Side Effects of Acupuncture

Acupuncture is basically a healing method, in which fine needles are inserted into certain specific points, also called trigger points, in the body. The insertion is mainly aimed at relieving the person of pain. Used mainly for therapeutic purposes, the healing technique has been known to offer many health benefits to patients. However, there have been instances though quite rare, of certain negative effects as well. Though not too serious, they might result in discomfort to the person being treated. In case you want to further explore the side effects that might result from acupuncture, go through the following lines.

Negative Effects Of Acupuncture

One of the main side effects of acupuncture, which many of the people experience, is a regular sensation of warmth, tenderness, and tingling in the treated body parts. This especially happens when the acupuncture needles touch the acupoint, also called the trigger point.
In very few cases, the acupuncture needles end up penetrating through the minute blood capillaries. In such a case, there are chances of mild bruising and bleeding, from the treatment.
While receiving the treatment, some of the patients might experience a temporary drop in blood pressure levels, i.e. suffer from low blood pressure, along with fatigue. In rare cases, the blood pressure might drop to the point that the patient ends up fainting also.
There have been very rare instances of the patients suffering from allergic reactions to the stainless steel needles used in acupuncture. However, this is quite uncommon and mainly experienced when the needles have not been sterilized properly.
The PENS or TENS treatment in acupuncture involves the use of electrical stimulation at various key trigger points. At times, this might result in the patient experiencing temporary tingling sensation or pins and needles sensation around the area treated.
The use of electro-stimulators in acupuncture might result in nerve damage, especially if the electricity is passed on for extended periods of time or is set at a high frequency. This side-effect is mostly seen in cases when the stimulators were not working well.
Many-a-times, herbs are used in acupuncture treatment. Because of the caffeine content therein or allergic reactions in patients that cannot tolerate certain herbs, the usage might result in insomnia. This is another one of the rare side effects of acupuncture.
The use of moxibustion technique in acupuncture might result in burns on the patient's skin. This mainly results in the cases where the herbs are burnt and held too close to the skin.
In the acupuncture treatments that involve cupping and guasha, there is a chance of blood drawing close to the skin surface. This, in turn, leads to bruising on the patient's skin.
Acupuncture involves putting pressure on the nerves of the patient. At times, this might result in the inflammation of the nerve. On the other hand, incorrect insertion of needles might result in perforation of some of the vital organs.

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