Acupuncture & Chinese Medicine

Acupuncture and Chinese medicine offer an individualized approach to care based on your needs, health concerns, and goals. Your treatment plan is an ongoing conversation with your practitioner and may evolve as your needs change.

Depending on your treatment, acupuncture may be combined with other Chinese medicine and complementary therapies such as electroacupuncture, moxibustion, cupping, gua sha, therapeutic massage, ear seeds, thai bodywork, dietary guidance, movement therapy, or other self-care recommendations when appropriate.

What is Acupuncture?

Acupuncture is one of the primary therapies used within Chinese medicine. Treatment involves the insertion of very thin, sterile, single-use needles at specific points on the body. Point selection is individualized based on your health history, current symptoms, treatment goals, and Chinese medicine assessment.

Within Chinese medicine theory, acupuncture points are located along pathways commonly referred to as meridians or channels. These pathways are associated with the circulation of qi (pronounced “chee”), a concept used in Chinese medicine to describe the body's functional activity and interconnected processes. Acupuncture treatment traditionally aims to support balance and the appropriate movement of qi throughout these pathways.

Acupuncture is also studied from a modern biomedical perspective. Research continues to explore how acupuncture may influence the nervous system, pain processing, connective tissue, circulation, and other physiological processes. These perspectives offer different ways of understanding acupuncture and do not require you to choose one approach over the other.

At Journey to Wellness, acupuncture is individualized to the person rather than provided as a standardized treatment for a diagnosis. Your treatment may consist of acupuncture alone or may incorporate other Chinese medicine and complementary therapies when appropriate.

What Can I Expect with Acupuncture?

Your first acupuncture visit begins with a comprehensive discussion of your health history, current concerns, symptoms, lifestyle, and goals for care. Because Chinese medicine considers patterns across the whole person, you may be asked about areas such as sleep, digestion, energy, stress, reproductive health, activity, and other aspects of your health that may seem unrelated to your primary concern.

Your assessment may also include examination of your tongue and pulse, along with other physical or orthopedic assessment when appropriate. Together, this information helps guide an individualized treatment plan.

During treatment, very thin acupuncture needles are gently inserted at selected points on the body. Depending on your needs, needles may be manually stimulated or combined with gentle electrical stimulation. Your session may also include therapies such as moxibustion, Cupping, gua sha, Therapeutic Massage, ear seeds, Thai Bodywork, or other self-care recommendations when appropriate.

Sensations during acupuncture vary. You may feel very little as a needle is inserted or experience temporary sensations such as heaviness, warmth, tingling, pressure, or a dull ache. Sharp or significant discomfort is not the goal of treatment, and you should always let your practitioner know if you are uncomfortable.

Your response to acupuncture and the number or frequency of treatments needed will vary according to your individual circumstances. Your progress will be reassessed throughout care, and your treatment plan may be adjusted as your needs change.

Should I Receive Acupuncture?

People seek acupuncture for many different reasons. Some are looking for support with a specific health concern, while others incorporate acupuncture into their ongoing health and wellness care.

Common reasons people seek acupuncture include musculoskeletal pain and tension, headaches and migraines, digestive concerns, stress and anxiety, sleep difficulties, menstrual and menopausal symptoms, and other health concerns. The amount and quality of research supporting acupuncture varies considerably depending on the condition being studied.

Acupuncture is generally considered safe when performed by a properly trained, licensed practitioner using sterile, single-use needles. However, your treatment may need to be modified based on your health history, medications, pregnancy status, implanted medical devices, recent procedures, or other circumstances. Certain acupuncture points or adjunctive therapies may not be appropriate for everyone.

Please share relevant health information with your practitioner so your treatment can be appropriately tailored. When necessary, you may also be encouraged to consult with your physician or another healthcare provider before or alongside acupuncture care.

What Does the Research Say?

Research on acupuncture has grown substantially over the past several decades, with thousands of clinical studies examining its use for a wide variety of health concerns. Evidence is stronger for some conditions than others, and acupuncture should not be viewed as equally established for every condition for which it has been studied.

Some of the more consistent evidence supports acupuncture as an option for certain pain conditions, including chronic low-back and neck pain, osteoarthritis-related knee pain, and some types of headache and migraine. Research has also examined acupuncture for many other concerns, with results and quality of evidence varying considerably by condition.

Acupuncture research presents some unique challenges. Studies frequently compare acupuncture with sham acupuncture, usual care, medication, or no treatment, and these comparisons do not always produce the same results. In some studies, acupuncture performs substantially better than receiving no acupuncture while differences between acupuncture and sham procedures are smaller. Researchers continue to study how much of acupuncture's clinical effect is related to needling itself and how much may involve other physiological, contextual, and therapeutic factors.

As with any healthcare approach, the research should be considered alongside your individual health history, goals, preferences, and other care you may be receiving.

Research and Evidence on Acupuncture:

Pain & Musculoskeletal Health

1. Paley CA, Johnson MI. Acupuncture for the Relief of Chronic Pain: A Synthesis of Systematic Reviews. Medicina (Kaunas). 2019;56(1):6. doi: 10.3390/medicina56010006. PMID: 31878346; PMCID: PMC7023333.

2. Wei X, Liu B, He L, et al. Acupuncture therapy for chronic low back pain: protocol of a prospective, multi-center, registry study. BMC Musculoskelet Disord. 2019;20(1):488. Published 2019 Oct 27. doi:10.1186/s12891-019-2894-4.

3. Dimitrova A, Murchison C, Oken B. Acupuncture for the Treatment of Peripheral Neuropathy: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. J Altern Complement Med. 2017;23(3):164-179. doi:10.1089/acm.2016.0155

4. Yuan QL, Wang P, Liu L, Sun F, Cai YS, Wu WT, Ye ML, Ma JT, Xu BB, Zhang YG. Acupuncture for musculoskeletal pain: A meta-analysis and meta-regression of sham-controlled randomized clinical trials. Sci Rep. 2016 29;6:30675. doi: 10.1038/srep30675. PMID: 27471137; PMCID: PMC4965798.

5. Zhang R, Lao L, Ren K, Berman BM. Mechanisms of acupuncture-electroacupuncture on persistent pain. Anesthesiology. 2014;120(2):482-503. doi: 10.1097/ALN.0000000000000101. PMID: 24322588; PMCID: PMC3947586.

6. Deare JC, Zheng Z, Xue CC, Liu JP, Shang J, Scott SW, Littlejohn G. Acupuncture for treating fibromyalgia. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2013 (5):CD007070. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD007070.pub2. PMID: 23728665; PMCID: PMC4105202.

Tension Headaches & Migraines

1.  Mayrink WC, Garcia JBS, Dos Santos AM, Nunes JKVRS, Mendonça THN. Effectiveness of Acupuncture as Auxiliary Treatment for Chronic Headache. J Acupunct Meridian Stud. 2018 Oct;11(5):296-302. doi: 10.1016/j.jams.2018.07.003. Epub 2018 Jul 27. PMID: 30059775.

2. Liu L, Zhao LP, Zhang CS, et al. Acupuncture as prophylaxis for chronic migraine: a protocol for a single-blinded, double-dummy randomised controlled trial. BMJ Open. 2018;8(5):e020653. Published 2018 May 31. doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2017-020653

3. Linde K, Allais G, Brinkhaus B, Fei Y, Mehring M, Shin BC, Vickers A, White AR. Acupuncture for the prevention of tension-type headache. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2016; 19;4:CD007587. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD007587.pub2. PMID: 27092807; PMCID: PMC4955729.

4. Linde K, Allais G, Brinkhaus B, Fei Y, Mehring M, Vertosick EA, Vickers A, White AR. Acupuncture for the prevention of episodic migraine. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2016;2016(6):CD001218. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD001218.pub3. PMID: 27351677; PMCID: PMC4977344.

Mental & Emotional Health

1. Errington-Evans, N. Acupuncture for Anxiety. CNS Neurosciences & Therapeutics. 2012. 18: 277-284.

2. Sniezek DP, Siddiqui IJ. Acupuncture for Treating Anxiety and Depression in Women: A Clinical Systematic Review. Med Acupunct. 2013;25(3):164-172. doi:10.1089/acu.2012.0900

Sleep

1. Guo J, Huang W, Tang CY, Wang GL, Zhang F, Wang LP. Effect of acupuncture on sleep quality and hyperarousal state in patients with primary insomnia: study protocol for a randomised controlled trial. BMJ Open. 2016;6(3):e009594. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2015-009594. PMID: 26956161; PMCID: PMC4785323.

2. Guo T, Jia M, Jin Y, Xu N, Peng T. Acupuncture for perimenopausal insomnia: A systematic review and meta-analysis protocol. Medicine (Baltimore). 2018;97(24):e11083. doi: 10.1097/MD.0000000000011083. PMID: 29901620; PMCID: PMC6023653.

Digestive Health

1. Yu Z. Neuromechanism of acupuncture regulating gastrointestinal motility. World J Gastroenterol. 2020;26(23):3182-3200. doi:10.3748/wjg.v26.i23.3182

2. CKwon CY, Ko SJ, Lee B, Cha JM, Park JW. Acupuncture as add-on treatment for functional dyspepsia: A protocol for systematic review. Medicine (Baltimore). 2021;100(7):e24403. doi:10.1097/MD.0000000000024403

3. Manheimer E, Cheng K, Wieland LS, et al. Acupuncture for treatment of irritable bowel syndrome. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2012;5(5):CD005111. Published 2012 May 16. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD005111.pub3

4. Wang L, Xu M, Zheng Q, Zhang W, Li Y. The Effectiveness of Acupuncture in Management of Functional Constipation: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2020;2020:6137450. Published 2020 Jun 17. doi:10.1155/2020/6137450

Women’s Health

1. Armour M, Ee CC, Hao J, Wilson TM, Yao SS, Smith CA. Acupuncture and acupressure for premenstrual syndrome. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2018;8(8):CD005290. Published 2018 Aug 14. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD005290.pub2

2. Avis NE, Coeytaux RR, Isom S, Prevette K, Morgan T. Acupuncture in Menopause (AIM) study: a pragmatic, randomized controlled trial. Menopause. 2016; (6):626-37. doi: 10.1097/GME.0000000000000597. PMID: 27023860; PMCID: PMC4874921.

3. Xu Y, Zhao W, Li T, Zhao Y, Bu H, Song S. Effects of acupuncture for the treatment of endometriosis-related pain: A systematic review and meta-analysis. PLoS One. 2017 Oct 27;12(10):e0186616. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0186616. PMID: 29077705; PMCID: PMC5659600.

4. Liang R, Li P, Peng X, Xu L, Fan P, Peng J, Zhou X, Xiao C, Jiang M. Efficacy of acupuncture on pelvic pain in patients with endometriosis: study protocol for a randomized, single-blind, multi-center, placebo-controlled trial. Trials. 2018;19(1):314. doi: 10.1186/s13063-018-2684-6. PMID: 29880009; PMCID: PMC5992761.

5. Liu T, Yu J, Kuang W, Wang X, Ye J, Qiu X, Xi W, Zeng Y, Zou H, Liu Y. Acupuncture for uterine fibroids: Protocol for a systematic review of randomized controlled trials. Medicine (Baltimore). 2019;98(8):e14631. doi: 10.1097/MD.0000000000014631. PMID: 30813200; PMCID: PMC6408086.

6. Qin Z, Zang Z, Wu J, Zhou J, Liu Z. Efficacy of acupuncture for chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndromes: study protocol for a randomized, sham acupuncture-controlled trial. BMC Complement Altern Med. 2016;16(1):440. doi: 10.1186/s12906-016-1428-y. PMID: 27821109; PMCID: