You will never find an urticaria treatment that will entirely cure your urticaria problem. All treatments of this skin condition are meant to mask its symptoms. A steroidal shot or antihistamine can help you get relief of the skin’s burning and itching sensation; nevertheless, these medications are not created to guarantee you that hives will never return.
The same is true with acupuncture treatment for hives. The difference, however, is in how the treatment provides sufferers of chronic urticaria long-term and significant relief of their symptoms. Unlike almost all prescription anti-urticaria drugs, acupuncture isn’t used to merely address symptoms, it targets the hidden and deeper reasons of the cause of your urticaria, as well.
Honest licensed acupuncturists would tell you that acupuncture treatment of urticaria does not guarantee a complete cure of this problem. But you can be sure that studies have proven that acupuncture does work in alleviating the pain and inflammation caused by this disease.
What is Acupuncture?
Acupuncture has been practiced in China for over 4,000 years. There is no definite explanation how it came about. Acupuncture is a part of Chinese medicine that believes in the existence of an internal energy known as qi that flows via a network of energy channels known as meridians. Any blockage to these meridians slows down or stagnates the flow of energy causing illness and pain in the body. Acupuncture is used to clear the blockage and restore the movement of qi to bring back to the body to a state of health and to relieve pain.
In the United States, acupuncture is commonly used to treat painful conditions such as arthritis and sciatica. It is the treatment of choice of those who want a safer and more natural form of treatment for their conditions.
Acupuncture and Urticaria
From as far back as 3 A.D., acupuncture combined with Chinese herbal medicine has already been known to resolve skin disorders. In Chinese medicine hives are classified as “invasion of wind” of the meridians and skin.
A hive that exhibits red welts is believed to be caused by heat and wind. Whitish or pinkish welts, on the other hand, may be due to a skin affliction caused by cold and wind. The color of the welts and other body manifestations are taken into consideration by acupuncturists to properly diagnose the cause of hives.
The goal of acupuncture treatment for urticaria is two-fold. One is to address the underlying cause of the problem to hopefully cure the disease. The second addresses the issues involving qi and relieving the symptoms of hives.
Does Acupuncture Hurt?
People react to acupuncture in different ways although the skill and training of the acupuncturist plays a huge role in the way people react to the treatment. Under the hands of a licensed and skilled practitioner, patients usually do not feel any pain. Reputable acupuncturists only use thoroughly clean needles. They are skilled to enough to insert needles in a way that the patient oftentimes won’t even notice that they have already been inserted into their skin.
The Acupuncture Points Used for Urticaria Treatment
Usually acupuncturists will needle the spleen point number 10 (SP 10) to treat skin conditions. It’s important to note that the spleen itself is not needled. It is the meridian that is associated with the spleen that are. The SP 10 is located at the back of the knee.
Other points to be needled are the LI 11 or large intestine 11 and the spleen 6 (SP 6) which is in and around the elbow and beneath the calf and back of the lower leg respectively.
All these points are treated to address not only hives but other issues as well including acne, heat and damp skin diseases, inflammation, hypertension, anxiety, blood disorders, hot skin conditions, spleen disorders and digestive problems.
How effective is Acupuncture in Treating Treatment?
One notable study dealing with acupuncture and hives was conducted in a medical university in Iran. The study involved the use of real acupuncture and placebo on 100 humans for a number of weeks. All subjects were suffering from chronic urticaria. The study obviously was to see if acupuncture had any therapeutic effect on urticaria.
At the end of the study, the results indicated that real acupuncture treatment had managed to lower the duration and severity of hives by 25%.
The scientists who performed the study likewise noted that the last week of treatment had shown the most improvement for the patients. They also saw that a pattern existed wherein in each treatment the severity and duration of the symptoms episodes were reduced.
However, just like with any form of treatment, acupuncturists find that chronic urticaria is a harder condition to resolve than acute urticaria. Several sessions of acupuncture treatment may be required for people suffering from idiopathic and chronic forms of urticaria to obtain really good results.
Moreover, several options are available. There are a number of different acupuncture procedures that can be used to eliminate urticaria.
Auriculotherapy (Ear Acupuncture) Treatment for Hives
For sufferers of chronic urticaria, acupuncturists may also utilize a combination of ear acupuncture and standard acupuncture to effect a positive change after a number of sessions.
Ear acupuncture is known as a microsystem in Chinese medicine, because it targets certain trigger points that may all be found in one part of the body, which is usually the ear.
An especially skilled acupuncturist should be the one to perform ear acupuncture since the ear is where so many meridians corresponding to different parts of the body is found and it takes a lot of skill and years of experience to know what part of the ear needs to be needled to treat a specific condition.
There are over 200 acupuncture points in one ear alone and each of them may be associated with various parts of the body including the face, shoulder, elbows, fingers, etc.
Acupuncture Point Injection for Urticaria
A blend of pharmaceutical therapy and Chinese medicine, Acupuncture Point Injection is simply the injection of eastern or western drugs into acupuncture points.
Some of the medicines that are used for this type of treatment include magnesium sulfate, antibiotics, B vitamins and Chinese herbal medicines. One especially effective vitamin for chronic urticaria is thiamine or vitamin B. vitamins B12, 6, 3 and 1 are also known to be useful for the treatment of urticaria.
Phoenix Rising Acupuncture & Herbal Clinic
79 Washington Street
Saratoga Springs, NY 12866
Phone: 518-248-1540
www.saratogaspringsacupuncture.com