Gourge Micheal According to many professionals, a quick and efficient technique to repair tissue damage and relieve pain is to combine acupuncture and physical therapy. Acupuncture reduces inflammation and releases muscle tightness and trigger points.
When muscles are more relaxed, trigger points are released, and the patient is better able to take in manual therapy or exercise-based physical therapy techniques
After that, both acupuncture and physical therapy create a window of time in which your body can perform better, and it’s during those times that you’re improving.
In this blog, we will discuss some of the significant issues that can be easily treated with the combination of these therapies.
How does acupuncture work?
Acupuncture, a component of traditional Chinese Medicine, entails inserting tiny, insert needles into particular body regions known as acupuncture points. It is a secure and reliable approach that restores the body’s equilibrium by lowering inflammation, enhancing blood flow to organs, and controlling hormone synthesis.
Acupuncture is beneficial when it comes to soothing pain, lowering stress and anxiety, improving mood, releasing muscle tension, and promoting tissue repair and healing,
An acupuncturist will evaluate their patient’s needs after collecting a thorough case history. They will then conduct a series of acupuncture sessions, including trigger point acupuncture, scalp acupuncture, and dry needling.
How does physical therapy work?
Physical therapy is used to relieve pain, prevent and treat injuries, enhance movement and mobility, and provide rehab following surgery, an accident, or a stroke. It also employs a variety of therapeutic exercises and stretches, massage, heat and cold therapy, ultrasound, and warm water therapy.
A physical therapist is a qualified healthcare provider with a focus on mobility. They evaluate a patient’s needs by collecting a thorough case history and doing specific physical tests to ascertain the patient’s posture and ability to move and perform everyday actions like grasping and bending.
Physical therapists (PTs) design thorough treatment programs unique to each patient’s needs and work with patients of all ages, from babies to the elderly. This might be a combination of exercises, stretches, and massages.
Can you do acupuncture with physical therapy?
Physical therapy and acupuncture work very well together. In contrast to physical therapy, which aims to strengthen and restore healthy movement patterns, acupuncture concentrates on lowering physical tension and trigger points while calming the neurological system.
Nowadays, people are advised to get started with acupuncture treatments at any phase while getting physical therapy with their physical therapist. Both processes must start together because this will allow time for your muscles to become more relaxed and reduce pain and inflammation while you begin exercise therapy.
What are the benefits of using acupuncture and physical therapy?
When combining acupuncture and physical therapy, most therapists find it easier and more effective to perform manual techniques after a patient has had acupuncture.
The patient’s body is in a state that makes it better available to receive the manual work. This then allows experts to work on making it more functional, better aligned, and stronger, ultimately leading to reduced pain during the desired motion or activity.
The benefits of using both therapies together are as follows:
- Better pain relief
- Increased range of motion
- Less inflammation and swelling
- Quicker tissue healing and repair
- Improved capability to do physical therapy exercises due to pain reduction
- Less reliance on pain medication to manage symptoms
- More energy and improved mood
- Overall, better quality of life
How overlap between acupuncture and physical therapy occurs?
There is some overlap in the scope of practice between acupuncturists and physical therapists Since they are both physical medicine approaches to treatment, and that should be no surprise.
Depending on the state or country that you are in, your PT may be able to do some things an acupuncturist can do, and your acupuncturist may be able to do some things a PT can do. Here are some common techniques that may be employed by both an acupuncturist and physical therapist.
- Cupping
- Gua sha or graston technique
- Heat therapy
- Dry needling
- Manual therapy
- Corrective exercise
Few various conditions where acupuncture and physical therapy can be used together.
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Sciatica
The concept underlying acupuncture is that the body comprises an energy force called Qi or Chi. Chi blockage can lead to physical sickness. Acupuncture therapy stimulates specific acupoints to alleviate pain and inflammation caused by a pinched nerve. This, in turn, causes your brain to release natural painkillers and neurotransmitters.
Moreover, it activates the hypothalamic-pituitary system, which controls the release of serotonin and dopamine and helps you feel calmer and happier.
By activating the acupoints in your lower back and leg, professionals recommend you for physical therapy, which eases muscular tension, boosts blood flow, and releases endorphins in the injured area. This aids in the body’s natural healing process.
Between two and three combined sessions of acupuncture and physical treatments, patients with acute sciatica may experience alleviation. On the other hand, depending on what created the issue, patients with persistent sciatica typically need between eight and twelve treatments (e.g., disc herniation, stenosis, bone spurs).
To prevent the issue from recurring in the future, your acupuncturist, as well as a physical therapist, also suggests a maintenance routine.
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Lower and upper back pain
Physical therapy and acupuncture are recognised for alleviating upper and lower back pain and inflammation. Many people think of these modalities as separate and unrelated. When combined, synergistic effects can improve pain relief and provide lasting results for patients.
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Frozen shoulder
Physical therapy is the initial course of treatment that traditional Western medicine recommends for a frozen shoulder. The only option to regain joint range of motion if the shoulder joint has become frozen due to the development of scar tissue after the injury is to remove the scar tissue. Movement is the best way to increase a joint’s range of motion.
The formation of scar tissue in the area due to incorrect healing makes specific movements unpleasant. The avoidance of those movements by the person with the frozen shoulder accelerates the development of scar tissue there.
Combining acupuncture and physical therapy with electric stimulation, acupressure, and Chinese therapeutic massage enhances the circulation deep inside the joint, which reduces discomfort brought on by movement, aids in the breakdown of scar tissue, and speeds up the healing process.
The patient’s range of motion is better after each session than at the start. Following the acupuncture with electric stimulation. An intense kinetic activity session combining acupressure and massage is performed to further dissolve the scar tissue.
The practitioner will attempt to make passive motions to help the patient achieve a broader range of motion. That they could not achieve on their own since the patient feels less pain using the joint due to the pain-reducing impact of acupuncture.
Certain acupressure points are also massaged simultaneously to relax and dissolve lumps and knots caused by scar tissue. The patient often gains more range of motion throughout the therapeutic exercise and neuromuscular reeducation session.
That’s all.
Conclution
Combining both acupuncture and physical therapy effectively reduces pain and inflammation quickly and maximizes your body’s healing response. Acupuncture improves your body’s capability and capacity to do the physical exercise it needs to improve movement and mobility.
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