Discover How Acupuncture Can Help Promote Natural Immunity & Vitality
Acupuncture is a holistic medicine that focuses on avoiding severe illnesses from occurring in the first place. It emphasizes keeping the various body organs and systems in balance to help strengthen the body’s natural ability to resist disease.
Benefits of Acupuncture for Immunity & Vitality
How Acupuncture Treatment Works for Immunity & Vitality
Acupuncture has been used for thousands of years to help promote healing, improve energy, and strengthen resistance to disease. It is an ancient Chinese medical practice that involves the insertion of ultra-thin therapeutic needles into specific points on the body to restore the flow and balance of Qi (life-force energy).
Free-flowing and balanced Qi activates a person’s own self-healing mechanism and supports optimum function of organs and body systems. It helps boost energy and assists with responding and adapting to any number of stressors that challenge homeostasis to keep the body healthy and strong.
While not well understood scientifically, some research suggests acupuncture activates the body’s natural healing processes by stimulating its anti-inflammatory mechanism that helps ease pain and stress, boost immune function, and promote self-healing. Activating this mechanism also appears to help regulate detoxification pathways to enhance the elimination of waste and minimize side effects associated with substance withdrawal.
Other research points to acupuncture stimulating the release of endorphins, which are neurotransmitters that function as natural painkillers, mood enhancers, and immune regulators.
Some other studies suggests acupuncture can help optimize metabolism and hormone balance, fat storage, blood circulation, digestion, nutrient absorption, and waste elimination, too.
Key Acupuncture Points for Immunity & Vitality
- CV 4 (Guan Yuan 關元): Enhances kidney function, regulates blood circulation, replenishes energy reserves, alleviates pain, promotes healing, boosts immunity.
- CV 6 (Qi Hai 氣海): Enhances kidney function, regulates blood circulation, strengthens energy, alleviates pain, promotes healing, boosts immunity.
- GV 4 (Meng Men 命門): Supports kidney function, improves energy and blood circulation, alleviates pain, balances mood, promotes healing, boosts immunity.
- GV 20 (Tian Man 百會): Improves energy and blood circulation, alleviates stress, balances mood, promotes healing, boosts immunity.
- Kidney 3 (Tai Xi 太谿): Supports kidney function, boosts immunity, balances mood.
- Liver 3 (Tai Chong 太沖): Enhances liver detoxification function, relieves pain, balances mood and emotions, promotes healing, boosts immunity.
- Large Intestine 4 (He Gu 合谷): Improves digestive motility, boosts immunity, relieves pain, and supports the elimination of toxins.
- Stomach 36 (Zu San Li 足三里): Boosts digestive metabolism and immunity, enhances blood circulation, and supports the elimination of toxins.
Acupuncture Treatment for Immunity & Vitality Uses Herbal Medicine Formulas
Acupuncture treatment for immunity & vitality also includes the use of medicinal Chinese herbs. Chinese herbal medicine is well known for its excellent ability to help enhance and optimize the body’s natural ability promote health and resist disease. It is used to help to regulate detoxification pathways and metabolic function, reduce inflammation and pain, improve digestion, maintain a healthy gut flora balance, and boost immunity.
Chinese herbs also help offer natural relief of bloating, constipation, stress, pain, poor sleep, fatigue and a wide variety of other symptoms.
Common Herbs Used in Acupuncture for Immunity & Vitality
- Angelica Sinensis (Dang Gui / Radix Angelicae Sinensis): Tonifies blood, promotes blood circulation, eases pain, boosts energy, strengthens immunity.
- Astragalus (Huang Qi/ Radix Astragali Membranaceus): Strengthens immunity, tonifies blood, boosts energy, promotes healing.
- Atractylodes (Bai Zhu/ Rhizoma Atractylodis Macrocephalae): Boosts energy, strengthens immunity, promotes blood circulation.
- Codonopsis (Dang Shen / Radix Codonopsitis Pilosulae): Boosts energy, strengthens immunity, tonifies blood, promotes healing, restores constitution, expels pathogenic factors.
- Cordyceps (Dong Chong Xia Cao / Cordyceps Sinensis): Boosts energy, strengthens immunity, promotes healing.
- Ginseng (Ren Shen / Radix Ginseng): Boosts energy, strengthens immunity, tonifies blood, balances mood, promotes healing.
Acupuncture Treatment for Immunity & Vitality Uses Nutrition Therapy
Acupuncture for immunity and vitality also uses dietary modification and nutrition as part of treatment. Nutrition therapy in acupuncture promotes eating a diet consisting mainly of fresh plant-based foods that are the most vital and free from chemicals, preservatives, and over-processing.
Studies have shown that eating a low calorie, high-fiber, nutrient-rich diet consisting of more whole, non-processed, plant-based foods helps eliminate excess waste and toxins from the body, promote healing and boost immunity. It also helps minimize inflammation and pain, and helps maintain optimal metabolic and digestive function to promote total well-being.
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What to Expect During Your First Acupuncture Treatment for Immunity & Vitality
FAQs
Unfortunately, there is no straight easy answer. Insurance coverage for acupuncture varies widely among insurance companies both statewide and nationally, with plans requiring certain criteria to be met before coverage is applied. This criteria is not standardized, and insurance companies all make their own policies, including exclusions, limitations and restrictions, regarding acupuncture coverage.
As a result, even when insurance companies advertise they offer acupuncture coverage, it doesn’t necessarily mean they will actually pay for all of it, or even some of it. Most people with an acupuncture-friendly health insurance plan that want to try to use it to pay for acupuncture should expect to accrue at least some out-of-pocket costs, anywhere from co-pays and deductibles to paying for uncovered procedures and products such as herbal medicine and nutritional supplements. It is also not uncommon for acupuncture-related claims to be entirely denied by insurance companies, leaving insured patients responsible for paying the total amount billed.
Fortunately, our office is well-versed on these details to help you understand how and when it is possible to use your insurance to help pay for acupuncture. For more information, or to begin the verification process and request prior authorization for using your PPO insurance with our office, please send us a message.
No, you do not need a referral to receive acupuncture treatment. California acupuncturists are primary care providers and can provide you treatment independently without referral. Some people may seek a doctor referral for acupuncture to try and use their insurance to cover expenses or for help finding a practitioner, but this is not required.
Acupuncture itself is very safe in the hands of a competent practitioner. It generally presents little to no side effects and rarely makes a condition worse. If these do occur it’s usually indicative of the healing process and any ill effects disappear within days of treatment.
However acupuncture is not for everyone, and there are times when precautions must be made. For example, people who are not eligible for acupuncture include those with hemophilia or contagious skin diseases. On the other hand, people on blood-thinning medication, or who tend to bruise easily, or who are pregnant, can receive acupuncture but should disclose their medical history to their acupuncturist prior to treatment so that certain precautions are made.
Where severe danger exists is in the inappropriate application of acupuncture by poorly trained and unskilled non-acupuncture therapists and physicians, many which do not receive the same instruction and training as licensed acupuncturists. To ensure safety when receiving acupuncture, it is highly recommended to use a practitioner who has received proper education and schooling in acupuncture, and is certified and licensed to practice acupuncture by an official governing acupuncture board, agency, or organization.
In general, acupuncture will not minimize any treatment or medication you have used or will use. Recent studies suggest acupuncture may actually enhance the therapeutic effectiveness of other treatments and reduce some of their adverse reactions.
However because acupuncture and some herbal and nutritional supplements prescribed by acupuncturists can sometimes diminish or potentiate the effects of other treatments, it is advisable that you disclose all of your medical history to your acupuncturist, especially if you’re taking medication or are undergoing other types of treatment, or have recently undergone other treatments, so that any precautions can be made prior to treatment. For more information, send us a message.
Depending on the type of service, total visit time is between 60-90 minutes, with 20-75 minute acupuncture treatment time.
Everyone responds to acupuncture differently but in general the approach we use is so gentle and the acupuncture needles we use are so thin that most people won’t even be aware when the needles are inserted. If they feel anything at all, it may be a slight pinch at the site of needle insertion followed by a brief dull ache that dissipates within seconds. Other common sensations felt during treatment include slight tingling, subtle muscle twitching and spasms, heaviness, extreme relaxation, and warmth in the hands and feet.
Most adults looking for a natural approach to health and overall wellness are candidates for acupuncture. But if you have a specific health condition and you’re not sure if acupuncture is right for you, the best way to find out is to request an appointment for an evaluation and consult.
