Acupuncture Provides Natural Healing Approach
April 27, 2010.
Sticking needles in the ear may not, on the surface, seem to be a natural approach for treating any debilitating drug addiction. To the unknowing, acupuncture conjures up images of backrooms off of out-of-the-way alleys in Asian neighborhoods of crowded American cities where a dark-colored pajama-clad Oriental practices something the Western mind considers much like voodoo.
Acupuncture has been practiced as an effective treatment for a number of ailments for centuries. However, its acceptance for the specific treatment of addiction is a new development, especially in the United States. Since the early 1970s, acupuncture has been included as a component in addiction fighting therapies. It has proven highly successful helping battle chemical addiction as well as reigning in behavioral compulsions driving individuals to ingest harmful drugs sustaining devastating habits.
There are several aspects to acupuncture that have been identified which aid toward quieting urges experienced by addicts helping reduce cravings, like when a person grabs a cigarette or a drink never consciously aware they are engaged in the action.
Acupuncture sessions trigger the release of endorphins, enzymes that promote healthy feelings along with producing upbeat attitudes and a general feeling of well being when released through the body’s nervous system. In fact, many patients claim that after an acupuncture session, they experience a heightened feeling of calmness and contentedness, much like the same feelings associated with addicted behaviors – minus the harmful consequences taking drugs has upon the human body and psyche. Endorphins act as natural painkillers.
Ironically, much of the early study concerning the effects of acupuncture included American Vietnam War vets who, in the government’s zeal to treat the mind and body wounds, turned thousands into morphine addicts in the early 70s. Veterans lined the wards of VA hospitals throughout the country pumped up with morphine. Once released from hospitals, these wounded vets faced the struggles associated with substance abuse that had been inflicted upon them by the very medical system dedicated to help them recover from the devastating physical and mental scars suffered in an Asian war.
