Many people will first think about musculoskeletal injuries and pain when they think of what Acupuncture can do. Did you know that it is also highly effective for anxiety, stress and trauma?
We all commonly experience daily stressors; physical, mental or emotional challenges that cause bodily or mental tension. These can accumulate and result in the imbalances of qi and blood flow that can lead to muscle tightness, pain, fatigue and even irritability, insomnia, gastrointestinal upsets, heart palpitations and shortness of breath. Sometimes stress becomes cumulative and chronic and we no longer even notice we are out of balance, but feel we are in our habitual state. Stress has become our new “normal”. A traumatic event, or even cumulative, relatively low-level stress can cause us to stay in a pattern of constant tension and overstimulation of our adrenal glands . In this state, we are now predisposed to perceiving situations as being life threatening even when they are not. Many people will begin to feel exhausted, yet vigilant, and not able to rest, relax, or enjoy their lives.
For any of the symptoms of chronic worry, anxiety, stress, acute trauma, or Post Traumatic Stress, Acupuncture can quickly bring relief as it rebalances the nervous system, and helps to bring the body out of “fight or flight” and resettle it back into a state of rest and relaxation. With repeated acupuncture treatments, this experience of calm becomes the new set point for the brain as you respond to situations. For chronic, cumulative toxic stress or Post Traumatic Stress patterns, ongoing Acupuncture as well as lifestyle changes will help to heal by re-patterning the brain signals and blood flows in the brain so that you will be able to respond with calm to situations that previously might have led to feelings of distress, panic, or alarm.