Acupuncture is the most widely used traditional medicine globally.
Sadly, acupuncture is vastly under utilized in the United States with only about 6-14% of the population having tried it, and about 50% of those people only tried it once. Research has shown that with the stimulation of specific areas, or points, of the body with acupuncture needles, it acts as nociceptive stimulation that causes an upregulation of the nerve-endocrine-immune systems. This means that acupuncture affects multiple systems in the body, including the musculoskeletal, nervous, endocrine, digestive, cardiovascular, respiratory, and immune systems. It does this by increasing circulation, causing positive cellular and electrical ion changes, and releasing endorphins that decrease pain

Did you know that the brain fires at about 15 trillion synapses per second? That is a lot of messages being delivered and received all at once. Because of this, it is not uncommon for messages to get lost, or the body to start prioritizing other things over injuries or areas of pain as they are not life-threatening. Acupuncture decreases pain and promotes healing because that is exactly the message the needles tell the body to do – decrease inflammation and increase circulation. With each needle, we create a tiny wound that forces the body to pay attention to the needled area. Each acupuncture treatment reestablishes the message to the body: “Hey, you’re not done. Come back here and finish healing.” By repeatedly inserting needles into the same area, we are continuously stimulating the body’s healing response in that area as well as the whole body.
This is beneficial not only for helping to heal injuries faster, but it also aids in career or hobby longevity. Thought you had to stop gardening because bending over hurts your back? I’ve got your back. Thinking about changing careers because your job hurts your body? Let’s work on healing that repetitive injury.

Additionally, our culture is driven by stress. This not only causes our physical bodies to deteriorate but also our mental health. We have forgotten how to live in our bodies and instead live entirely in our heads. Have you heard of the term “fight or flight”? This is a simple way of explaining the primary role, or job, of the sympathetic nervous system. The fight, flight, or freeze reflex of the sympathetic nervous system is overall a good thing; it has protected us historically in dangerous situations and inspired us to study for the exam the night before. However, the body cannot distinguish the difference between a lion charging to eat you or missing a deadline at work; the chemical cascade in the body is exactly the same.

Acupuncture helps to shortcut the body back into the parasympathetic system, known as “rest and digest,” the opposite of the “fight or flight” sympathetic nervous system. Acupuncture helps us relearn how to be in our bodies, making it easier to consciously switch back into the parasympathetic nervous system. Anxiety, depression, and PTSD are all part of the sympathetic nervous system. Getting the body to more easily move back into the parasympathetic system makes the things that generally bring on anxiety and depression less triggering