What Is Causing My Leg Cramps During the Night?
Leg cramps can leave you restless throughout the night, making it difficult to get any restorative sleep. Here are some potential causes of leg cramps and one way to alleviate them.
How Acupuncture Can Treat Knee Pain
Do you suffer from constant pain in one or both knees? Depending on the cause of your pain, acupuncture might be able to provide you with lasting relief.
At Progressive Spine & Sports Medicine in Ramsey, New Jersey, our board-certified pain specialists assess your knee pain, determine the cause, and prescribe acupuncture or electroacupuncture to provide lasting relief and restored mobility.
Using acupuncture to treat knee pain
The most common type of pain in the knees is caused by osteoarthritis. Over time, the components in the knee wear down, and cartilage disappears, letting bones in the knee rub together. This can cause intense pain, especially as your knees carry all the weight of your body.
Acupuncture for knee pain
Fortunately, osteoarthritic knee pain has been shown to respond to holistic health treatments such as acupuncture, allowing patients to avoid knee surgery or delay it until they are older and in less likelihood of having to repeat knee surgery in their most senior years.
In three different studies of men and women ranging in age from their 20s to their 50s, most obtained relief after acupuncture with results lasting anywhere from two months to four years after treatment was completed.
Electroacupuncture for knee pain
In addition to regular acupuncture, which uses fine needles only, electroacupuncture has been a solution for people with knee osteoarthritis. During electroacupuncture, a small current of electricity is sent down through the needles into the knee.
Electroacupuncture seems to be even more effective than standard acupuncture for treating arthritic knee pain, and both types of acupuncture appear to be more effective than “standard care” (treating with analgesics.)
How acupuncture and electroacupuncture work on knee pain
Acupuncture and electroacupuncture have been tested extensively in different types of pain. Each type has a slightly different mechanism.
Acupuncture: mechanism of action
Acupuncture relieves pain by stimulating specific nerve points to release endorphins, and urge the brain to create more serotonin, both of which are “feel-good” chemicals that can distract from pain.
Electroacupuncture: mechanism of action
Electroacupuncture works more directly on the nervous system, stimulating the production of natural biochemicals that relieve pain and allow for a broader range of movement (previously inhibited by pain.)
Studies show that electroacupuncture in particular not only relieves knee pain but improves joint function and mobility. At Progressive Spine and Sports, we offer both traditional acupuncture and electroacupuncture for knee pain.
Ready to get rid of your knee pain using safe, effective acupuncture methods? Contact our office at 201-962-9199, or request a consultation online today.
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