Acupuncture for PMS
Acupuncture is an ancient Chinese medical practice developed over two millennia that is based on the concept that within the body, everything travels around using channels or pathways which link various different parts of the body together.
Building on this concept, it is assumed that any kind of pain or problem, whether it is physical or a psychological thing, is caused by these channels becoming blocked so that the normal bodily balance is disturbed. In more modern times, it has been accepted (since the 1970s) that acupuncture really does have a positive impact on the body’s pain regulatory system because it changes the processing of pain related information by the central nervous system.
Consequently, whereas not all that long ago, acupuncture was considered to be an alternative form of medical treatment, it is now much more widely accepted in the mainstream with many doctors including acupuncture in the range of pain solutions that they offer their patients.
Acupuncture for PMS
Most people who have undergone acupuncture report a feeling of deep relaxation and pleasure after they have finished their treatment. Thus, even on this fairly peripheral level, it is clear that acupuncture has the ability to relax and de-stress any patient.
However, acupuncture also has the ability to be far more precise and targeted than this, with a skilled acupuncturist having the ability to deal with both localized physical pain and specific psychological problems by unblocking the bodily pathways that caused those problems in the first place. For example, if one of your major PMS symptoms is a regular blinding headache, acupuncture can be used to deal with that specific problem and the same would apply if your main problem is abdominal pain or sore breasts.
Acupuncture for PMS
Furthermore, whilst traditional acupuncture uses long thin needles to unblock the pathways, even if you have an aversion to needles (and many people do), acupuncture might still work for you because it is nowadays increasingly common to use electric probes rather than needles.
In fact, because electricity is far more controllable than needlescould ever be – you can turn an electrical current up or down for example – many patients report that acupuncture using electrical probes is even more relaxing and effective for killing pain than the traditional needle-based method.
Acupuncture for PMS
Of course, unlike yoga, meditation or deep breathing, most people are not going to use acupuncture on themselves at home. For example, if you were using traditional acupuncture needles, puncturing yourself carries obvious dangers and even using electricity is not complete without risk, nor is it especially likely to be particularly effective either.
In short, if you would like to try acupuncture as a way of reducing the severity of your premenstrual syndrome symptoms, you need to find a fully qualified acupuncturist locally with whom you can discuss your problems and situation.
Acupuncture for PMS
In this scenario, if you know any fellow PMS sufferers who have used acupuncture to deal with their symptoms, seek their advice before choosing any particular practitioner.
If you do not know anyone, there are many sites where you can find lists of qualified acupuncture practitioners (there are lists on the American Academy of Medical Acupuncture, the British Acupuncture Council and the AACMA site for Australia) and using an appropriate list would be an easy way of finding someone locally who can help.
Finally, don’t forget that you can use Google Maps to find almost anything you want in your locality, so this is another extremely efficient way of finding the information you need.
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