More and more people are becoming stressed than ever. In fact, a US study involving 6,300 participants over the past 25 years revealed that women became 18% more stressed while men became 24% more stressed during the said period.
There are various ways to fight stress naturally. You can cut down your caffeine intake, keep a diary, or even go on a remedial massage to help relax your muscles and calm the nerves.
Apart from these natural methods, acupuncture for stress is also a nice way to reduce the stress levels in your life. Continue reading to find out why this is something worth considering.
What are the Negative Effects of Stress?
Meetings, deadlines, and toxic people: all these result in stress.
Stress cause problems in your mental and physical health and relationships. The body can only handle stress up to a certain point and anything more can lead to any of the following:
Muscle Tension
This is usually the first and most obvious sign of stress on the body. Muscle tension is almost always an automatic reaction when the body is faced with stress.
Furthermore, constant stress causes the body to always be tensed. This tension is more likely to lead to headaches, migraines, or even worse, a state of chronic pain.
Circulatory Problems
When stressed, your heart tends to beat faster and work harder and cause high blood pressure. Research has shown that there’s a link between stress and heart problems.
Stroke, heart disease, and hypertension can all be negative effects of stress.
Under stress, the muscles of the arteries constrict and raise the pressure of the blood flowing in them. Your chances for a stroke or heart attack then increases the longer the blood pressure remains elevated.
Gastrointestinal Issues
If you’re constantly stressed for a long period, problems can start to arise in your stomach or GI tract.
For example, you may eat more than usual or stop eating completely. Heartburn or acid reflux may begin or worsen.
Over a short period, you may experience nausea or even vomiting. However, if neglected, you can experience a severe pain in your stomach or even develop ulcers.
Digestion can be affected, too. The body releases various kinds of hormones under stress and some of them can cause stomach problems.
Reproductive Problems
Stress can harm both the reproductive systems of men and women.
For men, continued stress can lead to lower testosterone levels, a decreased sperm count, or even impotence. Meanwhile, women can experience problems with their menstrual cycles such as irregular and painful periods, PMS, or decreased sexual desire.
Acupuncture for Stress: A Brief History
Acupuncture is a form of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and has also been around for thousands of years. It’s centered on stimulating specific parts of the body with hair-like needles.
It’s seen as a complementary and alternative medicine here in the country. More people have experienced its benefits so the therapy continues to become popular.
The therapy has long been used to treat various ailments, including those related to stress. By stimulating acupuncture points, your energy flow and imbalances in the body become corrected.
Today, more people are receiving acupuncture for stress as its usefulness becomes clearer.
The Efficiency of Acupuncture for Stress
The fight or flight response is the body’s natural way of dealing with what’s happening around it. However, this is also the reason why relaxing can sometimes be a challenge.
When someone is always on alert, his or her health and body will pay for the long-term effects of stress. Aside from those mentioned, these can include depression, sleep problems, or even memory loss.
Stress can even make people look older quickly—it can literally show up on your face!
This is why acupuncture is a great way of destressing naturally. However, since everyone reacts differently to treatments, the number of acupuncture for stress sessions you’ll need can vary.
Proof Supporting Acupuncture for Stress
Acupuncture helps stimulate the central nervous system to release natural body chemicals. These chemicals control how you process things including how you feel pain, anger, and stress.
In fact, a 2003 study by the World Health Organization (WHO) showed that acupuncture affects the body in so many ways.
For example, it activates the opioid system (controls reward, pain, and addictive behaviors) and stimulates electromagnetic signals. It alters neurotransmitters, too, to change brain chemistry positively!
Also, acupuncture shuts down parts of the brain and decreases some of its natural activities. This allows the limbic system (the one that deals with memory and emotions) to deactivate stress and pain regions in the brain.
Final Thoughts
We encourage you to try acupuncture for stress to correct your body’s balance. Schedule an appointment with us today to have a sense of calm and relaxation after each treatment.