According to the National Institutes of Health, there are currently more than 12 million adults in the U.S. that have used or are currently using acupuncture. Thousands of scientific studies have validated its effectiveness, and acupuncture is fast becoming one of the most sought-after approaches by patients seeking alternative approaches to pain, mood, and many other functional conditions (see list below).
What is Acupuncture?
Acupuncture stems from Chinese medical philosophies dating back at least 3000 years. The modality involves inserting one or more hair-thin needles into the skin at specific points along energy channels or meridians that carry “life energy” or qi (chi).
By placing needles in prescribed points, the practitioner seeks to accentuate or diffuse qi and thereby restore balance to the system. Likewise, the manner in which qi flows undisturbed through the body marks health and vitality, and any obstruction to its flow is linked to present or future disease.
Medical acupuncturists are licensed physicians (MD or DO) who acquired additional training and certification in evidence-based acupuncture and traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). In addition to using traditional medicine, our understanding of the Chinese medicine paradigm allows us to prescribe herbs and recommend diet and lifestyle changes in a safe and comprehensive way.
As a physical medicine and rehabilitation physician, Dr. Boggess sometimes uses Medical Acupuncture to assist with improving physical symptoms like pain. It is his conventional medical background in neuroanatomy and physiology that enables him to understand how needle insertion stimulates nerves to produce neurotransmitters that positively impact hormones, pain signaling, circulation, and overall well-being in a variety of ways.
In the last 25 years, acupuncture and Chinese medicine has gained wider acceptance by conventional medicine due to growing research proving its efficacy in problems such as:
- Pain
- Mood disorders
- Addictions
- Fatigue syndromes
- Hormonal and menstrual problems
- Digestive disorders
- Migraine and stress-related headaches
- Skin diseases
- Allergies
- Many other conditions
Thus, some insurance companies will reimburse for it when prescribed and/or performed by a licensed physician.
Acupuncture FAQs
Osteopathy
What is a doctor of osteopathy (DO)? A DO is a fully licensed physician and surgeon in the U.S. who completed 4 years of college, 4 years of medical school, and 4 or more years of postgraduate specialty training.
A DO is similar yet distinct from allopathic doctors (MDs) in that they also learn osteopathic principals and practice, which is a “whole-person” system of evaluation and treatment designed to achieve and maintain health using manual modalities similar to, but distinctly different from, chiropractic, massage, and physical/occupational therapy.
Osteopathy maintains that much illness, pain, and disability stems from an improper relationship between structure and function. Thus, DOs use osteopathic manual medicine (OMM), a soft manual therapy to align the musculoskeletal system correctly in order to reduce tension and improve physical and physiological functions.
DOs learn that organ systems and bodily tissues, which rely on the musculoskeletal frame for support, benefit from such treatment, and the circulatory, lymphatic, and other fluid systems associated with the body’s innate healing mechanisms function more efficiently after one or more treatments.
We Are Here to Help You! Contact Us for Acupuncture and Cranial Therapy Services
On behalf of the Natural Balance team, we hope you have found this information helpful and we look forward to working with you. To learn more about our acupuncture and cranial therapy services, call Natural Balance Wellness Medical Center at (734) 929-2696 or book an appointment online.
