Acupuncture treatment: for arthritis and joint pain has been with us for centuries. Acupuncture provides many arthritis pain sufferers with an alternative (or an addition) to modern arthritis medication – which can at best be unpalatable and, at worst, potentially toxic. Acupuncture arthritis treatment may not work alone for joint pain but it can result in powerful pain relief if your joints are angry or inflamed .

Acupuncture has been used for arthritis pain relief in traditional Chinese medicine for many thousands of years. It has recently become a widely used technique in western medicine – both by doctors and others. The use of acupuncture is not limited to joint pain – many other medical specialists now apply acupuncture’s benefits to a variety of diseases .

Many people who suffer from osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, degenerative arthritis and gout seek pain relief from acupuncture – either alongside, or instead of, their arthritis medication or other arthritis treatment.

So how does acupuncture work?

Acupuncture involves the insertion of very fine needles into several points around the body. These acupuncture points are often near to the site of your arthritis pain and may be very tender to touch before the needle is inserted. Other acupuncture points used for arthritis pain relief may be quite a way distant from the affected joint – acupuncturists usually call these areas distal points. It depends on the particular style of practice used by your acupuncture specialist but you should expect to have anything between two and twenty needles inserted each time you go for arthritis pain relief treatment by acupuncture

The needles used for acupuncture are extremely fine – not much wider than a human hair – and they are often left in your skin for more than twenty minutes during an acupuncture treatment session. On average you will need between three and six acupuncture treatments before you even begin to get relief of your joint pain. The number of sessions needed varies. Long-standing and complex chronic pain problems like arthritis might need one or two treatments a week for several months. There is no way to predict how much pain relief you will get from any one session of acupuncture – it really is a matter of try it and see what happens to your joints.

When you first go for acupuncture treatment, the initial session might last about an hour. Follow on appointments are often shorter in length. Anything between two and twenty very thin needles are put in place and left in the skin for several minutes. Having needles stuck in your body may not sound like fun but most people say that there is only a slight stinging sensation as the needles enter, and no pain at all after that. The acupuncture specialist may stimulate the needles by turning or rotating them quickly during your treatment session.

Most people do not experience side effects from acupuncture therapy but a few of us can have problems such as bleeding or mild allergy. You may feel dizzy after your first session if you haven’t had acupuncture treatment before.

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