Can Acupuncture help manage diabetes?

Can Acupuncture help manage diabetes?

Acupuncture, as a practice has been found to treat a lot of diseases and conditions like chronic pain, infertility, headaches. While the efficacy of the same is still under study by scientists and health experts, many practitioners say this traditional Chinese therapy can also prove to be beneficial in treating Type-2 diabetes. By piercing the skin with special needles that focus on the trigger areas, special “activation” points are stimulated.



As a treatment methodology, acupuncture lays emphasis on fighting the symptoms from the root. Since diabetes is a problem that arises from a hormonal imbalance in the endocrine system and makes you experience pain, acupuncture needles stimulate the same endorphins, releasing positive energy and subsiding any pain that may come along. According to some healers, acupuncture can also fight the many risks and side effects that come along with diabetes, regulate pancreatic function and maintain insulin levels. In the long run, regular acupuncture can also fight obesity.

Doctors say that acupuncture primarily works on the basis of improving these five bodily functions:

-Help regular weight gain and manage it better.

-Improve blood glucose levels in a diabetic patient.

-Protect the pancreas and stop the level increase in insulin production.

-Improve insulin resistance.

-Manage and better the production levels of important hormones in the body, such as melatonin, insulin, glucocorticoid, epinephrine.

How it works

Traditional healers believe that acupuncture works best when low-intensity waves are passed through the body. Usually, acupuncture treatment for diabetes takes 20-30 minutes, which are conducted for a minimum of two sittings per week. Depending on the case history and progression of the disease, the healer can also suggest more frequent sittings. Most practitioners prefer to using two types of acupuncture for the management of diabetes and prevent the problem from worsening or impacting essential bodily functions:

1. Electroacupuncture

This is the most commonly used form of acupuncture, where needles are inserted in trigger points and then a low-frequency electrical variation is passed from one needle to another, which then helps fight insulin resistance and sensitivity.


2. Wrist-ankle treatment

Wrist-ankle treatment is another form of acupuncture which focuses on deep stimulation of the trigger point. It is most helpful in bringing down sugar levels and improving quality of life.

3. Herbal acupuncture

A fairly new development in the field of acupuncture, this treatment involves the use of special herbs, which are straightaway injected into the targeted acupuncture points.

With regular approach, acupuncture triggers the hormonal secretion in the body, which then helps the body in maintaining harmony in the parts of the body where sugar levels are mismatched, without causing additional side-effects. Hence, acupuncture is often preferred as a treatment plan which can go along with regular medicinal use.

DISCLAIMER

The views expressed in this article should not be considered as a substitute for a physician’s advice. Please consult your treating physician for more details.

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