Why turn to acupuncture for stroke recovery?
May is stroke awareness month, making it a good time to shine some light on news and treatments in this often confusing and serious arena. Most people think stroke only happens to elderly people but sadly, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of young people experiencing stroke. Hospitalization due to stroke for men between 18 and 44 has nearly doubled since 1995, and women in the same age range are not too far behind.
The truth is, it can a happen to anyone. According to the Internet Stroke Center, stroke is the leading cause of serious, long-term disability in the U.S. About 795,000 people suffer a stroke every year; around 600,000 are first attacks and 195,000 are recurrent attacks.
As the leading cause of long-term disability, and with conventional treatment methods slow and often limited in terms of recovery, it’s time to look elsewhere. Conventional medicine needs to consider alternatives that have worked in other areas of the world. Acupuncture is commonly – and successfully – used as post-stroke treatment in China and Japan. A number of studies in East Asia and Scandinavia have shown that patients receiving acupuncture exhibited significant improvement in motor function, muscle strength, and psychological outlook as compared to those who did not receive acupuncture. And those results improved after a one-year re-evaluation. That means functions like walking, swallowing, speech, balance and activities of daily living, quality of life, mobility and emotional state were restored or improved such as to minimize dependency.
How Does Acupuncture for Stroke Recovery Help?
At this point, Western medicine doesn’t officially acknowledge acupuncture as a viable post-stroke treatment. This is primarily because the Western medical community has not yet invested in research. However, according to the American Academy of Medical Acupuncture, many studies involving thousands of patients have been published in China, Japan and Scandinavia, all demonstrating significant recovery help. These studies indicate that post-stroke acupuncture patients get well faster, perform better in self-care, require less nursing and rehabilitation therapy, and use less healthcare dollars.
An important thing to note about acupuncture for stroke recovery: treatment should start within two weeks for ischemic stroke and within a month for hemorrhagic stroke. This timing is very important and will improve results greatly. The longer someone waits, the harder it is to restore function. Treatments will likely be at least three times per week initially, then reduced in frequency over time. As with many different issues and treatments, recovery time depends on the severity of the condition, delay in treatment post-incidence, and the person’s age and general health.
Acupuncture in Scottsdale is Not All the Same
When searching for an acupuncture clinic to help with stroke recovery, not just any acupuncturist in Scottsdale will do. Not all acupuncturists, medical doctors or naturopaths are trained with a focus on treating post-stroke patients. This is a specialty and it’s important to find a licensed acupuncturist with this focus. Having a MD, OD or ND does NOT necessarily make a practitioner more qualified. In fact, in many cases these professionals are less qualified because their acupuncture training is much more limited (often less than 100 hours). Compare that with traditionally educated acupuncturists who have three to four years of training and a master’s degree in Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine.
While a sobering topic, the great news is that acupuncture for stroke recovery is an excellent option. I have advanced training in Neuroacupuncture and this is an area of focus in my practice. If you have questions about treatment for yourself or a loved one, please don’t hesitate to contact me at 480-258-1474.
