Can acupuncture can help in elderly care?
Source: myageingparent.com
http://www.myageingparent.com/what-is-acupuncture-and-how-it-can-help-in-elderly-care/
How acupuncture can help in elderly care
•Traditional acupuncture is a healthcare system based on ancient principles dating back over 2000 years
•Acupuncture views pain and illness as signs that the body is out of balance
•The overall aim of acupuncture is to restore the body’s equilibrium
•This approach to healthcare is unique, viewing physical, emotional and mental conditions as interdependent
•The treatment is based on the individual, not on the specific illness and all the symptoms are seen in relation to each other
•The traditional acupuncturist’s principle treatment is that illness and pain occur when the body’s qi, or vital energy, cannot flow freely
•Each patient is unique. Two people with the same western diagnosis may well receive very different acupuncture treatments. There can be many reasons for this: emotional imbalance, stress, poor nutrition, infection, and injury are among the most common
Acupuncture can help with depression and anxiety in the older person
•In Chinese medicine, emotions are a natural part of human existence and no human being escapes being sad, angry, or worried sometimes
•The emotions only become causes of disease when they are particularly intense, and most of all, when they are prolonged over a long period of time, especially when they are not expressed, or acknowledged
Acupuncture can help to reduce over-medication in the elderly
•No other age group is as routinely over-medicated as the elderly
•Combinations of medications for various ailments used in conventional medicine can exhaust and confuse the body in other ways
•Acupuncture can help to balance and restore, by restoring the body’s qi, or vital energy flow
Acupuncture offers pain relief to the ageing person
•Unlike other age groups, restoring an elderly patient to vital health may seem to be an unachievable goal
•Even a modest improvement in pain or bodily function, however, can make a significant difference to an elderly person’s quality of life
•Don’t be discouraged by how badly off an elderly patient may seem. Acupuncture can help
Acupuncture can help the caregivers
•Looking after your ageing parent or relative can be exhausting, challenging and emotionally draining
•Acupuncture can help the care givers to maintain their own life balance, restore their energy and balance their emotions, so that they feel better about themselves and their quality of care
What is the treatment?
•By inserting ultra-fine sterile needles into specific acupuncture points, a traditional acupuncturist seeks to re-establish the free flow of qi to restore balance and trigger the body’s natural responses
•The experience of having acupuncture is pleasant, relaxing and energizing. The needles are hair thin, sterile and generally painless and are never used twice
•There may be a brief soreness, or pulling sensation when the needle is inserted, which means that your qi has connected with the needle.
•You are made comfortable and are draped appropriately
•A good treatment feels like being in “the zone”, or a deep meditation as your body moves back into balance