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Evergreen Rehab and Wellness Coquitlam, Surrey and LangleyBlogAcupunctureCan Acupuncture Help with Anxiety?

Can Acupuncture Help with Anxiety?

Who hasn’t felt anxious in their lifetime? Feeling worried or anxious can be observed as a normal part of our everyday life especially during this pandemic. Based on the survey, almost 2 out of 5 Canadians were reported having some level of distress in the past months. The levels of anxiety and depressions increases due to a series of lockdown measures, isolation, and feeling of loneliness. 1

Furthermore, these anxiety levels can be mild to moderate. This is essential to boost our focus on attention, energy, and motivation. 2

However, if anxiety is severe and affects our daily lives, it is not normal anymore. You need to get help. It can be a symptom of an anxiety disorder.

Additionally, anxiety is among the common mental health disorders with various types of treatment options. 3

Currently, there is growing evidence about the effects of acupuncture on anxiety. Before discovering how can acupuncture help with anxiety, let us discover anxiety and acupuncture.

If you are currently considering acupuncture in Coquitlam for anxiety, this post is for you.

What is Anxiety?

Anxiety is defined as a mental and physical state of negative expectations. In terms of mental state, it is characterized by increased arousal and apprehension tortured into distressing worry and physically by unpleasant activation of multiple body systems. 4

Moreover, anxiety also pertains to the feeling of fear, dread, and uneasiness. This can cause a person to sweat, feel restless, tense, and increase heart rate. It can be considered a normal reaction to stress. It can help an individual to cope with a challenging situation. 5

When an Anxiety Becomes a Disorder?

If anxiety will not go away, becomes worse over time, and affects a person’s daily life, it can be a type of anxiety disorder.

Additionally, in Canada, it is estimated that about 1 out of 10 Canadian have an anxiety disorder. 6

What are the Types of Anxiety Disorder?

  • Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD). This is characterized by worrying about ordinary issues such as money, health, family, and many more. Moreover, a person with GAD worries about these ordinary things excessively everyday for at least six months.
  • Panic disorder.  This is a type of anxiety disorder that is characterized by panic attacks. Additionally, It can be a sudden attack but may come repeatedly. It can last for several minutes or more.
  • Phobias. People with phobias elicit an intense fear of something that has little or no actual danger. Among the most common phobias are fear of cockroaches, heights, flying, and many others.

What is Acupuncture?

Acupuncture

As defined by Acupuncture Canada, acupuncture is a type of treatment that stimulates the balance and flow of Qi (/chi/) energy. Qi is considered essential to traditional medicine. If there is imbalance or obstruction in the flow of Qi it can cause diseases or the body is susceptible to illnesses. 7

How does Acupuncture Work?

How does Acupuncture Work?

Acupuncture is an ancient type of alternative medicine. It helps to stimulate the release of endorphins (considered as the body’s natural pain-relieving neurohormones).  Through the insertion of needles to specific acupuncture points in the body to help the natural healing of the body.  Moreover, acupuncture can provide the following benefits:

Also, an acupuncture service can have various modalities including the following:

Can Acupuncture Help Anxiety?

There are existing pieces of evidence based on multiple studies showing acupuncture can help in treating anxiety.

  • A 2021 systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials on the effectiveness of acupuncture on anxiety disorder show that their findings suggest that acupuncture therapy aimed to reduce anxiety in patients with GAD. Furthermore, acupuncture therapy has beneficial effects compared to a controlled trial. 8 However, the review suggested that there is a need for more studies with high-quality are needed to be conducted to understand the role of acupuncture in terms of treating various types of anxiety disorders.
  • A 2018 systematic review that evaluated 13 clinical studies, determines that every single study has reported anxiety decrease for their treatment group relative to the control controls. Three of these studies had medications as their controls. 9

More Studies About Acupuncture as Treatment for Anxiety

  • A 2013 study with 120 randomized patients found that acupuncture can reduce the symptoms of anxiety and depression. The reduction is about twice as much as conventional therapy which includes medication and psychotherapy. 10 The results of this study suggested the need for confirmation in a larger. In addition, a longer-term study is needed to address potentially confounding design issues in the present study.
  • In addition, a 2013 clinical systematic review, shows that six reviews studies using Quality Score for Acupuncture Trials (QSAT) reveal a have high-level evidence to support the use of acupuncture in treating a major depressive disorder in pregnancy. 11 This review also suggests more high-quality research to help evaluate the standards of future acupuncture trials.

The Bottom Line

Overall, the reviews and research studies above simply show the promising result of acupuncture in treating anxiety. In addition, it is also a safe and effective means of treating anxiety.

If you are looking for an acupuncturist in Coquitlam, it is important to find a trained and licensed one.

Schedule your First Acupuncture Session in Coquitlam

Acupuncture is a safe and effective treatment method for a variety of conditions, both physical and mental. If you are looking for an acupuncturist in Coquitlam, we have licensed acupuncturists in Coquitlam. They can help you in dealing with anxiety. Additionally, if you are looking for an acupuncturist in Surrey. You can also count on Evergreen Rehab and Wellness – Surrey clinic.

At Evergreen Rehab & Wellness – Coquitlam and Surrey Clinic, our acupuncturist will apply various modalities based on the results of the patient’s assessment. They will provide a custom acupuncture treatment depending on your condition.

Moreover, you may also check out what happens during a full-acupuncture treatment here.

Evergreen is Everywhere for Everyone – Let’s Help You Achieve Your Health and Wellness Goals

At Evergreen Rehab & Wellness – Coquitlam, we have licensed acupuncturists and TCM practitioners that provide best-in-class acupuncture therapy.

We don’t only have acupuncturists in Coquitlam, we also have acupuncturists in Surrey that are always ready to provide patients in these areas with custom and high-quality care.

Moreover, we also have an acupuncturist in Langley that can help you.

You may contact us through the following:

Acupuncture Clinic in Coquitlam

Acupuncture Clinic in Surrey

Ready to book for an Acupuncture appointment at Evergreen Rehab and Wellness Clinic? Call us at 604-449-5859 or 604-498-5859 or click the button below. We will help you to enjoy a painless and healthy lifestyle.

Book for an Appointment in Coquitlam
Book for an Appointment in Surrey
References
  1. Canada, P. H. A. of. (2021, June 2). Symptoms of anxiety and depression during the COVID-19 pandemic. Www.canada.ca. https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/publications/diseases-conditions/symptoms-anxiety-depression-covid-19-pandemic.html[↩]
  2. Anxiety. (n.d.). HealthLink BC. https://www.healthlinkbc.ca/health-topics/anxty[↩]
  3. Health Canada. (2009, July 22). Mental health – Anxiety disorders – Canada.ca. Canada.ca. https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/healthy-living/your-health/diseases/mental-health-anxiety-disorders.html)[↩]
  4. Anxiety. (2010, April 28). Psychology Today.https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/basics/anxiety[↩]
  5. Anxiety: MedlinePlus. (n.d.). MedlinePlus – Health Information from the National Library of Medicine. https://medlineplus.gov/anxiety.html[↩]
  6. Health Canada. (2009, July 22).Mental health – Anxiety disorders – Canada.ca. Canada.ca. https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/healthy-living/your-health/diseases/mental-health-anxiety-disorders.html[↩]
  7. Acupuncture stimulates the balance and flow of Qi energy. (2018, August 1). Acupuncture Canada. https://www.acupuncturecanada.org/acupuncture-101/what-is-acupuncture/[↩]
  8. Yang, Xy., Yang, Nb., Huang, Ff. et al.(2021)Effectiveness of acupuncture on anxiety disorder: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Ann Gen Psychiatry 20, 9 . https://doi.org/10.1186/s12991-021-00327-5)[↩]
  9. Amorim, D., Amado, J., Brito, I., Fiuza, S. M., Amorim, N., Costeira, C., & Machado, J. (2018). Acupuncture and electroacupuncture for anxiety disorders: A systematic review of the clinical research. Complementary therapies in clinical practice, 31, 31–37. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ctcp.2018.01.008)[↩]
  10. 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)[↩]
  11. Sniezek, D. P., & Siddiqui, I. J. (2013). Acupuncture for Treating Anxiety and Depression in Women: A Clinical Systematic Review. Medical acupuncture, 25(3), 164–172. https://doi.org/10.1089/acu.2012.0900)[↩]