Is Acupuncture for Sciatica Pain Effective?

Maybe you’ve talked to your doctor or chiropractor about your sciatica pain. Maybe they’ve given you a few pain pills and told you to do a few stretches and sent you on your way. If you’re like most people, this doesn’t really lead anywhere and your pain never goes away. If you’re afraid that things might get worse and you may have to get surgery to help your pain, perhaps you are ready to consider alternative treatments before going under the knife.

This is where acupuncture comes in. There’s probably a good chance you’ve heard of acupuncture before, but if you’re like most people, the thought of being used as a human pin cushion seems anything but a treatment for healing.

If you don’t know, there is actually quite a bit of knowledge and study required to do acupuncture the correct way. A good acupuncturist won’t just randomly jam a bunch of needles into you and hope for the best. In fact, acupuncture is based on a very old healing tradition called Traditional Chinese Medicine, or TCM for short.

TCM is based on the idea that energy called chi or qi flows through your body. Health problems such as sciatica or back pain can develop when this energy become blocked or stagnant in a certain area of the body. This energy flows through your body in channels called meridians and by placing pins in specific energy meridians, the acupuncturist can help to open up blocked energy or help stimulate stagnated energy. When this energy is flowing normally again, the body can naturally heal itself and your sciatica pain will naturally clear itself up.

Western science explains that acupuncture may work to relieve pain because the insertion of needles may help to stimulate the nervous system and help the body to release chemicals and hormones that help to alleviate pain. Some also believe that it helps to stimulate circulation, which can help because pain may sometimes be caused when nerves do not receive the proper supply of blood.

Acupuncture is generally safe. Most people experience no pain at all, and only a few experience minimal pain from a typical acupuncture session. The only real concern is that sterile needles should be used with each session. Ideally, each session will start with a new set of sealed and sterilized needles. Before beginning acupuncture treatment for sciatica or any other condition, it is important to make sure that your acupuncturist practices proper health and sanitary guidelines.

So, you see, acupuncture may be a somewhat unorthodox treatment for sciatica or back pain, but if you’ve tried just about everything without finding the relief you need acupuncture may be worth a shot. After all, when you’re faced with the alternative of having a surgical operation to take care of the problem, being stuck with a few pins doesn’t really seem that bad. Many people have tried acupuncture and swear by it as a very effective way to relieve pain, allergies, and a host of other conditions.