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What Is Shingles, and How Can Acupuncture treat it?

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Ellicott Acupuncture Centre

Shingles is described as a pain or tingling sensation in a partial area on one side of the face or upper body, followed by a red rash with tiny, fluid-filled blebs. Symptoms of shingles usually affect only a small area of your body.


What Causes Shingles?


A weakened immune system and stress are the perfect causes for shingles rashes. Most people get their first shingle rash after prolonged stress that deteriorates the immune system or after a major disease that makes it work more complicated. In both conditions, the final result is the same for people who carry the varicella virus, which has been inactive for many years, unexpectedly becomes active and causes shingles. You can treat shingles pain with various treatments, but acupuncture is the dominant and increasingly effective therapy for treating shingles pain. You must be aware of shingle pain and acupuncture and how acupuncture takes care of shingles.


How Acupuncture Works to Treat Shingles


Shingles outbreaks can occur in three different patterns, although the varicella-zoster virus always causes them. In Chinese medication, each of these three patterns has a profound depiction, and at the acupuncture points, penetration of needles by an acupuncturist will depend on your shingles pattern.


Pattern 1 – Burning Heat in Liver and Gall bladder


In this pattern, the skin gashes are red and warm and filled with fluid. There is burning, and the pain is like a pinprick. Individuals are usually hot and irritable with dry mouths and intense thirst. They may have been under loads of stress and forced themselves hard at work and in life. Generally, this pattern will also come with the over-consumption of sugar and alcohol and a poor diet.

Here, the treatment principle is to cleanse the liver and remove heat. Each acupuncture point has its role: the livers are points for moving qi and the points for clearing heat.

Even though the outbreak may extend to the back by wrapping around the ribs on the left side of the abdomen, needles are injected at acupuncture points throughout the body while getting acupuncture therapy in Ellicott City.


Pattern 2 – Damp-Heat


This pattern is recognized by large-sized blebs filled with yellow fluid. They can be prone to infection because their membranes are thin and break easily. The person will feel no hungriness and have poor digestion.

This pattern also involves the removal of heat from the affected area of the body. However, this pattern will have more moisture associated with it, and so the points will also include points that reduce moisture.


Pattern 3 – Stagnation of Qi & Blood


This pattern refers to post-herpetic pain and often affects older people who are tired and weary. Pain occurs when the body's energy gets stuck and doesn't flow smoothly, so treatment for this pattern will involve building and moving the qi and moving the blood.


Acupuncture Works


During acupuncture therapy in Ellicott City, the acupuncturist can determine a person's shingles pattern and uses specific acupuncture points to treat underlying imbalances that caused the virus to rear its ugly head. At acupuncture points, needles may be injected to remove any heat, move the qi and thus alleviate any pain and inflammation. In addition, the immune system can be improved, which helps fight the virus and revert it to its dormant state.

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