Common Colds and The Flu
How Does Acupuncture for Common Colds and Flus
Common colds and the flu are more than a minor annoyance. The flu and colds are very contagious and prohibitive to functioning at full capacity, and if left untreated, they can lead to further complications, including death. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, colds are the most common cause for students missing school and adults missing work. While over-the-counter medications are nice to help with symptoms, they do nothing to shorten or cure the flu or cold. Acupuncture can be effective in helping to prevent a cold or the flu as well as treating its symptoms. According to Uhospitals.com, studies show that this form of treatment helps patients by elevating immune-enhancing hormones and blood count up to three days after treatment. This means that acupuncture can help improve the immune system, which plays a key role in fighting off colds and the flu. Acupuncture can also help with symptoms by reducing chills, fever, body aches, sore throat, and cough by helping the body expel the virus more quickly.
Acupuncture for colds and the flu targets certain pressure points in the body to help improve immunity and reduce symptoms. For example, certain points where the nose meets the eye socket can be targeted to help reduce congestion, headaches, and tired eyes. Another location at the outer end of the elbow crease can improve immunity. There are many different points that can be targeted with an acupuncture needle to help with systems and prevention.
Treat your Flu and Common Cold – ASAP
Prompt treatment brings the most effective results when treating any form of cold or flu, and at any stage of the infection. Whether it be chills and fever, headache, sore throat, cough, congestion or once travelled to the lungs. The longer one waits to treat an infectious disease, the longer it takes to clear the pathogen. When treating cold or flu symptoms, the results are always more dramatic if the treatment begins at the earliest possible stage of the illness.
Chinese antiviral and antibacterial herbs are used in much the same way as antibiotics prescribed by your regular doctor are, and they also have a diaphoretic action which repels flu bug and the virus out of the body. Chinese herbal therapy is used very effectively to combat the infection and inflammation produced by the bug. There are also different herbal formulas for the different type of bug and symptoms you have, which would be treated with different sets of herbs and acupuncture techniques
Does it actually work?
The reason that Chinese Medicine experiences much greater success treating the common cold, flu, and similar conditions has to do with the nature of the medicine itself. Western medicine concerns itself primarily with killing germs and controlling symptoms, but antibiotics do not work on viruses. Chinese Medicine’s primary concern is maintaining a state of balance within the human organism and in relationship to the outside environment. Once you have achieved this, your resistance to illness will be sufficient to keep you from contracting a cold or flu. We are all exposed to viruses all the time, and mostly the people who get sick have been under a lot of stress, are over-fatigued, have allergies, or are out of balance.
Acupuncture and Chinese herbs are effective for prevention and treatment of colds and flu because they adjust this energetic balance, strengthening your immune system. People that receive regular acupuncture treatments get sick less often. If you have a cold or flu, acupuncture and Chinese medicine will help you recover more quickly.