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A survey recently conducted showed that alternative medicines are more and more becoming popular by the day. In the survey, almost 12 percent of children (17 years old and under) about 38 percent of adults (18 years and above) use some type of alternative and complementary medicines. However, people have raised concerns about the safety and efficacy of some of these treatments.
Acupuncture is a multi-millennial Chinese healing therapy that has helped countless numbers of people throughout the centuries. Now, this treatment has been discovered to also help animals suffering from certain ailments and illnesses. Scientists have begun searching for newer versions of this ancient complementary treatment- "Acupuncture without needle penetration."
Acupuncture minus the "Puncture"
New studies involving patients with cancer who suffer from nausea associated with radiation therapy were conducted in order to find out if acupuncture without insertion can relieve the patients’ nausea.
A total of 215 patients participated in one study in which patients undergoing radiation treatment were treated with either traditional needling acupuncture or placebo acupuncture, a treatment that used blunt placebo needles that barely touched the skin. A total of 106 patients were treated with placebo acupuncture while the rest received the traditional type of acupuncture.
The study produced stunning results. Almost 95 percent of patients in the two groups experienced a significant relief of their nausea.
In terms of rate of effectiveness, acupuncture consistently scores higher in relieving several health issues compared to many other forms of alternative treatment. But it also needs to be said that when not administered properly, acupuncture can lead to serious harmful effects, including punctured organs and infections.
However, with this new study that shows how acupuncture treatment without needles as just as effective as traditional needling acupuncture, there’s hope that some of the risks such as that of punctured organs, can almost be totally prevented.