Of all the many anecdotal benefits of acupuncture, its use in treating anxiety is among the best-known. Stress acupuncture may alleviate physical symptoms such as tense muscles and insomnia as well as calming your mind to allow you to focus and feel more in control of your own life.
What are the symptoms of anxiety?
Anxiety generally refers to an ongoing feeling of unease or dread, particularly about things that might happen, or things in the future. Everyone experiences it sometimes, but when it lasts for a prolonged period or is particularly disproportionate to actual events, it may rise to the level of an anxiety disorder.
Symptoms of anxiety vary between people. Common manifestations include a racing heartbeat, shortness of breath, trembling hands, restlessness, difficulty sleeping, irritability, sleep problems, lack of appetite or other digestive issues, poor concentration, impaired memory and a general feeling that your life is out of control.
What causes these symptoms?
When we encounter stressful situations, we enter what is colloquially known as “fight or flight mode”. This can be described as switching from the parasympathetic nervous system, so-called “rest and digest”, which controls our body’s unconscious reactions, to the sympathetic nervous system, which prepares the body for a more active response.
Hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline are released, there are increases in your heart rate and blood pressure, and you start taking in more oxygen. Blood flows to the muscles to ensure they are ready to move, causing them to become tense. If this tension is not released quickly, they may start to shake. All of this preparation is to enable the body to react rapidly to danger without needing to think, but if it lasts too long, it puts the body under a lot of strain.
How can anxiety acupuncture help?
Acupuncture encourages your body to start to heal itself. Traditionally, it brings it back into balance. The endorphins released during an acupuncture session relieve pain and stress while boosting your mood. Stress hormones like cortisol are lowered as the sympathetic nervous system is calmed, and the parasympathetic system starts to govern your responses again. As physical symptoms reduce, your mind also becomes clearer.
After a course of acupuncture for stress and anxiety, you may find that your muscles are more relaxed, your heart rate and breathing more regulated, your appetite and digestion improved, your concentration and memory both better and your sleep much more restful. It is possible to start experiencing relief after just one session, but multiple sessions may have a more long-term impact.
Why choose stress acupuncture over other treatments?
You do not need to choose acupuncture and regular medicine. They can be used in concert, allowing you to experience the benefits of both. It is also relatively common to use acupuncture alongside other alternative therapies, such as reflexology.
In other cases, if other treatments have proved ineffective or you are concerned about potential side effects from medication, you may turn to acupuncture as an alternative. It is minimally invasive, and as long as your acupuncturist is properly qualified, the risk of harm is low. The most important thing is to ensure sterile needles are used.
Everyone experiences stress slightly differently, but anxiety acupuncture can be used to target a wide range of symptoms. The improved sense of calm may positively impact everything from your sleep to your digestion to your clarity of thought, leaving you better prepared to deal with other causes of stress in future.