Should you consider acupuncture as a solution?
Making a dinner that pleases the whole family, fulfilling the demands of an overly demanding boss , getting the kids to school on time or walking the dog before it makes a mess of the house; this is a very common day-to-day occurrence for most Westerners. Inopportunely, this daily routine leads to stressful situations that are often out of our control. Yet few people will take the time to address their anxiety disorders because they don’t have the time to do so or because they simply don’t know what resources to use. We will see that acupuncture is a method that remains mysterious in the minds of a large part of the population, but which would have beneficial effects in the fight against stress.
First of all, a brief presentation of this method would be in order.
Acupuncture is a branch of traditional Chinese medicine that involves the insertion and manipulation of delicate needles at various points on the patient’s body. These specific locations are determined by Chinese dogma, which states that the implantation of needles in these locations would influence the course of the energies travelling through the human body. Acupuncture therefore seeks to restore a certain energetic balance. We do not suspect that it can treat common problems such as eczema, incontinence, allergies or depression, but it does so successfully. The patient only feels a tingling or numbness during an acupuncture session. For those who find this technique frightening, a technique using a laser, called acupressure, is offered at the Guindon Health Clinic. This technique, which is not painful, can be more reassuring for more sensitive people and it results in almost the same effects as with needles.
We are probably wondering how acupuncture can help us eliminate our stress, because in the end it will not reduce the demands of our boss who we find too demanding and it will not change the culinary tastes of our youngest child who hates green vegetables so much… Dr. Colin, who once chaired the World Congress of Acupuncture in Strasbourg, explains that acupuncture does not act directly on the causes and situations that could cause stress, but rather on the patient’s tolerance to the stress caused by them, and therefore on his or her sensitivity threshold. In other words, you will be less sensitive to these causes of stress. While you will still have to meet the demands of your boss and will have to find a compromise to keep the whole family happy, acupuncture will have had an effect on how you translate this stress. This way, you will be able to regain your composure more easily.
Acupuncture could be the cure for the stress caused by the race against time and the need for productivity of the western lifestyle. Companies should think more about offering this service to their employees as it is proven that workplace health improves productivity. If not, you should consider acupuncture yourself as a solution to your anxiety problems; after all, it will probably be worth it.
Bibliography
” L’acupuncture pour lutter contre le stress ,” La Presse, Agence France-Presse Strasbourg, November 12, 2009, (Page consulted on June 16, 2013)
HORDE, Pierrick et al. ” L’acupuncture : grands principes et précautions “, June 2013, (Page consulted on 16 June 2013)
