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Writer's pictureDr. Mio Hamasaki

How Does Acupuncture Work?

A published article (Wong and Shen, 2010) explained the various scientific methods of action of acupuncture that help relieve pain, regulate body systems, and improve mental health:


1. Mechanotransduction: Acupuncture needles stimulate immune cell activity in a localized area because needles are “foreign invaders” to the body. The increase in immune cell activity helps the body heal itself.


2. Autonomous Nervous System: Acupuncture inhibits the sympathetic nervous system (which is activated in response to stress and danger) by stimulating the parasympathetic nervous system (which helps recover from stress and danger by relaxing the cardiovascular and muscular systems and normalizing visceral functions).


3. Gate Control: Acupuncture needles trigger a signal to the brain using a different nervous pathway than one that is triggered with sensations of pain. This signal overrides the pain signal being sent to the brain and less pain is perceived by the person.


4. Postsynaptic Inhibition: Acupuncture stimulates the brain in a way that leads to an increase in serotonin and noradrenalin, which dampens the pain signals.


5. Embryonic Singularity: The meridians and points of acupuncture theory follow the pathways of cellular communication that are established in the body while an embryo is growing in utero. Such intercellular communications are utilized by acupuncture to improve, for example, organ functionality by stimulating external areas (reachable by acupuncture) that are on the same pathway as the corresponding organ.


Reference:

Wong, M. C., & Shen, H. J. (2010). Science-based mechanisms to explain the action of acupuncture.Journal of the Association of Traditional Chinese Medicine, UK.

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