When thinking about your mental health, acupuncture may not be the first intervention that comes to mind. But acupuncture can be an extremely effective addition to your mental health treatment plan, which is why we offer acupuncture services at LynLake Centers for Wellbeing in Minneapolis. 

What is Acupuncture?

Acupuncture is an ancient practice that originated in China over 3,000 years ago. Now practiced around the world by hundreds of thousands of trained providers (over 35,000 in the US alone), acupuncture has a significant body of evidence demonstrating its ability to improve many aspects of physical and psychological functioning. The practice of acupuncture involves inserting tiny needles through your skin at strategic points in the body. While the exact mechanisms for why acupuncture works as well as it does are still not fully understood, there is little doubt that acupuncture is an effective tool for healing. 

How acupuncture can improve mental health

When asked what benefits people might gain from adding acupuncture to their mental health treatment plan, our acupuncturists at LynLake  highlighted the following:

  • Reduced anxiety. Acupuncture may be able to calm and regulate an overstimulated nervous system, thus reducing how reactive your body is to the stressors of daily life.
  • Reconnecting with your body. If you often feel disconnected or dissociated from your body, acupuncture may help reconnect your mind with your body, allowing you to feel more fully present. 
  • Relief from chronic pain. Chronic pain has a significant negative impact on mental health, and can lead to depression, irritability and a lack of resilience. Acupuncture is an evidence-based treatment for chronic pain conditions, including fibromyalgia, migraines, back pain, and neck pain. 
  • Improved sleep. Given that sleep is probably among the top contributing factors to mental health conditions, taking steps to improve the quality and quantity of your sleep can have a big impact on your mental health. Acupuncture may be able to improve both quality and quantity of sleep.. 
  • Stress management. Acupuncture may be able to help you manage stress by reducing stress hormones and increasing the circulation of endorphins in the body. Acupuncture may also help alleviate physical symptoms of stress, such as muscle tension, GI distress, and headaches. 
  • Increased energy. People often find that they have more energy and motivation following acupuncture, which can improve mood and overall sense of wellbeing. 
  • Reduced symptoms of PTSD. Emerging research suggests that acupuncture can be a highly effective, non-invasive approach to treating physiological symptoms of PTSD, in part by calming the nervous system, but also by helping the body “reconsolidate” traumatic memories in a way that reduces their ability to trigger the strong negative emotional responses associated with PTSD.  

It is also important to point out that not everyone feels comfortable talking about sensitive, or even traumatic, events and topics. And many people are hesitant to use pharmaceuticals to treat their mental health symptoms, in large part because of the side effects that often come with them. Acupuncture provides mental health benefits with no side effects, and without having to go into detail about the more vulnerable parts of your inner world..
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How acupuncture can improve physical health

There is a giant body of research supporting acupuncture to treat physical health conditions, which is why most insurance plans now cover acupuncture as a medical intervention. And of course, improvements in your physical health will almost always lead to improvements in your mental health (the brain and body are connected, after all). Here are just a few of the many evidence-based physical health conditions acupuncture can help with: 

  • Chronic pain. As mentioned earlier, acupuncture has been used for thousands of years to treat a variety of pain conditions, including fibromyalgia, arthritis, migraines, back pain, and neck pain. 
  • Digestive issues. Acupuncture may be able to help with digestion by stimulating the nervous system to help with gut motility (i.e., moving food through the digestive tract to prevent constipation), and may also be effective at relieving other common digestive issues such as gas, bloating, and acid reflux (GERD). 
  • Post-operative recovery. Acupuncture may be able to speed up the healing process following surgery by promoting blood flow, releasing endorphins, limiting swelling, and easing pain. 

What to expect at your acupuncture session

The acupuncturists at LynLake Centers for Wellbeing take a whole-body approach to their work. Before they begin treating you, they will gather comprehensive information about your mental and physical health, your treatment goals, your symptoms and where you feel them in your body, and they will answer any questions you have about acupuncture. Then, your acupuncturist will do a physical assessment that is somewhat similar to what you would expect at a wellness physical at a doctor’s office, but through the lens of Chinese medicine. 

Once you and your acupuncturist have agreed on a plan for your acupuncture treatment, they will use whatever approach they believe will address your current symptoms and treatment goals. Often, but not always, this involves using acupuncture needles. Believe it or not, acupuncture needles do not cause pain – you may not even feel them at all! Your acupuncturist may decide to use a different form of acupuncture, depending on your needs and treatment goals. These may include the following: 

  • Acupressure is a manual technique that stimulates the same acupuncture points. Practitioners use their hands, feet, elbows or other devices to stimulate these areas instead of needles.
  • Moxibustion utilizes dried herbs which are burned on or near the surface of the skin.
  • Electroacupuncture is a form of acupuncture that utilizes 2 needles at or near the acupuncture point instead of one, with a mild electric current passing through them.

Frequent questions about Acupuncture

How many sessions does it take for acupuncture to work? 

  • Not surprisingly, the number of sessions required for acupuncture to work depends on many factors, including the condition(s) being treated, factors specific to the person receiving acupuncture, and what other treatments the person is receiving in conjunction with acupuncture. Acute pain or injury may only require 3-6 treatments, whereas more complex, chronic conditions may take up to a year to resolve. 

Does insurance cover acupuncture? 

  • Many insurance providers now cover acupuncture for physical health conditions, such as chronic pain, physical injuries, and post-surgery recovery. Some insurance plans may also cover acupuncture for mental health conditions, but if they do not, acupuncture treatments can be paid for using your HSA or flex spending accounts. Be sure to talk with your health insurance provider so that you know ahead of time what your plan does and does not cover. 

When should I refer my client to an acupuncturist? 

  • If you are a therapist or other healthcare provider, you may want to consider encouraging your client or patient to consider adding acupuncture to their treatment plan. Acupuncture can be particularly beneficial for therapy clients who seem to express their emotional symptoms primarily as physical symptoms (e.g., migraines, chronic pain, muscle tension, GI issues, etc), as well as clients who often feel disconnected from their bodies. Clients who struggle with sleep problems may also benefit from acupuncture. 

The Wrap Up

Acupuncture is a powerful tool that has been used for over 3,000 years to treat a variety of mental and physical health conditions. It is an effective, non-invasive, relatively low-cost treatment that is free of side effects. While most people are familiar with acupuncture as a treatment for pain conditions, there is a growing body of evidence suggesting that acupuncture can be a highly effective tool for treating mental health conditions as well, including PTSD. If you haven’t considered acupuncture before, now may be the time to give it a try. Our acupuncturists in Minneapolis are ready to help you accomplish your mental and physical health goals today. 
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