How Does Acupuncture Relieve Stress?

One of the reasons why acupuncture works so well for such a variety of conditions is that it relieves stress. We all know that chronic stress is the underlying mechanism for nearly all modern disease. But how exactly does it relieve stress?

Anyone who has ever been a “non-believer” in the power of acupuncture to assist the healing process in nearly every kind of health condition imaginable (and then gotten an acupuncture treatment to “prove” it doesn’t work) will attest to the fact that acupuncture’s effects are more than just a placebo. While the modern scientific understanding of “why” acupuncture works has been lagging, most people who have tried acupuncture say that it really does work.

Elite athletes have turned to acupuncture to help them go through intense training regimens without suffering from the typical side effects of overtraining, such as fatigue and injuries. When athletes do get injured or start to feel too fatigued during the post-workout recovery period, they have found that acupuncture helps them get back on track faster than rest alone.

Stressed out executives find relief from insomnia, chronic fatigue, heartburn, irritable bowel syndrome, and mental stress by getting their acupuncture “fix” a few times a month. Some acupuncturists even work full-time doing acupuncture for the workplace, and there are a growing number of spas throughout the world that offer acupuncture alongside other therapies such as massage and aromatherapy. It’s no secret that acupuncture helps relieve stress, regardless of whether it’s of mental or physical origin.

But now science has revealed how, in fact, acupuncture relieves stress. According to a study in the Journal of Endocrinology, acupuncture has a direct effect on the level of stress hormones circulating in the body. The scientists assessed blood levels of hormones secreted by the hypothalamus, pituitary, and adrenal glands (also referred to as the HPA-axis) with no acupuncture, sham acupuncture, and true acupuncture. These are the hormones commonly referred to as those involved in the “fight or flight” response, as well as a variety of other processes in the body including metabolism, digestion, cardiovascular regulation, and reproductive function. The real acupuncture applied to a single acupuncture point below the knee (known as Zusanli, 3-leg mile, or Stomach 36) blocked the effects of chronic stress and normalized the hormones of the HPA-axis.

This may also explain part of the reason why acupuncture works so well for weight loss. High amounts of the stress hormone cortisol is associated with the accumulation of belly fat and difficulty losing weight. Chronic dieting and over exercising can increase cortisol, which in turn lowers the amount of active thyroid hormone in the body and sabotages your dieting efforts. Bringing cortisol levels back to normal gets you past a weight loss plateau, normalizes active thyroid hormone, and burns belly fat.

Whether you’re going through a stressful life situation, you have a high-stress job, you’re training for a triathlon, or you simply want to stay well and function at your best, getting acupuncture in Del Mar can help you.