How Can Acupuncture Help Treat My Personal Injury Clients?
An injury can impact your client’s life for months, years — even for the rest of their life. It’s therefore important to have options for long-term treatment, including an effective method to relieve chronic pain that may result from the original injury. Medical practitioners have found acupuncture to be effective in reducing inflammation, speeding recovery and alleviating pain, thus improving the patient’s quality of life in the aftermath of an injury.
Practitioners of acupuncture insert tiny, solid filament needles into the skin at strategic points to help the body heal naturally without drugs, surgery or side effects. It is a tool of Chinese medicine, which is used to naturally treat conditions from headaches to fibromyalgia to diabetes.
A specialized skill known as Die-Da or “hit-fall” medicine, originated in Ancient China to treat injuries sustained from martial arts. It quickly and effectively addresses trauma to any part of the body, and has since been recognized by the National Institute of Health (NIH) and the World Health Organization (WHO) as a safe and effective medical therapy. Here are just some of its benefits:
Pain Relief
Acupuncture needles can be placed in the muscle or tissue in and around the site of the injury. This minor trauma to the skin stimulates the production of pain-relieving endorphins and natural opioids. Pain feedback channels from the pain source to the brain are blocked so that the level of pain perceived by the brain is reduced.
Inflammation Reduction
The microtrauma of needle insertion also stimulates a natural anti-inflammatory response by releasing chemicals that dilate blood vessels and increase the flow of chemicals through the body. These physiological responses allow the removal of inflammatory mediators from the injury site and enhance healing mediators in the area.
Trigger Point Release
In addition to promoting anti-inflammatory and pain-relieving mechanisms, acupuncture can also be used to resolve regions of tightened muscle called trigger points. Trigger points of muscle knots occur when there is an over-contraction of a small number of muscle fibers. Inserting a needle directly into the trigger point disrupts the muscle contractions to encourage relaxation. It also stimulates blood flow and the delivery of oxygen and nutrients through vasodilation, and reduces the elevated electrical activity in the muscle, allowing them to relax.
Although acupuncture should most often be pursued under the guidance or recommendation of a medical doctor, the practice remains a relatively inexpensive, holistic, benign therapy that works well independently or in conjunction with more traditional medical treatments.
Interested in finding a qualified acupuncturist working on personal injury liens? Check out some of our amazing providers below:
