Four Benefits of Acupuncture for Chronic Back Pain 

Back pain is a prominent hindrance in the lives of more than 65 million Americans, according to the Health Policy Institute at Georgetown. Americans who receive treatment for back pain often resort to pharmaceutical medications, including painkillers that can become addicting and may cause adverse side-effects. Others, with more serious injuries, consider undergoing surgery. Many do not know that prescription medications and surgery are not the only avenue one can take to find relief and healing.

Acupuncture, an alternative therapy for chronic back pain, introduces the body to all-natural treatment that works to provide long-term healing tendencies over the course of a patient’s regular visits. This type of treatment has become extremely popular in the Western World, contributing to more than 10 million Americans finding a regular alternative to chronic back pain-management.

Princeton Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine uses all-natural therapies such as needling, electro-acupuncture, and herbal medications to provide non-evasive treatment for back pain that issues minimal side-effects. Our therapies are non-medically addicting and painless, enabling patients to enter the journey of permanent, long-term healing and health restoration.

Although acupuncture works in many ways to produce positive health benefits and a pain-free lifestyle, there are four major benefits of acupuncture related specifically to healing and managing chronic back pain.

• Acupuncture stimulates the Central Nervous System (CNS)- The Central Nervous System has three main functions, sensory input, information processing and motor output. It is comprised of the brain and the spinal cord, both of which are responsible for our body feeling sensations, such as pain. When acupuncture therapies, such as needling, are used, the CNS will become stimulated, triggering the release of several hormones that are responsible for producing feelings of happiness, controlling anxiety, and allowing all-natural pain remediation. 

• Acupuncture produces all-natural painkillers to combat pain- On top of balancing the hormonal production, acupuncture also triggers the CNS to release all-natural, pain-relieving hormones called Endorphins. Much like prescription Opioids, Endorphins work to reduce feelings of pain, boost feelings of pleasure and provide the body with an overall sense of well-being. But, unlike prescription medications, Endorphins are natural and non-addicting. 

• Acupuncture reduces inflammation and increases blood circulation- Root causes of chronic back pain can produce inflammation in the joints, tendons, ligaments, and muscles surrounding the spine. Acupuncture treatments kick-start the body’s self-healing process, which signals an increase in blood flow to the affected area(s) and allows for inflammation to subside. Improved blood circulation also allows the affect area(s) to receive proper nutrients and oxygen it needs to produce long-term healing and restoration. 

• Acupuncture changes brain chemistry- As treatments progress, acupuncture works to harmonize bodily systems, changing the way that nerves and organ's function and respond to the pain that the patient is feeling. With the production and balancing of appropriate hormones for pain-management, the body can begin to self-heal and restore its homeostatic state. When the body is in pain, especially consistent pain, bodily functions, and organs work harder to try and combat the illness or injury. Acupuncture works to heal the root cause, targeting specifically the injury and the response to the injury from the brain.

Along with the four major benefits of acupuncture for chronic back pain are a plethora of other positive outcomes that can be received from all-natural treatments and therapies. Princeton Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine specializes in preventing and treating patient’s chronic back pain for long-term healing and further injury prevention.