Stress Relief and Acupuncture- What’s the Connection?
This Guest Blog was written by Jeanie Bianchi, L.Ac. Jeanie practices at the San Fransisco Acupuncture Group where she works with an array of health issues from fertility to digestive and auto-immune disorders.
Needles don’t typically jump to mind when we think of stress relief. Remarkably though, the hair-thin needles we use in acupuncture treatments do reduce stress.
During a treatment, a cascade of relaxing neurotransmitters release into the body. Patients drop into a restful state and leave feeling calm, refreshed, and clear-headed. In the business we call this an acu nap or being in the acu zone!
The mechanisms of acupuncture are fascinating. Acupuncture stimulates multiple body systems at once, including our nervous system and brain, our muscles, and the glands of our endocrine system. We know that acupuncture:
Stimulates our brain to release more of our own endorphins (feel-good chemicals)1, 2
Promotes the ‘rest and digest’ mode of our nervous system
Improves blood flow and circulation
Reduces anxiety 3, 4, 5
These diverse effects are why acupuncture can be used to treat an array of different conditions, including pain, anxiety and fertility-related problems.
Specifically for fertility, the benefit lies both in the stress relief and the ways hormones and blood flow are affected. We know from pioneering psychology researcher Dr. Alice Domar how profoundly stressful infertility diagnoses are-as stressful as a serious medical diagnosis in some cases. Her research also clearly illuminates the benefit of stress reduction for fertility patients.
Not surprisingly, evidence shows that a course of acupuncture is correlated with higher odds of live births in women undergoing IVF6. This effect is stronger when the course of acupuncture precedes IVF, indicating that beneficial hormonal changes and stress signaling are cumulative. During the stimulation phase of IVF, acupuncture is beneficial to increase blood flow to the ovaries (which are working overtime to produce a supra-physiologic number of eggs). Performed around embryo transfer time, acupuncture relaxes the uterus and reduces the chances of uterine spasm after transfer.
When we relax, blood vessels dilate, blood flow improves, our muscles unwind, and the brain gives the body the message that no imminent threat exists. When the brain feels safe and tells our body so, our hormonal milieu is favorable to reproduction.
So enjoy some acu naps!
References
1 Zhang, Zhang-Jin et al. Neural acupuncture unit: a new concept for interpreting effects and mechanisms of acupuncture. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2012;2012:429412. doi: 10.1155/2012/429412. Epub 2012 Mar 8.
2 Harris, Richard E, et al. Traditional Chinese acupuncture and placebo (sham) acupuncture are differentiated by their effects on mu-opioid receptors (MORs). Neuroimage. 2009 Sep;47(3):1077-85. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2009.05.083. Epub 2009 Jun 6.
3 Junghans, Kylee, MPH. Acupuncture as a Therapeutic Treatment for Anxiety. Evidence Based Acupuncture. Accessed 10/24/21. https://www.evidencebasedacupuncture.org/acupuncture-anxiety/
4 Amorim. D et al. Clinical, N.A.T.I 2018. (n.d.) Acupuncture and electroacupuncture for anxiety disorders
5 Arvidsdotter, T., Marklund, B., & Taft, C. (2013). Effects of an integrative treatment, therapeutic acupuncture and conventional treatment in alleviating psychological distress in primary care patients–a pragmatic randomized controlled trial. BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 13(1), 308. http://doi.org/10.1186/1472-6882-13-308
6 Hullender-Rubin, Lee et al. Impact of whole systems traditional Chinese medicine on in-vitro fertilization outcomes. Reprod Biomed Online. 2015 Jun;30(6):602-12. doi: 10.1016/j.rbmo.2015.02.005. Epub 2015 Feb 24.