Acupuncture for Stress Relief
What is stress anyway?
As an acupuncturist, I’m compelled to tell you that acupuncture’s ability to reduce stress is a great byproduct even if it isn’t the initial reason you are coming in for treatments. So let’s talk stress. These days, stress is as common as smart phones—hordes of people carry one. But what is stress, exactly? And why should you care?
Stress is a good thing, ultimately. In its most basic form, it is what happens when you get into a situation in which you and your body need to respond fast to get out of danger. It keeps our species alive. However, the body doesn’t distinguish between good stress and bad stress (i.e. real and perceived danger). For example, sitting in traffic when you’re late for a meeting, and getting chased by a dog cause the same type of response. But what does that mean for the body? You body reacts to mental/emotional stress as well as physical stress by affecting areas of the brain and releasing different hormones that elevate the body to functional in an optimal, high functioning state.
To fight or take flight?
This elevated state is what we call “fight-or-flight” and is dominated by the sympathetic nervous system, a branch of the autonomic nervous system, which controls all the autopilot functions of the body like breathing and your heartbeat. In fight-or-flight, your nervous system is ramped up as your body releases hormones like cortisol and adrenaline. These are considered “stress hormones”. Stress hormones are just one thing that shifts when the nervous system goes into a fight-or-flight mode—that mode that amps things up when you’re being chased by a pack of wild chihuahuas or suddenly realize you’re standing in the way of a fast-moving Sprinter Van.
The responses to being in fight-or-flight, and the resulting stress hormones released, can cause changes such as increased heart rate and blood pressure, or a decrease in non-essential bodily functions—digestion, reproduction, immune responses—among other changes.
This is great to escape danger in the immediate moment. “Unfortunately, the body can also overreact to stressors that are not life-threatening, such as traffic jams, work pressure, and family difficulties,” states Harvard Medical School’s Harvard Health blog. Since your body doesn’t distinguish between that oncoming car and that work deadline you stayed up all night to meet means your body responds in a similar way.
Now for a little de-stressing.
If you are under long-term stress, you are getting exposed to long-term effects of stress hormones. After a while, those effects of stress hormones can start to have a negative effect on the body. Those subtle taxations over time add up. This can result in system malfunctions, a tamped down immune system, muscle breakdown and increased risk of illness, injury or disease.
A 2012 systematic review noted, “many disorders originate from stress, especially if the stress is severe and prolonged. The medical community needs to have a greater appreciation for the significant role that stress may play in various diseases and then treat the patient accordingly using both pharmacological (medications and/or nutraceuticals) and non-pharmacological (change in lifestyle, daily exercise, healthy nutrition, and stress reduction programs) therapeutic interventions.”
Acupuncture can help as a preventative measure to keep you body functioning optimally due to its effect on stress hormones, specifically lowering and regulating them, as well as its effect on the limbic system, i.e. the part of the brain that regulated perception. Feeling stressed? It might be time to book an appointment.