Acupuncture Points For Anxiety

Acupuncture is a well-known component of traditional Chinese medicine that has been used for hundreds of years. It is often used as a complementary approach to traditional medicine, specifically in the management of pain. Although it has many other uses which include helping individuals with migraines, infertility, weight loss and many other medicinal purposes, it has recently gained a significant amount of traction in regard to its use for helping those with anxiety.

Anxiety is a disorder that many millions of people across the country currently suffer from. There are many forms of anxiety including generalized anxiety disorder, phobias, posttraumatic stress disorder, and OCD or obsessive compulsive disorder. The use of acupuncture has been used to help thousands of individuals overcome their anxiety without the use of traditional pharmaceutical or all-natural remedies.

Using this ancient form of pain management, acupuncture has been shown to be extremely effective at treating anxiety at all different levels. In this book, we will show you how anxiety can help treat your depression, and how you might be able to treat yourself using what are called acupressure points. With that said, let’s look at exactly what acupuncture actually is.

What Is Acupuncture?

Acupuncture actually originates from China, and has been practiced in that country for thousands of years. Even though modern medicine once considered acupuncture to be non-effective in comparison to pharmaceutical remedies prescribed by Western doctors, it has now become a mainstream, and very effective, treatment for many types of disorders.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156488.php

It has been used to help people suffering from chronic back pain, neck pain, and has even provided relief for those going through chemotherapy. Many people are apprehensive about this type of treatment because it utilizes sharp needles which are inserted into the skin at specific points called meridian points. In most cases, it can take up to 12 sessions to fully control the pain or discomfort that you are feeling, very similar to receiving treatments from chiropractors when they make spinal adjustments.

The patient will actually lie down, either face up, or facedown, and the trained acupuncturist will use single use disposable sterile needles inserting them into certain areas of the body. Once inserted, they are typically left in place for about 20 minutes, allowing for energetic electrical changes to occur.

Does Acupuncture Work?

Although many clinical researchers have tried to prove that anxiety does work outside of providing a placebo effect, they have never been able to conclusively show that it does not work each and every time. Many people that have had extreme bouts with pain, and also depression, have found relief from using this treatment.

http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/acupuncture-doesnt-work/

When a person receives their first acupuncture treatment, after experiencing minimal discomfort from the apprehension of using the needles, and also the insertion of needles into their bodies, they realize that there is actually no discomfort once the needles are in place.

http://www.humanevents.com/2013/06/26/does-acupuncture-really-work-the-short-answer-is-yes/

Patients will often find that they will become extremely relaxed after several minutes, similar to what many narcotics and other pharmaceutical pain medications often provide. In fact, once the needles are removed after the session, which can last up to one hour depending upon how many different locations are being treated, the pain relief from the session will actually last for several hours after the needles are removed.

http://www.examiner.com/article/new-scientific-breakthrough-proves-why-acupuncture-works

In fact, many scientific studies have shown that acupuncture does work, and have even shown why it is beneficial. Studies by Russian researchers back in the 1990s have shown that electrical systems and impulses within the body are actually redirected, and after measuring the electrical changes, and noting the improvement in the patient’s condition, it has been shown that the needles are actually causing the pain to be less and were eliminated through their insertion into the skin.

Acupuncture Benefits

There are many benefits to acupuncture that are commonly known.

It has provided relief for individuals that have suffered from chronic back pain that only opiate-based medications could actually tackle. On the WebMD website, there is significant documentation showing that back pain has been reduced with acupuncture, or even acupressure when pressure was applied to the same exact Meridien points.

http://www.webmd.com/back-pain/news/20090511/acupuncture-may-ease-chronic-back-pain

On the American pregnancy Association website, it has shown that women that have been infertile have been able to conceive as a result of receiving acupuncture treatments.

Just a few years ago on the Dr. Oz program, positive results were actually revealed in regard to how acupuncture was able to help people lose weight.

http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/acupuncture-and-weight-loss

Positive results have also been shown with those that have received acupuncture and have been able to conquer either depression or anxiety, or even both.

http://psychcentral.com/lib/acupuncture-anxiety-depression/00017321

In fact, for those that have suffered from many of the symptoms associated with having anxiety, which include having an irregular heartbeat, negative thoughts, behavioral problems, and uncharacteristic levels of restlessness, aggression and even fear, by receiving regular acupuncture treatments, these symptoms of anxiety diminished greatly, or even completely vanished.

Now that you know that acupuncture does have many benefits, including the possibility of helping you with your anxiety, let’s look at a few of the acupuncture points, where they are located on your body.

Acupuncture Points

In order to understand how acupuncture works, let’s look at a few of them is common places on the body that an acupuncturist will target in order to help you feel better. Whether you are doing acupuncture, acupressure, sonopuncture or laser acupuncture treatments, there are literally hundreds of different points on your body which are called meridians.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acupuncture_point

There are many different acupuncture points all over your body, many of which are separated based upon how they affect your body, and their location on your skin. Acupuncture meridian points include:

  • Lung Meridian
  • Large Intestine Meridian
  • Stomach Meridian
  • Spleen Meridian
  • Heart Meridian
  • Small Intestine Meridian
  • Urinary Bladder Meridian
  • Kidney Meridian
  • Pericardium Meridian
  • San Jiao Meridian
  • Gall Bladder Meridian
  • Liver Meridian

By applying pressure, inserting needles, using sound or even laser acupuncture treatments, by modifying these particular areas of your body, you can start to see relief from the anxiety that you are feeling.

http://www.acupuncture.com/education/points/

Although you could go to an acupuncturist to have this done, by knowing which areas of your body to focus upon, by using acupressure, which is simply applying pressure with your fingers to these specific areas of your body, you can begin to treat your own anxiety.

Does this mean that you should do this on your own opposed to using a professional acupuncturist? Absolutely not! However, by looking at what acupressure is, and testing this for yourself, you can get a rough idea of how the actual treatment can begin to help you with your anxiety attacks.

Acupressure Points

A basic definition of acupressure is doing acupuncture without the needles. It is also part of the basics of traditional Chinese medicine or TCM, and is something that every person can perform, to some degree, on their own.

Acupressure actually works by targeting the meridian points at certain places on your body which include your feet, elbows, palms of your hands, and also your fingers. It may involve some form of stretching as well.

If you have this done by someone else, it is similar to a massage, taking about an hour of your time in order to see positive results.

The goal of acupressure is to restore health and balance to your body, the same as with all forms of acupuncture. You are effectively changing the energy fields of your body, which can help modify the way you feel, and also the way that you think.

http://www.webmd.com/balance/guide/acupressure-points-and-massage-treatment

The easiest way to do this yourself is either by using meridian points on your hands, or your feet. If you do this by yourself, you’ll simply use the opposing hand to press at specific locations on the other.

http://acuarios-self-help-health-wellness.blogspot.com/2012/09/acupressure-points-of-hand.html

If you do this on your feet, a technique called reflexology, you would simply apply pressure with your fingers to certain areas of your feet in order to receive help for different areas of your body, or to change your frame of mind.

http://www.acupressure.com/applications/reflexology_and_acupressure.htm

By using some of the tutorials that we have referenced here, or simply working with a specialist that focuses upon acupressure or reflexology, you’ll start to notice a definite change in the way that you feel, providing some relief from the anxiety that you are experiencing today.

Acupuncture for Anxiety

On the Psych Central website, they discuss many of the benefits to using acupuncture in order to relieve the symptoms typically associated with anxiety. Many people have found relief from generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), panic disorder, social anxiety disorder, post dramatic stress disorder (PTSD) and also obsessive compulsive disorders (OCD).

The reason that acupuncture, and acupressure, seems to work so well is that anxiety is caused by changes in the biochemistry of a human being. Certain people are more susceptible to anxiety, which has been shown to be a chemical imbalance in the brain.

http://psychcentral.com/lib/acupuncture-anxiety-depression/00017321

There are many drugs that have been used to successfully treat anxiety including Cymbalta, Prozac, Xanax, Lexapro and others. Many of these are SSRI’s, or selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, drugs that will allow an increase of serotonin within your brain.

http://www.healthcentral.com/anxiety/r/medications/

Serotonin is a hormone that is commonly found in the digestive tract of our bodies, and also in our central nervous system. More importantly, it is also found in our brain, produced by the pineal gland. In the brain, it acts as a neurotransmitter, allowing for higher amounts of synaptic activity. By increasing the amount of synaptic activity in the brain, this has been shown to lessen the effects of anxiety in millions of people worldwide.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/232248.php

Acupuncture and acupressure have been shown to produce analgesia, a form of pain relief, as a result of pressure applied, or needles inserted, into meridian points. Just as the body naturally produces endorphins when pain and stress are experienced, the systematic application of pressure and pain through the needles can also achieve the same effect. This analgesia, these feel-good hormones, is also what will lead to a reduction in the anxiety that you experience every day.

http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=55001

Now let’s look at what you can do on your own, or what your acupuncturist can do for you, in order to provide you with relief from your anxiety.

How To Get Instant Relief From Anxiety Right Now!
 

Although working with a professional acupuncturist or acupressure specialist will be the best way to get control of your anxiety using these ancient Oriental techniques, here are a few things that you can do on your own before you are able to set your appointment.

Starting with your right hand, and measuring three fingers down from your wrist, you will be able to find the first pressure point that can help you almost instantly relieve your anxiety.

You will want to use your thumb on your opposing hand to apply mild pressure to this area. You will now if you are pressing hard enough when you feel a slight amount of discomfort.

The goal is to interrupt the way that you are feeling right now by applying pressure to this area. You will want to hold pressure at this location for at least two or three minutes. Once done with the right hand, you need to do the same on the left.

http://www.stop-anxiety-panic-attack.com/blog/acupressure-for-anxiety

When you are able to have your actual appointment with an acupuncturist or acupuncture specialist, this specific point is known as acupuncture point Neiguan or P6. This is a common pressure point that many people had been instructed to use on cruise ships in order to alleviate seasickness. When you are able to have your actual appointment, the specialist will also use pressure or needles on points St36, Liv3, Sp9, and LI4.

http://sanfranciscofertilityacupuncture.blogspot.com/2010/07/acupressure-effective-for-relieving.html

You can see an entire list of all of the points on the human body by going to this website:

http://www.yinyanghouse.com/acupuncturepoints/locations_theory_and_clinical_applications

By using this simple technique, you will be able to get control of your anxiety when you have an anxiety attack come upon you. And by working with and acupressure or acupuncture specialist on a regular basis, you will be able to get control of your life once again.