Some people can appreciate the desire of asthma patients for seeking a non-chemical answer to their condition if they themselves have been diagnosed with asthma and have gone through really scary serious attacks.

As have been proven in certain studies, acupuncture in Jacksonville can help relieve asthma attacks especially when performed by a licensed practitioner, who’s tuned in to the needs of the patient.

Issues with Studies

One issue with asthma studies is that oftentimes, they limit the potential of what acupuncture can actually do in everyday real practice. One can question whether the acupuncture applied in studies is what is really used in clinics. Usually, in studies, two different types of acupuncture are used which further complicates the outcomes.

If we take the review of the Cochrane Library on acupuncture and asthma, a pooling of the results of a couple small studies using two types of acupuncture are done but in the end, the researchers conclude there is not enough data that could expedite the extrapolation of the acupuncture’s potency to the overall population level. This means that they are not sure if the results of the studies would still be the same if applied in everyday practice.

Researchers will usually use the most effective combination of acupoints for asthma as the trials are given a limited number of study cases. But, in both clinical practice and research, the approach is actually a lot more specific. The acupoints chosen for needling can be based on the type of underlying imbalance: deficiency or excess.

In addition, several traditional points at the ribcage’s front and back used in clinical practice that can help relax asthmatic breathing are not utilized or seldom used in research and end up rarely being mentioned in reviews and medical journals.

The Acupuncture Approach to Asthma

So, even if there is an abundance of clinical studies that would be great for acupuncture advocates and acupuncturists testifying to the therapy’s invaluable potency against asthma, sadly, these studies do not help the case for acupuncture at all.

So, where can a person turn to in order to make an informed decision? Some people will consider trying acupuncture for the first time based on the testimonies of friends, acquaintances, and family members who have successfully undergone the treatment. The fact is, traditional Chinese medicine and acupuncture has been around for more than 5,000 years and no treatment can last this long if it did not actually work. Both TCM and acupuncture regards any condition, including asthma, to be a sign of a deeper imbalance or disharmony. So, when a patient is treated by an experienced and qualified acupuncturist who is trained diagnosing and tuning into whatever the disharmony’s underlying cause is, then there is a glimmer of hope for treating asthma and several other health problems.

Having said that, practitioners will not advice asthma sufferer to stop taking their meds completely and all at once; if you suddenly get struck by a vicious and potentially deadly asthma attack, your inhaler may be the only thing that can save your life. What should be adopted instead is a cautious and gradual tapering down of the drugs. Of course, within the bounds of safety, patients should be given a choice to do what they feel comfortable with.

Traditional Chinese Medicine View of Asthma

Traditional Chinese Medicine sees the occurrence of asthma as a result of disorders related to the function of the kidneys, stomach, and lungs. Therefore, several acupoints selected for treatment are located along these organs’ meridians, as well as the bladder meridian.

There are quite a number bladder acupoints on the back’s upper part that are used in asthma treatment. Several of these points are important as they can help clear up energy flow blockages in the in the back which can relieve severe asthmatic breathing.

In TCM, the organs are not seen the manner Western medicine views them, which is merely anatomical. TCM regards the organs as parts of the body with a combination of energetic, physical, emotional, and spiritual aspects.

In the Five Element Theory of TCM, the various organ systems of the body are interconnected and disharmony patterns can be diagnosed through this connection. The five elements are fire, water, wood, metal, and earth.

The yin organ lungs are associated with the element metal. The large intestine is a yang organ that’s associated with the color white and with the fall season. The metal element governs breathing and issues related to skin as well as waste removal from the body. Imbalance can exhibit as feelings of sadness or grief, asthma, bowel problems, shortness of breath, coughing, or skin conditions.