other medications and treatments.

The benefits of acupuncture can be seen in many people.  In this method of healing, the body is able to improve because of the restoration of qi, the flow of energy through your body.  By stimulating specific acupuncture points in the body, the individual can see improvements in their condition.  As far as which conditions can be treated, just about any can be, using specific points in the body to obtain these interactions. Read the rest of this entry »

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