Discover the benefits of this ancient practice at The Raven
The fact that acupuncture is a fabulous tool for relieving stress isn’t breaking news. For years, people have been turning to the ancient healing art to ease tension and anxiety. And clients who have discovered The Raven Spa, one of the most innovative day spas in Los Angeles, have been finding relief.
The good news is that now there is also a growing body of evidence demonstrating the benefits of acupuncture. And, for skeptics, there is even some scientific research that has been able to provide a preliminary understanding of how the practice is able to reduce our stress and ease our anxiety.
It might be helpful to first look at what acupuncture actually is. Acupuncture first developed in ancient Chiba, but these days it is popular throughout Europe and the United States. Using very slim needles, a practitioner stimulates certain points on the body, known as meridians, to ease various symptoms and provide relief for a range of conditions.
In a column titled Acupuncture for Stress and Depression? Yes, Please!, which appeared on the Psychology Today website, Teri Goetz, MS, LAC, ACC, a doctor of Chinese medicine, transformational coach, speaker, group facilitator, and author, says. “Meridians can be thought of as a highway of energy, or “qi” in traditional Chinese medicine. Acupuncture works by getting rid of the roadblocks on this energy superhighway.”
If you’re stressed out, in pain or depressed and you find something that makes you feel better, you may not particularly care how it works, you’re just glad it does. There are others who are curious and are looking into the mechanics of acupuncture.
Research at Georgetown University Medical Center (GUMC) has received a lot of attention.
By studying rats, researchers there were able to understand how acupuncture works to significantly reduce the stress hormone response. Originally published in the Journal of Endocrinology, the study showed that electronic acupuncture measurably reduced stress hormones in the rats.
“We’re starting to understand what’s going on at the molecular level that helps explain acupuncture’s benefit,” the study’s lead author, Ladan Eshkevari, PhD, an associate professor of nursing at Georgetown University School of Nursing & Health Studies, a part of GUMC, said in a statement.
Psychology Today reported on another study, this one done by researchers at the University of York in the United Kingdom that concluded that both acupuncture and counseling (or both) provided significant relief for patients – benefits that lasted at least three months.
LiveScience.com posted information about additional studies, saying:
- A study published in 2017 by Sean Grand, et al., is using acupuncture to help treat people with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The study found that acupuncture might help with some side effects of PTSD, such as depression, especially when treated soon after diagnosis. The researchers do recommend that even though the research is promising, it is relatively new, and much more research is still needed before promoting acupuncture as one of the treatments for those with PTSD.
- A 2017 paper by researchers in Germany and Switzerland studied the effects of acupuncture on patients with allergic asthma. The researchers showed through a large, randomized trial that acupuncture added to the patient’s routine did significantly improve asthma symptoms within the three-month trial period. One limitation to the study, however, was that patients and practitioners weren’t blinded to the study so there may be an element of bias in the results.
“Western medicine has shown that acupuncture releases endorphins and activates natural pain killers. Now we see that it affects other biological functions as well,” Goetz says.
If you’d like to do a little research of your own, schedule an appointment with Los Angeles day spa The Raven professional acupuncturist. During your preliminary session at either our spa in Santa Monica or our Silver Lake location, you will undergo a complete body assessment. Because acupuncture looks at the flow of energy through the whole body rather than treating a particular symptom or condition, you’ll be asked about your whole body. The more information you are able to provide, the more benefit you will gain from your acupuncture treatments.
The Raven’s Silverlake and Santa Monica spas, are both traditional Thai massage bodywork and healing centers. For more information on acupuncture and other services, including the best massage in Santa Monica, please contact:
The Raven
208 Pier Ave, Santa Monica, CA 90405
Tel: (310) 3994747
Open Daily from 10am – 9pm
The Raven
2910 Rowena Ave, Silverlake, CA 90039
Tel: (323) 6440240
Open Daily from 10am – 9pm
