Six things you didn't know acupuncture can treat

Acupuncture can help ease pain, but did you know it can be effective for other health issues, like allergies, anxiety and depression?

Check out these six conditions that acupuncture can treat:

1. Seasonal allergies
   One well-researched effect of acupuncture is reducing inflammation throughout the body. Acupuncture stimulates chemicals that reduce swelling and quiet unwanted immune responses and allergic reactions. Acupuncture also helps strengthen the digestive system, which can be a source of unrecognized inflammation, making allergies worse. With just a few weeks of regular treatment, acupuncture can help eliminate the symptoms of seasonal allergies.
2. Digestive complaints
   Gas, bloating, constipation or bowel changes are signs that there is something wrong in your digestive system. Acupuncture is known to regulate digestive function. In fact, there is an entire school of thought in Chinese medicine that treats the digestive system for any illness, based on the belief that when the gut functions properly, the entire system can maintain its balance.
3. Sciatic pain
   Sciatica is a terribly painful disorder caused by the compression of the sciatic nerve—a very long nerve that begins in the low back and branches down into each leg, continuing all the way to the feet. Those who experience it know sciatic pain is challenging to calm with over-the-counter medication. The pain can be felt anywhere along the nerve and keep you from enjoying daily life. Acupuncture can be incredibly useful in treating sciatic pain. I have seen a patient pain-free for the first time in years after only a few acupuncture sessions. It is definitely worth a try.
4. Insomnia
   Insomnia can come in many forms. Some people have difficulty falling asleep while others feel tired only to find that as soon as they lie down, their brains become active. Others have no trouble falling asleep, but wake up during the night—usually between 2-3 a.m.—and have trouble going back to sleep. Some people struggle with both falling and staying asleep. Properly placed acupuncture needles coupled with herbal medicine can be life changing for people who need to get more ZZZs.
5. Anxiety, stress and depression
   Maintaining a stable emotional state can be difficult, and for those people who all-too-often feel unsettled, acupuncture can help balance and regulate emotions. It stimulates the part of your nervous system that promotes a calm state of being. It can help you feel settled, grounded and positive. It also relaxes the brain and muscles, which reduces stress throughout the body.
6. KIDS!
   Many parents don't feel they have options other than antibiotics or over-the-counter drugs for common ailments like viral ear infections, eczema, constipation, colic, sleep disorders, allergies and behavioral issues. That's where Eastern medicine can come in. Chinese medicine, which has been safely treating children and adolescents for thousands of years, offers herbal medicine, acupuncture and non-needle techniques, such as pediatric massage, tuina and shoni shin, as natural options to complement Western medicine for our littlest patients.