Introduction:
Acupuncture is a form of therapy and alternative medicine based on the insertion of thin and specific needles into specific points on people´s bodies at various depths. Being a key component of traditional Chinese medicine is based on different philosophies and techniques. It is commonly used combined with other types of treatments to relieve people from pain and boost their wellbeing, but its benefits are not limited to these (1, 2, 3).
As stated above, acupuncture is widely used in traditional Chinese medicine. This explains that health is found when our complementary extremes, “yin and yang”, are in total balance, and when these two forces present an unbalance, illness appears.
These forces belong to our life force, “qi”, which travels through our bodies following certain pathways. Experts on the matter say that there are 350 points in the human body to access this energy. Acupuncture takes advantage of these points to achieve the proper balance of the forces.
Until now, there is no scientific proof that these energy pathways exist, but at the same time, several investigations and theories suggest that acupuncture is helpful to treat certain medical conditions through diverse mechanisms (4, 5, 6, 7).
In a few kinds of research, neuroscience was used as a method to explain acupuncture, taking the energy points as stimulation points of muscles, nerves, and connective tissue. Stimulating these points should increase blood circulation and activating our body´s natural painkillers.
Indications:
Acupuncture has been used to relieve symptomatology of:
- Headaches.
- Migraines.
- Neck, low back, spine, facial, dental, and knee pain.
- Osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.
- Fibromyalgia and neuralgia.
- Sprains.
- Tennis elbow.
- Sciatica.
- Stiff neck.
- Post-operative rehabilitation.
- Blood pressure conditions.
- Nausea and vomiting induced by medical conditions like migraines, pregnancy, or chemotherapy.
- Labor induction.
- Gastrointestinal conditions such as gastric ulcers and dysentery.
- Allergic rhinitis and cough.
- Strokes.
- Vascular dementia.
- Tourette syndrome.
- Alcohol, tobacco, and drug addiction.
- Certain infections like the ones of the urinary tract.
Complications:
As per its possible complications, acupuncture is considered a safe treatment; however, most of the risks of practicing acupuncture involve the moment of the needle insertion, possibly producing certain soreness, bleeding, and bruising in those points. More rarely, the insertion of the needle could damage an internal organ such as the lung when inserted too deep into the thoracic cavity (2, 7, 8, 9).
If the patient has some conditions that affect blood fluidity, it may be dangerous to practice acupuncture as a treatment method. Additionally, if the practitioner does not correctly sterilize the needles, the patient may get infected with some disease. For these reasons, the United States FDA created certain norms and regulations for the use of needles and licensed practitioners who apply them.
Summary:
Hopefully, in the near future, more studies and strategies will be developed to increase acupuncture efficacy, effectiveness, and qualitative measures, strengthening the evidence around it and considering it as a conventional treatment method for medical conditions (10).