With several clinics to choose from in North Peoria and the surrounding area, acupuncture may provide symptom relief for recovering addicts and can be done close by at a drug rehab North Peoria. This safe and effective treatment has been used around the world for thousands of years. Now it is assisting addicts across the country.
How ear acupuncture works
Modern acupuncture likely evolved in China around two thousand years ago. Acupuncturists are licensed practitioners, who study and usually apprentice with an experienced practitioner (often for years before working on their own) and especially at a drug rehab in North Peoria. This therapy is based on a system of meridians that modern doctors believe correspond to nervous system channels. Traditional acupuncturists become familiar with hundreds of points on the body, where small “needles”(much, much smaller than hypodermic needles) can be inserted just below the skins surface to stimulate specific organ points in the body. The process is painless.
Research has shown that addicts treated with ear acupuncture experience stress relief, believed to be associated with dopamine release and enhancement of function of neurotransmitters within the brain. All of the thin needles are inserted within a couple of minutes, and then the patient sits in a quiet, relaxing atmosphere for about thirty minutes.
In acupuncture, the ears have dozens of acupuncture points, and serves as a central place for the unification of several key meridians. For addicts, certain points that may be stimulated through the ear are to assist recovery are:
- The Autonomic nervous system, promoting relaxation of the entire body
- The kidney point, promoting detoxification of the kidneys and relaxation of the nervous system through the reduction of fear
- The liver point, promoting detoxification of the liver and relaxation of the nervous system through the reduction of anger
- The lung point, promoting oxygenation of the lungs and relaxation of the nervous system through the reduction of guilt
An acupuncturist may also choose to address several other key points in the ear, such as a point for the sympathetic nervous system, a main tranquilization point, a major cerebral point (for brain function), a major endocrine point (for hormone function), or the area known as the “shen men.”Shen men is the Chinese “heavenly gate”point of the ear, one of the most important acupuncture points thought to assist with various conditions including pain, sedation and inflammation.
Acupuncture is widely recognized in the medical community as assisting in pain management. As a result, more insurance companies are paying for treatment. At this time, very few private insurances pay for acupuncture for addicts, but acupuncture is often a very low-cost treatment therapy and can be done close to home at the substance addiction North Peoria center. The relief it may offer addicts: priceless.
