When your lung’s air pathways are inflamed, you are suffering from a condition known as acute bronchitis. Acute bronchitis can oftentimes develop after one has contracted a respiratory infection. Some of its symptoms may at first, affect the sinuses, nose and throat which may then spread into the lungs resulting in chest pain, wheezing, shortness of breath, fever, fatigue and a productive cough. Individuals who are high at risk for developing this sickness may include people suffering from heart or lung disease, smokers, infants and young children. Conventional medical treatment for bronchitis may include steam therapy, fluids and rest, as well as prescription drugs for wheezing or coughing. For the treatment of bronchitis, acupuncture therapy provides an effective natural and safe complementary therapy for bronchitis.
Acupuncture
As a unique form of ancient Chinese healing art, acupuncture was created more than two thousand years ago, and uses hair thin needles inserted at different acupuncture points all over the body to boost health, resolve illnesses, balance the body and help ward off diseases. Acupuncture practitioners stimulate energy channels known as meridians just underneath acupuncture points to activate a person’s life energy, known as chi. Acupuncture also sends signals to the brain to produce and release neurotransmitters that can help alleviate pain, reduce stress and improve your health. Even though it’s been practiced for thousands of years, acupuncture has only become widely known in the United States during the early part of the 1970s.
One of the illnesses that acupuncture can treat is bronchitis. Based on a clinical research work published in the Zhongguo Zhen Jiu medical journal in China on September 2007, the research conductors observed the short and long-term effects in 200 subjects involved in the study who all suffered from bronchitis. Some of the patients were given acupuncture treatment during the hottest days of the year which are the most common times for acute bronchitis attacks. About 100 subjects were only allowed to do some changes in their lifestyle and were not given any kind of treatment for their bronchitis. The results showed that the group given acupuncture was observed to have experienced much better short and long-term positive results in their symptoms than the ones who merely changed their lifestyle habits.
Treatment
Upon visiting your acupuncturist for the first time, he/she may ask you a series of questions about the reason why you came in for treatment. You also be queried about as your lifestyle, family and medical history, and symptoms. Your acupuncturist will feel both your pulse and tongue in order to come up with a diagnosis of your problem. Then, he/she will ask you to comfortably lie down. You acupuncturist will then start to insert the acupuncture needles at certain parts of your body including your chest, feet, hands, legs and arms. He/she might consider using other traditional Chinese medicine therapies such as cupping therapy, gua sga or Tui Na which is a type of Chinese massage. The needles will help you relax and are left inserted in your body for 20 minutes to an hour and you may end up falling asleep during the treatment process.
Safety
You need to talk to your physician first before you do proceed for acupuncture treatment for your acute bronchitis. Even if it’s considered a very safe type of treatment, under an unlicensed and inexperienced acupuncturist, you may suffer from really negative side effects such as infection, bleeding, discomfort, or bruising. Acupuncture is not supposed to be used as a replacement for conventional medical treatment. Talk to a local health department or your doctor for a reputable local health department official or call an acupuncture clinic near your area.
Acupuncture Health Center
1303 Astor St # 101
Bellingham, WA 98225
Phone: (360) 715-1824
www.bellinghamacupuncturecenter.com