When most people think about what to receive acupuncture for, they think of getting treatment for pain. I’d say part of my practice is folks coming in for various pain but the other portion is mental health, internal medicine and (if you haven’t figured out by now), cosmetic acupuncture! Did you know that there is a lot of research to back up acupuncture helping with anxiety?! Let’s see…
First GREAT thing is that unlike medications and other treatments, there are little to no side effects of acupuncture, and more often than not in research studies, a positive outcome was experienced by the patient, like here’s one. Acupuncture also helps to lower cortisol levels and increase endorphins, lower heart rate, and it can also help raise serotonin levels. You can also do this in conjunction with your other treatments!
This is just a handful of examples of scientific research done on acupuncture. And Chinese medicine has been used for centuries, so it is clinically (in my opinion) very useful!
Aside from the Western research, what does Chinese medicine say about anxiety?
My favorite part about practicing Chinese medicine is that we look at the whole person: mind, body and spirit. Every imbalance has an emotional component tied to it (for example, if you are having chronic back pain for months, you can become anxious, irritable, depressed - it sucks being in pain for so long!). Acupuncture helps with balancing all of this out.
Anxiety can often manifest in physical symptoms such as heart palpitations or racing heart, insomnia, difficulty falling asleep, racing mind, stomach aches or poor digestion, just to name a few. During treatment, we look at the whole person and I cater the treatment to not just choosing points for anxiety, but seeing where it’s showing up for you. Sometimes the diagnosis may be a lack of Heart Qi, or stagnation in the Liver channel due to built up stress and lack of expression of emotion - it really differs for every person and I will adjust the treatment accordingly.
How many treatments will I need?
Acupuncture has a cumulative effect, so each treatment builds on the last. I see the best results when treatments aren’t spaced out too far apart.
I typically recommend coming in weekly for 6-8 weeks and then we can start to space out treatments. If you have long-standing chronic anxiety, it could be beneficial for you to have monthly maintenance appointments after that for a while! I have seen some patients for years after that initial building period just because they feel so good and it becomes a good mental health routine for them to come in for acupuncture.
I like to think of these appointment like meditation or working out – after one session you feel great, but you’ll definitely notice more long-lasting results if you come in weekly for a while and let them build on each other.
I’m nervous I can’t lie still while the needles are in! How can I calm my anxiety with the needles in?
Most of the time my patients don’t even feel the needles at all! Acupuncture needles are hair-thin – you may feel a little sensation when they first go in, but as they start their work, you begin to get out of fight-or-flight mode and begin to relax. Most of my patients just fall asleep or go into a meditative state. You’re also face up or face down, and sometimes either position works better for the person.
I am huge on consent and being tuned in to your sensitivity level. I walk you through the process of inserting the needles, and even though I sometimes am in the other room with another patient, I can give you a buzzer to call me if you get uncomfortable. Sometimes I can stay in the room with you too for a bit, but I feel like you get the most benefit out of having that time to yourself.
I think you’ll be surprised at how relaxing it is in here too! I have worked hard to make Moonlight Medicine a relaxing, calming place for you to enjoy.
Last thing I’ll say is, yes, it is difficult to “prove” that acupuncture is effective (due to it being difficult to perform “sham” acupuncture on people as a placebo effect). BUT almost every single study I’ve ever read, the outcomes were neutral to mostly positive, and in my years of clinical practice, even if people experienced neutral results for a session or two (which now seems to rarely happen), they DO get better. This is my scientific research! PEOPLE GET BETTER. They heal; patterns change. It’s pretty incredible.
As always, feel free to contact me with questions before you make the appointment, or if this has inspired you to give acupuncture a try, you can schedule yourself online!
Email: angela@moonlightmedicineclinic.com
Call or text: (206) 801-0383
