Anxiety
Acupuncture and Anxiety
Anxiety is a discrete period of intense fear, apprehensiveness or discomfort that can cause many illnesses and exacerbate current ones. Symptoms of anxiety include palpitations, sweating, trembling, shortness of breath, feeling of choking, chest pain, nausea, dizziness, and fear of losing control.
Anxiety may be lead to serious pathologies such as peptic ulcer, ulcerative colitis, and bronchial asthma. Most people have experienced anxiety at some time in their life. There are situations in life that warrant some level of anxiety, however, when the frequency and degree of anxiety increase to a level that becomes uncomfortable or limits the quality of life, then some type of treatment or intervention is necessary.
Prescription medication, i.e. tranqulizers, are effective for the temporary relief of anxiety but may have numerous and sometimes deadly side effects. They are also addicting and potentially lethal. Alcohol is commonly used to relieve anxiety, but the consequences of self-medication with alcohol may be very unfavorable.
Traditional Chinese medicine considers anxiety a result of an imbalance between the Yin and Yang. In many cases, it can be effectively relieved by acupuncture. The efficacy of treatment is contingent upon the severity of the problem. Some patients have remained essentially anxiety free after only a few treatments. Others have shown improvement after 5-6 treatments.
Here’s a research study from the Yale University School of Medicine called
Auricular Acupuncture Effective in Treating Anxiety.