Acupuncture for Stroke Recovery

A stroke is an extremely serious episode that can render a person permanently or temporarily incapacitated. It can affect anything from smiling to walking with, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), just under one million Americans afflicted by a stroke per year. It is the number five cause of death and leading cause of disability in the United States today, as stated by the American Stroke Association (ASA).

There are many causes of stroke risk including years of unhealthy eating which could create clogged arteries that may lead to compromised blood flow to the brain and cause a stroke. After a person experiences a stroke it could take intense physical therapy along with conventional medications to possibly help with recovery, if recovery is even possible. However, recent research has shown significant improvement for stroke victims when an acupuncture protocol is applied.

Acupuncture for stroke recovery may accelerate healing and potentially restore mobility beyond conventional attempts. There are many types of stroke incidence and when acupuncture was applied to each, there were good results on various levels. Learn how acupuncture can help stroke recovery for a natural approach that stimulates the body’s deep inner healing capability.

Recognizing a Stroke

Before recovery, it is important to first recognize the symptoms of a stroke. There are some telltale signs as well as subtle clues when one has experienced or is about to experience a stroke.

These are some indications the Mayo Clinic cites,

• Trouble speaking – A slur of words or incoherent words.
• Understanding people – Confusion as to what others are saying.
• Face, arm, or leg paralysis – A drooping smile, sudden weakness or numbness often affecting one side of the body. Raising both arms above the head and having one fall may be a sign of a current stroke in progress.
• Vision compromise – Sudden blurred, doubled, or blacked out vision in one or both eyes.
• Headache – Not a normal headache but rather a sudden, severe onset that may include vomiting, dizziness, or altered consciousness could be a stroke happening at that moment.
• Difficulty walking – A stroke can easily compromise walking as one side of the body weakens causing loss of coordination and balance issues.

If these symptoms continue to arise or are happen in real time, it may be a sign of a pending or current emergency and a doctor must be notified. Once symptoms have subsided and a stroke diagnosis is determined, choosing recovery options is essential. According to recent and archival studies, acupuncture could be an excellent choice.

Relieving Pain and Paralysis with Acupuncture

Studies of acupuncture for stroke recovery have been ongoing. The mechanism of how acupuncture works is still theorized by western medicine however, in many conventional protocols including some of the most prominent hospitals, such as Mount Sinai in NYC, it is accepted and used.

Traditional treatments that include naturopathic medicine which follows Classical Chinese Medicine (CCM) in conjunction with acupuncture, embrace the many observational studies and publishings of how moving stuck energy (Qi, chee) is the major application of acupuncture. By doing so, it has shown to improve and sometimes even eliminate symptoms in a variety of treatments.

These are some of the professional research studies showing various results of when acupuncture is applied to different degrees of stroke recovery symptoms. They indicate significant beneficial outcomes that warrant consideration, either using acupuncture by itself or as an adjunct to conventional applications.

Spasticity – Published in the Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, a study of electro-acupuncture (EA) combined with common physical therapy and pharmacological applications showed significant progress. EA is when some acupuncture needles are attached to small, painless currents of electricity. The study concluded that,

“EA combined with conventional routine care has the potential of reducing spasticity in the upper and lower limbs and improving overall and lower extremity motor function and activities of daily living for patients with spasticity, within 180 days post stroke.”

Dysphagia – One challenge that may arise with post stroke recovery is difficulty swallowing which is called dysphagia. A study of acupuncture used to treat this condition was conducted by combined research of Chinese scientists and published in the Annals of Palliative Medicine, which concluded,

“The existing evidence supports that acupuncture therapy can significantly improve the swallowing function of patients with dysphagia.”

Balance – When one suffers a stroke, mobility of at least one side of the body is seriously compromised. Acupuncture was studied by researchers at the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Changhua Christian Hospital, Changhua, Taiwan finding,

“The muscle strength of the hip flexor and knee extensor were increased in the paralyzed and non-paralyzed sides of patients in the experimental group, but not in the control group. The results of the present study suggest that acupuncture stimulation may induce an immediate effect that improves balance function in stroke patients.”

Muscle Strength – Increasing muscle strength can be difficult for post stroke recovery patients but research of an acupuncture protocol on foot mobility showed promise. Published in the Journal of Rehabilitative Medicine, a study of muscle strength found,

“Three weeks of transcutaneous electrical stimulation to lower leg acupuncture points, given 5 times a week within 10 days post-stroke, significantly decreased ankle plantar flexor spasticity, and increased dorsi flexor strength concomitant with a decrease in antagonist co-contraction.”

Acupuncture for stroke recovery is a valid, beneficial and natural treatment that, in many cases, can considerably improve various compromising symptoms post stroke.

At Integrative Med Solutions, we will design an acupuncture program that works for you. In many cases, insurance covers portions of the treatment. Allow us to support you to achieve optimal health. To make an appointment or find out more about how acupuncture and naturopathic medicine can benefit you, please call our office at 914-337-2980 or Click Here to schedule an online appointment.

*Please Click Here to see a current list of insurance companies that commonly carry acupuncture benefits for its members. For more info, please call 914-337-2980 or securely email us at info@intmedsolutions.com.

Best in health from Integrative Med Solutions.

Sources:
https://www.stroke.org/en/about-stroke
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/stroke/symptoms-causes/syc-20350113
https://www.cdc.gov/stroke/index.htm
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28455191/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33849125/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19606509/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19363561/