Bloor West Acupuncture

 

The Bloor West Village in Toronto is a popular neighbourhood, featuring all necessary amenities plus many funky clothing stores, bookshops, restaurants, and cafes. This highly desirable area has proximity to transit and schools, and is close to beautiful High Park.

 

Bloor West Village also features a number of stores that carry healthy, natural products, and various practitioners who specialize in alternative and natural medicine. These latter include registered massage therapists, homeopathic doctors, specialists in Reiki, and acupuncturists. Acupuncture, an ancient Chinese healing art, has been practiced for well over two thousand years, but has gained popularity in the west in the past several decades. The World Health Organization now recognizes acupuncture as an effective treatment for a long list of conditions that include rheumatoid arthritis, headaches, depression, sciatica, morning sickness, and many more.

 

 

Acupuncture is one of the key practices of traditional Chinese medicine. TCM believes that there are fourteen energy channels in the body, called meridians. Each of these channels is connected to a different organ in the body. By positioning very fine needles under the skin at various points along these meridians, acupuncturists hope to stimulate energy flow to the affected body areas and thereby alleviate symptoms.

 

Western medical practitioners often acknowledge the effectiveness of acupuncture, and recommend it to patients. They have a different explanation of why the treatment works, however. Many western doctors believe that the needles stimulate the production of endorphins, which help the patient to experience pain or stress differently. This can lead to a change in brain biochemistry and result in better biochemical balance.

 

The average treatment uses five to twenty hair-thin needles placed at varying depths. Because they are so fine, these needles cause very little discomfort. Sometimes needles are warmed before (or after) insertion, or sometimes the practitioner twirls them in place.

 

 

Many people in our modern society suffer from stress-related conditions. These can include depression and anxiety, migraines, muscle spasms, heart disease, hypertension, type 2 diabetes, and fibromyalgia or other autoimmune system disorders. Acupuncture has shown to be particularly effective in treating stress. When we're stressed, our bodies release both adrenalin and cortisol. While both can be harmful over periods of time, cortisol stays in the body longer and can cause damage to many body systems. Acupuncture has been clinically proven to lower levels of cortisol, and to help the body find new ways to deal with stress.

 

There are several variations that may be available to you in the Bloor West Village area. Thee include acupressure, a method that uses acupuncture points but employs pressure rather than needles, and other variations that use heat, electrical current, magnets, or even laser beams.

 

Other alternative health therapies can also be useful. Acupuncture, when properly performed, has virtually no side effects, and can be used in conjunction with other types of treatments, including conventional western pharmaceuticals. Combining acupuncture with massage therapy, Reiki, homeopathy, or other holistic treatments can have you feeling relaxed, fit, and youthful.

 

If you want to maximize your health and combat stress, call a Bloor West acupuncturist today!