When you are injured and don’t want to become addicted to or experience narcotic pain medication side effects acupuncture and herbal medicine stand as a proven treatment method that works. When most people tell a doctor they don’t want narcotic medication for a soft tissue or ligament related injury the first response is to prescribe extreme does of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medications like Tylenol and ibuprofen.
The problem often shifts to extreme amounts of over work and side effects in the liver and stomach. The only proven method to treat osteoarthritis, ligament strains, muscle tension or stiffness, back stiffness, disk degeneration, and many other sports injury related ailments without surgery is acupuncture. There are even modern studies and practices evaluating the use of acupuncture for brain trauma and medicinal treatments for frontline deployed military personnel.
In addition, acupuncture is one of the only alternative medicine alternatives to surgery or pharmaceuticals with proven benefits. Study after study recommend acupuncture to improve joint function, manage pain and restore quality of life without side effects. One of the most important aspects of treatment is choosing a provider with the skills, knowledge and licenses to properly administer treatment.
When acupuncture and herbal natural medicine are combined treatment success increases by approximately 25%. Both treatment methods begin by focusing on the functions of the kidneys, liver, spleen and stomach. As each organ strength and function improves acupuncture is utilized to increase blood circulation to the target area(s) naturally improving the resiliency and healing factor of our immune system. Many athletes and normal people alike use acupuncture and natural medicine to reduce injury likelihood, reoccurrence, and recover at rapid speeds when compared to pharmaceutical medicine.
According to Sports Medicine Reports, “Growing evidence supports acupuncture treatment for several common sports medicine injuries. Acupuncture, used as a primary or adjunct treatment, may be associated with fewer side effects compared with medications…. Back pain is one of the most common medical complaints, estimated to affect up to two-thirds of the U.S. population at some point in their lifetime.” “Finally, Lee et al. published a systematic review of the literature on the use of acupuncture to treat acute and subacute lower back pain in 2013.
The review included 11 randomized controlled trials from 1980 to 2011, focusing on outcomes of symptom and functional improvement. The study only considered randomized trials comparing needle acupuncture with a control. It excluded trials using acupuncture-related techniques (acupressure, moxibustion, laser, and magnetic device) and trials that compared different forms of acupuncture against each other. Five studies noted that compared with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatories, acupuncture may more effectively relieve symptoms of acute lower back pain.