A re-post about acupuncture and cupping from last years Olympics

 I heard from a patient that Michael Phelps was seen in pictures getting an acupuncture treatment and in an interview talking about how it has helped keep him going during the competition. With all the talk about cupping it isn't hard to figure out that they are also doing acupuncture on the athletes. There are a few good reasons why they might want to have some acupuncturists traveling with our national team (which they do). First of all acupuncture is excellent for treating pain. This is no surprise to anyone who has tried it. Secondly, acupuncture is excellent at helping an injury heal faster. This is important in a competition, where something must be done to get the athlete back in the race as soon as possible. I often treat patients that are amazed at how quickly their body starts healing an injured ankle or how the healing after surgery will suddenly be sped up dramatically after a few acupuncture sessions. This works because acupuncture enhances the body's system of healing. A third reason they are using acupuncture in the Olympics is that they have to be careful what drugs they give to the athletes. There are many drugs that if used could get the athlete disqualified. But acupuncture is not on any banned lists. There are also no side effects to acupuncture so they don't have to worry about any adverse effects of giving a pill. Most (upwards of 90%) of our pain patients take advantage of our pain special. To get more info on the pain special please click here.