Are there side effects with acupuncture? Acupuncture has harmless side effects like minor bruising or needle shock. With any medical practice side effects can occur. With acupuncture there are few side effects....
With any medical practice side effects can occur. With acupuncture there are few side effects. Some of the acupuncture side effects are harmless or in rare cases life threatening, depending on the treatment given. There are certain places an acupuncture needle should never be inserted, such as the area of the lung located under the rib cage from your waist up to the top of the shoulder, according to Annie Sturman, a licensed acupuncture physician and owner of Annie Sturman Acupuncture. She has been treating patients with illnesses and pain for the past 20 years. "When performed by a properly trained and licensed practitioner, acupuncture is safe and effective, free from adverse or addictive side effects," reported the Los Angeles Chinese Learning Center, a center specializing in natural Chinese medicine. "While undergoing therapy for one ailment, other problems may resolve concurrently. This is a common side benefit that again demonstrates the value of balancing the quality and quantity of "vital energy" within the entire person." This Center also claims that if a person experiences life threatening conditions, then Western medical doctors should handle that patient. Routine health problems and chronic conditions, for which drug therapy and surgery have not been effective, often benefit from acupuncture.
When performed correctly, acupuncture should be free from adverse and addictive side effects. However, one rare side effect is needle shock, which means a patient could feel faint. Another side effect that could happen is called pneumothorax, which is a puncture of the lung. When the acupuncture needles are inserted and taken out, the surrounding area becomes red. This may be a result of the release of hormones into the bloodstream. These hormones may be the body's natural painkillers, which stimulate blood circulation as well as reduce pain. The redness is temporary and not dangerous. Other adverse side effects that have been reported are nausea, pain, and bleeding, according to the Medical Acupuncture Web page, a site devoted to acupuncture education. Although adverse effects can occur if acupuncture is improperly performed, only 10 cases of internal injuries from acupuncture have been reported in the United States from 1965-1997, according to Emedicine.com, a consumer health website.
One side effect that is very common with the acupuncture practice of cupping is bruising. According to Subhuti Dharmananda, Director of Institute for Traditional Medicine, cupping refers to the Chinese practice in which a cup is applied to the skin and the pressure in the cup is reduced by using change in heat or by suctioning out air, so that the skin and the superficial muscle layer is drawn into and held in the cup.
One of the most common desired side effects of acupuncture is deep relaxation and a slight temporary heaviness. In the treatment of stress, the side effect is deep relaxation. During these cases, no other side effect should take place.
