Chronic Neck Pain is a common problem that can interfere with a person's daily activities. Most often, chronic neck pain is due to nonspecific problems with the muscles, tendons, and bones of the neck.
Acupuncture is a medical treatment, developed in China thousands of years ago, involves putting special needles into specific points of the body to treat chronic neck pain. Increasingly, mainstream medicine is recognizing acupuncture as an effective treatment for a variety of disorders.
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Back Pain is one of the most common reasons people seek medical attention, and also one of the most expensive conditions in the United States; in 1999, nearly one million people in the U.S. took time away from work to treat and recover from some sort of back pain. Back problems can be caused by an inordinately wide range of problems. It can exist alone, or it can be caused by a condition that occurs elsewhere in the body, with the pain being transmitted (referred) to areas of the back by the nervous system. The majority of backache sufferers complain of pain in the lower back; the second most common site of discomfort is the base of the neck.
Acupuncture can play an important role in the reduction or elimination of back pain by reducing recovery time and preventing a chronic condition from developing. Research has shown that acupuncture causes the body to produce natural steroids and promote the production of natural endorphins. Steroids decrease inflammation, while endorphins are produced by the body to kill pain. Both substances can play an integral part in the breaking up of the pain cycle.
By reducing acute back pain, acupuncture may also reduce the chances of chronic back pain from occurring. It can help avoid the need for costlier and more invasive surgical procedures. And if back pain can be significantly reduced with acupuncture, it also lowers the need for painkillers or other medications that can either cause unwanted side effects or prolong a patient's condition.
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Migraine is a biologically based disorder. Its symptoms are the result of changes in the brain, not a weakness in character or an inappropriate reaction to stress. For many years, scientists believed migraines were linked to the dilation and constriction of blood vessels in the head. They now believe migraine is caused by inherited abnormalities in certain cells in the brain. People with migraine have an enduring predisposition to attacks triggered by a range of factors. Specific, abnormal genes have been identified for some forms of migraine. In the U.S. alone, as many as 28 million women and men-roughly 13 percent of the population-suffer from migraine headaches, according to the American Migraine Study II.
Anyone who's suffered a migraine can tell you, these headaches, when left untreated or treated ineffectively, can disrupt every aspect of a person's life, from the ability to work to day-to-day activities and relationships. They can eventually lead to a loss of self-confidence, sense of control and self-esteem.
Women experience migraines three times more frequently than men. Researchers have found that migraines have a greater overall impact on the lives of female sufferers, affecting their self-esteem, professional development and family and social life.
Acupuncture is widely used in the Treatment of headaches. It can be applied as a single form of care, or as part of a comprehensive treatment program.
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