It’s never easy to resolve the pain caused by arthritis and what’s more, toxic arthritis medications are the usual modes of treatment to help manage arthritis symptoms. If you have arthritis, you can try acupuncture as a safe and powerful way to relieve pain.

Acupuncture for the relief of arthritic pain

As a form of traditional Chinese medicine in Bellingham, acupuncture has been one of the main modalities used to treat arthritis pain for tens of centuries. Fairly recently, it has now become a highly popular alternative type of treatment used by both medical doctors and traditional Chinese medicine practitioners alike.

In terms of relieving any type of pain, acupuncture has been shown to be consistently effective. Joint and arthritis pain relief are just two of the common reasons for the use of acupuncture in the West. A lot of people suffer from different kinds of arthritis including gout, osteoarthritis, degenerative arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis and psoriatic arthritis and many of them use acupuncture either combined with or instead of medication or other forms of arthritis therapy.

Acupuncture basically is a treatment that uses very fine needles inserted into a number of points, known as acupuncture points in the body. These points are usually found near the affected part of your body and can be tender to the touch prior to the insertion of the needle. Other acupuncture points used for arthritis pain relief may be quite remote from the affected joint and acupuncturists oftentimes term these points as “distal points.” Depending on the type of acupuncture the practitioner uses you can expect around to about 15 needles inserted in each session of treatment

For many sufferers of arthritis, three to six sessions of treatment are usually needed before their pain subside. The process is relatively painless since the acupuncture needles used are as thin as a stand of human hair. The needles remain in your skin for around 20 minutes of so.

How is acupuncture used in arthritis pain relief?

When you begin treatment, your initial acupuncture session may last for an hour, after that, other sessions may be shorter in length. The patient may have two to more than 15 extremely thin needles inserted in various parts of his/her body for several minutes. This may sound scary, but since these needles are a thin as a single strand of hair in your head, the most you can feel is a slight numbness or tingling sensation. When the needles are inserted, the acupuncturist may turn or rotate the needles to enhance stimulation.

The number of acupuncture treatments you need may depend on how long you’ve had the pain and the severity of your symptoms. If your condition is chronic and complex the treatment may require a week to several months to get treated.

Though most people who have tried acupuncture do not suffer any side effects from it, some can suffer problems like infection or bleeding or infection. People who are tying acupuncture for the first time may come out feeling dizzy after the end of the treatment.

You need to try acupuncture if you are not satisfied with your current treatment. Who knows? It may prove to be the best form of arthritis treatment you’ve been looking for.