Acupuncture Injection Therapy

What is Acupuncture Injection Therapy?  

Acupuncture injection therapy is a therapy
whereby specific locations are injected with
biological products. Most of these injections
are given under the skin or into the muscles. 

What kind of products is being injected? 

Most ampoules contain low doses of plant
extracts. Products commonly used in
Acupuncture injections are, for example,
arnica, echinacea, nux vomica and chamomile.  

Arnica is used for muscle pain, nux vomica is
injected for digestive problems, echinacea is
used to increase the natural defense system
of the body.  

Acupuncture injection therapy always consist of cocktails of natural products.  

Specific products are used for pain, inflammations, sports injuries and muscular cramps. Hundreds of different cocktails are available these days. 

Are these products safe for me? 

The ampoules do not contain high concentrations of the active substances.  

As only low doses are injected, toxic side effects are very unlikely.
 

Additionally, the ampoules used in acupuncture injections are manufactured by companies that guarantee the production quality of their products.
 

Most of the ampoules used for injection are made in Germany and Italy which are submitted to very strict quality control regulations and systems.

How can these dilutions actually have an effect on my body? 

The fact that most ampoules only contain very low concentrations of plant extracts is often a reason for conventional physicians to criticize the possible effects of these products.
 

But one has to add here that the products used in acupuncture injections are not diluted to the extent that an ampoule contains no active products any more (as in “real” homeopathy). That’s why we call them micro-doses. So, it is more than just injecting water. 

How does this small dose influence the body then?  

When you receive a tetanus vaccination, only small amounts of a product are necessary to stimulate the immune system (= your defense system) against lockjaw.
 

A few injections can protect your body for several years against such a serious disease!
 

Acupuncture injections are not real vaccinations, of course, but the idea of the mechanism of action is similar: small doses of the right product can have a huge effect.
 

And acupuncture injections produces its clinical effects because it stimulates your immune system to restart its healing capacities.
 

But how does acupuncture injection therapy work then to help me with my
pain or inflammations? 

In conventional medicine, the actual drug you take suppresses your symptoms immediately. That is why you need to take high doses of chemical substances in order to suppress for example pain. And as soon as the medication stops working, you have to take another pill to kill the pain again.
 

The same goes for anti-inflammatory medications to control your blood pressure or pills for high cholesterol. That’s how these drugs are designed.
 

However, in acupuncture injections small doses of products are injected in order to stimulate the natural healing processes. These micro doses “wake up” mechanisms which are available anyway. So, the healing effect comes from “inside” your body - not from the products themselves.
 

It’s the reaction of your immune system which will produce the proper reactions to regain natural healing. The reaction of the body may vary from better local blood circulation to relaxation of muscles or a local detoxification of tissues.
 

Will acupuncture injection therapy help me as quickly as conventional therapies? 

It is obvious that injections of micro-doses are less powerful than for example cortisone injections. The dose used is too small to immediately suppress the inflammation.
 

But that’s not the goal of acupuncture injections!
 

We consider an inflammation as an important element of true and lasting healing.  

The goal of acupuncture injections is to stimulate the natural inflammatory processes in order to get complete and natural healing of the injured tissues – not to suppress them.

So, we do exactly the opposite of conventional drugs. As a result, the symptomatic relief may take a while, especially for chronic cases. But when dealing with acute injuries, the effects of the injections are apparent almost immediately.
 

Where are these injections given?  

Most people - especially those who are apprehensive about injections because they may have had bad experiences with injections in their childhood - are surprised how easily and quickly these injections are given. In fact, these injections cannot be compared to the ‘usual' injections given in conventional medicine.
 

They are not as painful as an injection in for example a hospital because the needle used is very fine and the quantity injected is very small. Indeed, they look more like little pinpricks. Most of them are given into or just under the skin; others are given into acupuncture points, specific muscle points or into your ligaments.
 

Dr. Hardy doesn’t give the injections in the buttock or arm, but they are administered in carefully chosen zones. The place where Dr. Hardy injects the product is as important as the product itself.  

How many acupuncture injections will I receive each session? 

A lot of these injections are given at more than one spot during each session.  

For example, if Dr. Hardy wants to work on your liver, he or she will give about 7 little injections under the skin on your abdomen.
 

When you have pain in your elbow, Dr. Hardy will look for several painful spots in your arm muscles or elbow ligaments, and inject each of them in one session.

In such a case, you may receive anything from three to ten little injections in your elbow, neck or arm. So in most cases, several injections are given in a specific zone (or in several areas) of the body at each session.
 

How many sessions of acupuncture injections will be necessary? 

The fact that Dr. Hardy uses small doses of natural products instead of cortisone injections means that you have to be more patient. If you have had problems for several months or even years, Dr. Hardy must work on different layers.
 

If it is a complicated case, Dr. Hardy must sometimes also look for deeper causes of your complaints and work on these. Sometimes your hormonal system has to be regulated.
 

Or he or she must do a detoxification first before even starting to work on your symptoms. As a result, you may need five sessions or even more to feel better.  

When you realize that these products are natural products that do not show any major side effects, you may be motivated to be more patient than usual.

In the long run, however, the results of acupuncture injections are longer lasting because the healing comes from within and does not depend on the pills you take every day to take away the symptoms.
 

Is there an element of risk with such injections? 

It is clear that Dr. Hardy when using acupuncture injections will always do so according to the latest technical standards. That is his duty as a medical professional.

This includes a correct injection technique, and of course the use of sterile disposable material.
 

The latter means that the needle has never been in contact with any other patient and that any transmission of disease (e.g. hepatitis, AIDS) is impossible.  

This should give you confidence in the safety of the technique. But you may end up with a blue spot at the site of injection the next day. 

When should Dr. Hardy suggest Acupuncture Injection Therapy?  

Acupuncture injection therapy cannot heal all your medical problems.  

This is not a miracle therapy. It is up to Dr. Hardy to decide what can be treated, and what can't.
 

The majority of patients choose to be treated with acupuncture injections because they are in pain and do not support the use of conventional painkillers.  

 
However, it is important to realize that acupuncture injections isn’t designed to ‘take away' the pain as with conventional medication. Pain is seen as an important ‘signal' from your body that something is going wrong.
 

It is similar to a red light on the dashboard of your car: the aim is not to just ‘take it away' but to look for the deeper cause. This means that if pain can be alleviated with Acupuncture Injections - without prescribing painkillers - there is good reason to conclude that the deeper cause of that particular pain has been eliminated.

I’ve heard that things can get worse immediately after my first treatment.  

Is that correct? 

It all depends. Every case is different. Sometimes you improve immediately after the injection. It means you really feel better within minutes after the injections. Critics might describe such a phenomenon as a “placebo effect” by saying that you feel better because you believe you’re going to be feeling better.
 

In acupuncture injections, such an immediate improvement is rather likely to happen when dealing with a fresh sports injury for example. But as stated before, when dealing with complaints that have persisted for months or years, things need some time to heal.  

In the beginning the pain may shift from one area to another when the body starts to react to the treatment. This is not a bad sign but the first step of natural healing. It is called the “adaptation phase.” You may even notice that - especially the day after the injection - you feel a little worse, experiencing more pain or discomfort after the first session.
 

This is exactly the opposite of the so-called placebo effect! This temporary worsening of complaints usually means that the healing processes are being activated. The body is working on the problem, and that is exactly what we want.  

In acupuncture injections it is called the “reaction phase”. But when you understand that this means that real healing is on its way, you will be willing to accept these minor reactions in the beginning of the treatment.  

When should I consider Acupuncture Injection Therapy?  

Most physicians use acupuncture injections for minor orthopedic problems. Neck pain and back pain are good indications for acupuncture injections, but one can also treat sciatica, ankle sprain, pain in the shoulder and Achilles tendonitis using these natural products.   

Acupuncture injections is also very successful in treating sports injuries, tennis elbow, golf elbow, and so on. However, acupuncture injections is not just used for pain problems. An area of treatment worth noting is that of allergies and inflammations.
 

For example, one can treat asthma, eczema and hay fever. And even patients with bronchitis, cystitis and sinusitis can be treated with this technique.
 

When a physician is experienced in the technique, he or she can also treat you for migraine, tension headache, Crohn's disease, colitis, Cluster headache, neuralgia, and so on.
 

Who may benefit from Acupuncture Injection Therapy? 

The use of acupuncture injections can benefit those patients who have tried conventional medicine but have had no success, or for those who have had to stop taking conventional medication because of side effects.
 

It is an interesting healing technique for those patients who want to avoid an operation (for example for sciatica or sinusitis). In some patients it may be advantageous to combine the conventional approach together with acupuncture injections.

Many people still believe that one has to stop conventional treatments when choosing acupuncture injections. This is not true.  

When you are being treated with acupuncture injections, you just continue the medication you were already taking. In case of doubt, always contact your physician first for professional advice. Each case should be taken into account individually, of course.
 

When is Acupuncture Injection Therapy not appropriate?  

Let us be clear about it: Acupuncture Injections cannot heal you from cancer, diabetes, a heart attack or AIDS. Nor is it an appropriate treatment for high blood pressure, Parkinson, depression or epilepsy.  

In some cases, the disease is too serious or too aggressive, and can only be stopped through conventional medication or surgery. Your family physician will confirm this. When serious damage has already occurred, acupuncture injections will be simply too late to reverse the damage and bring the body back into balance again.  

For example, a viral hepatitis can be treated with acupuncture injections in order to support the healing mechanism of the body, but liver cirrhosis is a phase where cells are damaged beyond repair and healing is impossible.

The same goes for chronic problems with the airways. Acupuncture injections can help a lot here as long as there is no emphysema or lung cancer involved. That is why it is so important to first have a conventional diagnosis before starting with acupuncture injections.

Conclusion  

Acupuncture injection therapy is a safe and efficient technique in complementary medicine.