Featuring Lieon Kit, DPT, MEd, CSCS, MCPA

Duration: 2 minutes, 24 seconds

Acupuncture is a wonderful therapeutic technique that physiotherapists utilize to help relieve pain and inflammation as well as to help remote healing in the body.

It's really well used in our clinical settings. Anatomical acupuncture is a modern approach to traditional Chinese acupuncture. Physiotherapists are trained in anatomical acupuncture by combining the knowledge of anatomy, pathology, and physiology, to determine if acupuncture is what's best for you.

The effects of it is one, in a traditional sense is actually helping balance the flow of energy and blood in the body to give it a harmonious balance. But more recently the research has shown that the acupuncture has been able to help produce a pain-relieving substance called endorphins, as well as help stimulate our body in producing a hormone called adrenocorticotropic hormone - ACTH for short.

And this will help control inflammation in the body, so it kind of mimics some of the drugs that you may be taking for pain as well as inflammation in as much of a natural way to do that through acupuncture.

Acupuncture is a great technique for acute inflammation and acute pain suffered from like a motor vehicle accident or a sports injury. It is really best to come in early, your physiotherapist will determine which acupuncture points to insert the needles into, and then from there they will put the needles in there for about 15 minutes and let the client relax and then take them out.

Some people feel relief immediately, some people may feel relief after about two to three days, usually within the week they definitely should see some improvement. About 80 to 90 percent of patients respond fairly well to this type of treatment.

If you have any more questions about physiotherapy or acupuncture itself you should speak to your physiotherapist and let them do a proper evaluation and assessment to determine if acupuncture will be the best way to get your treatment started.

You might visit a physiotherapist for information on what is, conditions, side effects, symptoms and treatments related to anatomical acupuncture, intramuscular stimulation, pain management and mobilization.

Presenter: Mr. Lieon Kit, Physiotherapist, Vancouver, BC

Local Practitioners: Physiotherapist