“What does acupuncture do for your back?”
I am a 35 year old female. I want to know what does acupuncture do for your back?
14 Answers
AcupuncturistAcupuncturist
Acupuncture has proven very effective to treat back pain, muscle spasms and radiating pain due to spinal related injuries. But as with any other therapy you should be evaluate first.
It can release muscle tension which can cause back pain. It can also reduce inflammation and relieve pain.
Acupuncture facilitates your whole body to self-heal. That includes the back.
Research in acupuncture has demonstrated that it can manipulate the brain functions triggering the release of beta-dopamine, feel good chemicals. Other research has shown acupuncture can help release alpha-adenosine, chemicals that help the muscles relax exactly the same as massage therapy’s effect only on a cellular level with acupuncture needles’ penetration. In TCM (traditional Chinese medicine), we use acupuncture to promote circulation and harmonize qi flow. With this method, we can treat or improve the quality of life for almost every condition affecting the back. Most popular back disorders treated with acupuncture are sprains, strains, fibromyalgia, tension, spasming and disc degeneration. Personally, I like to incorporate fire cupping with acupuncture treatments for the back as I have noticed an overall improved effect. Definitely check with your primary to see if alternative medicine is a good option for your condition.
Back pain (especially lower back pain) is a common chronic pain issue. Acupuncture is an ancient Chinese physical therapy that has become a popular and well-researched method for managing this pain.
Generally yes, acupuncture can help a lot with back pain, there are many studies showing great outcomes for treating back pain.
It can lessen pain by reducing muscle tension.
Mr. Anthony James Lorenzo
Acupuncturist
Acupuncture balances the life force/Qi of the whole body, including the back. The back has many parts... thoracic, lumbar, and sacrum... It is hard for me to give a detailed answer when the question lacks information.
Acupuncture is excellent for your back. It relaxes the muscles, decreases pain and inflammation and improves circulation just to name a few of the things it can do.
Acupuncture can work in many different ways to help alleviate and prevent back pain caused by conditions such as arthritis, muscle spasms, or herniated and bulging discs, help to strengthen your back, improve posture, and improve range of motion.
Acupuncture triggers the body's NEI systems to reduce stress (physically and mentally), minimize inflammation, and increase circulation/oxidation to repair damaged functions in the body.
If you have back pain acupuncture can treat your back, it works well !
It can help with most back problems and pain.
I'm going to assume this question has to do with pain management. Acupuncture is not going to correct any structural issues.
What, exactly, acupuncture is doing in terms of pain management is still somewhat an open question. The crux of the issue is that acupuncture and Chinese medicine are looking at the body from the standpoint of an integrated whole while conventional medicine and science are using reductionism.
In order to be generally accepted, acupuncture studies have to conform to a reductionistic point of view. It's a little like trying to put a square peg in a round hole - the two methodologies are fundamentally different and it's very hard to reconcile one in terms of the other.
The studies we have are looking at acupuncture in terms of biochemistry. They do this because conventional medicine thinks in terms of biochemistry. Are there measurable changes in biochemistry which occur as a result of needle insertion? Yes. In pain management we see increases in endogenous opiate peptides, we see regulation of neurotransmitters involved in the propagation of pain signals in the brain and spinal cord. Functional MRI studies show us changes to brain structure with up-regulation of mu-opiate receptors and these studies also show changes in how the brain is processing pain signals after acupuncture. Is this the exhaustive list of everything acupuncture is doing? In my opinion, no. Do we know if acupuncture is doing all these things all the time? No, we don't - core study methodology doesn't align with a study that looks at everything at the same time (to put it another way, a study that attempted to look at all possible outcomes would be invalid under current study construction rules).
None of these studies answer the logical follow-on question: why should the insertion of a solid needle stimulate these effects in the first place?
It's a complicated situation. Patients often need or want to know what's happening as a result of acupuncture, and they want that explanation in a language that makes sense to them. Unfortunately, the ultimate answer is neither simple nor short. So, given that, how should we proceed? I have two suggestions:
1. Many of the approved prescription medications used in pain conditions are not fully understood in terms of their mechanism of action. You can ask your pharmacist for the patient information leaflets, go to the pharmacology/mechanism of action section and see for yourself. I used to work in pharmacy and I can tell you with a high degree of confidence that there are a large number of approved prescription medications where we do not fully understand how the drug is exerting its effect. In this way, acupuncture isn't really any different and has the added benefits of being [usually] cheaper in the long run and often has much less risk of side effect or adverse event.
2. In my opinion, the pieces of the puzzle which would reconcile acupuncture in terms of conventional science exist and, in some cases, have been around for quite some time. If one were to go back and start with Albert Szent-Gyorgyi and work their way forward through Harold Saxton-Burr and Robert Becker. Throw in a little Rupert Sheldrake and then sprinkle on some biophysics (particularly some of the work done at Tufts University from 2011 onward) as well as a systems theory. I think you'd fairly quickly realize what acupuncture is doing, how it's exerting its effect, and why biochemistry is at the tail end of what's going on.
Either way, it's a lot of work and it's somewhat crazy-making. The bottom line is: acupuncture is an excellent treatment for most kinds of pain, including back pain. It's a treatment modality that has been around for at least 3,000 years and, compared to most pharmaceutical pain management options, is very safe.
What, exactly, acupuncture is doing in terms of pain management is still somewhat an open question. The crux of the issue is that acupuncture and Chinese medicine are looking at the body from the standpoint of an integrated whole while conventional medicine and science are using reductionism.
In order to be generally accepted, acupuncture studies have to conform to a reductionistic point of view. It's a little like trying to put a square peg in a round hole - the two methodologies are fundamentally different and it's very hard to reconcile one in terms of the other.
The studies we have are looking at acupuncture in terms of biochemistry. They do this because conventional medicine thinks in terms of biochemistry. Are there measurable changes in biochemistry which occur as a result of needle insertion? Yes. In pain management we see increases in endogenous opiate peptides, we see regulation of neurotransmitters involved in the propagation of pain signals in the brain and spinal cord. Functional MRI studies show us changes to brain structure with up-regulation of mu-opiate receptors and these studies also show changes in how the brain is processing pain signals after acupuncture. Is this the exhaustive list of everything acupuncture is doing? In my opinion, no. Do we know if acupuncture is doing all these things all the time? No, we don't - core study methodology doesn't align with a study that looks at everything at the same time (to put it another way, a study that attempted to look at all possible outcomes would be invalid under current study construction rules).
None of these studies answer the logical follow-on question: why should the insertion of a solid needle stimulate these effects in the first place?
It's a complicated situation. Patients often need or want to know what's happening as a result of acupuncture, and they want that explanation in a language that makes sense to them. Unfortunately, the ultimate answer is neither simple nor short. So, given that, how should we proceed? I have two suggestions:
1. Many of the approved prescription medications used in pain conditions are not fully understood in terms of their mechanism of action. You can ask your pharmacist for the patient information leaflets, go to the pharmacology/mechanism of action section and see for yourself. I used to work in pharmacy and I can tell you with a high degree of confidence that there are a large number of approved prescription medications where we do not fully understand how the drug is exerting its effect. In this way, acupuncture isn't really any different and has the added benefits of being [usually] cheaper in the long run and often has much less risk of side effect or adverse event.
2. In my opinion, the pieces of the puzzle which would reconcile acupuncture in terms of conventional science exist and, in some cases, have been around for quite some time. If one were to go back and start with Albert Szent-Gyorgyi and work their way forward through Harold Saxton-Burr and Robert Becker. Throw in a little Rupert Sheldrake and then sprinkle on some biophysics (particularly some of the work done at Tufts University from 2011 onward) as well as a systems theory. I think you'd fairly quickly realize what acupuncture is doing, how it's exerting its effect, and why biochemistry is at the tail end of what's going on.
Either way, it's a lot of work and it's somewhat crazy-making. The bottom line is: acupuncture is an excellent treatment for most kinds of pain, including back pain. It's a treatment modality that has been around for at least 3,000 years and, compared to most pharmaceutical pain management options, is very safe.
