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Tension, Stress and Acupuncture

June 26th, 2012 | Posted in Emotions+Stress

Tension, Stress and Acupuncture

Although there are many forms of stress, we naturally carry ourselves in a different way when stressed. The back, neck and shoulders all have a role to play in the level of stress manifesting in a physical way.  The shoulders are more elevated, the neck becomes a little stiffer, as does what appears to be the entire back.  It seems that the musculature just won’t relax, or it is short lived when we do do something about it. Why is that?  Well, the body adapts to stress, to almost quite literally ‘carry the burden’ so to speak.

Chronic stress  over-activates the sympathetic nervous system  and causes pain and tension along the spinal cord up into the neck and shoulder areas. This constriction prevents the free-flow of what we call ‘qi’ in Chinese medicine.   Our muscles tighten and this causes our Qi (pronounced chee) to get stuck.

Qi  is energy –  the energy of life.   This energy flows through our body. It’s Qi (energy) that mobilizes our arms and legs to move, our stomach to digest food, our heart to pump and blood  to flow. Without Qi, we’re dead, lifeless.

When we get tense,  the Qi flowing through our body and organs gets stuck. The stuck Qi builds up, like a pressure cooker, and eventually needs an escape valve:

• We might get angry and have outbursts.
• When Qi in the stomach gets stuck, we have digestive problems, like acid regurgitation, or heartburn. (Qi gets stuck, and can’t flow down, so it goes upward and escapes out the mouth.)
• Some people get bowel problems, like IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome) because this stuck Qi cannot move food through the intestines properly.
• Did you ever get angry and feel Qi rising to your head (maybe you got warm or red in the face)? This happens because the stuck Qi building up has to be released. It goes up to the head, and can cause migraine or tension headaches, and high blood pressure.

How does acupuncture treat stress-related health conditions? The acupuncturist will ask questions about the particular problem (e.g.. headache, neck and shoulder tension, if there is  heartburn or high blood pressure etc.) She/he will then ask  general questions about all systems in the body and emotions to determine a constitutional pattern to explain why a patient developed their particular condition. The acupuncturist will then decide on a treatment plan, including lifestyle modifications to treat the condition. The acupuncture points chosen will include local and/or distal points together with experiential points known to be effective in treating the complaint. She will also choose points to move the stuck Qi.

For example, headaches or high blood pressure might be treated with acupuncture points in the feet or ankles to pull the excess qi down to the feet, therefore stopping the problem.

Acupuncture effectively treats disorders caused by stress, by unblocking stuck Qi, allowing it to flow properly throughout the body. We feel more relaxed and food is digested smoothly and moves through the bowels properly. As our tension is relieved, so are the headaches. Instead of being so tense and angry, we remain calm and our blood pressure and our tempers stay even.

See other articles on Stress Common Treatments for further information.