People seeking treatment for addiction typically have a complex road to recovery. Everyone’s story is different, and people have different needs and respond to treatment in their own time and in their own way.
What many people might not be familiar with are the supplemental therapies that can be used to help promote healing and recovery. One of those supplemental therapies is the National Acupuncture Detoxification Association (NADA) acupuncture protocol.

What is the NADA protocol?

The NADA protocol is different from traditional acupuncture in that traditional acupuncture uses the placement of needles in different points on the body and the NADA protocol is based on ear or auricular therapy. The needles are placed in five specific points on the ear while patients rest for approximately 30-45 minutes. 

According to the Cleveland Clinic, the specific points referenced are:

• Kidney (promotes healing and eases fear)
• Liver (this ear point helps with blood purification and detoxification
• Lung (helps with the release of emotions and expands lung capacity)
• Shen Men (promotes detoxification, reduces pain, helps energize other acupuncture points)
• Sympathetic (helps manage the sympathetic and parasympathetic branches of the autonomic nervous system)

Another advantage to the NADA protocol is that it is often offered in group settings which makes it an affordable option for a lot of people looking for additional help in their recovery journey. The NADA provides training for a wide variety of people who deal with those in addiction recovery including addiction counselors, mental health therapists and social workers, police and correctional officers and those working in drug court, disaster relief teams and other trauma support center staff, first responders, nurses, and EMTs, as well as medical doctors and acupuncturists. 

The NADA protocol has shown success in decreasing cravings for alcohol and drugs.
In addition to addiction, the NADA protocol can also be used to help those who have suffered a traumatic event. One study demonstrated how this protocol helped people relax and sleep better after the traumatic events of September 11, 2001. The same results were found when it was used after hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005.  

Another study found that the NADA protocol helped improve the quality of life for those working through traditional treatment programs. Those receiving the protocol said they felt better about themselves and had more energy than those who hadn’t received the protocol. They also reported engaging in less alcohol or tobacco use during the study’s three- and six-month follow-up periods.

When combined with other treatment options such as group counseling, individual therapy and support groups, acupuncture can help those suffering from a substance addiction.
Research has shown that acupuncture can help reduce cravings, increase patient retention in rehab, easy physical pain and withdrawal symptoms, help regulate sleep, and decrease anxiety and stress. Just like traditional acupuncture, the side effects and risks are few, so those looking for a supplemental treatment option should consider the NADA protocol as a safe addition to their treatment options.  

If you suffer from addiction or trauma, ask me about the NADA protocol and other traditional acupuncture treatment options. Acupuncture’s benefits are vast, and I will conduct a thorough health history and answer all your questions.

Set yourself up for a successful recovery and call today to make an appointment.

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According to the National Center for Drug Abuse Statistics, almost 50,000 people die every year from opioid overdoses, more than 10 million misuse opioids in a given year, and opioids are a factor in 72% of overdose deaths. You hear about the opioid crisis on the nightly news frequently but what can be done to help people deal with chronic pain (the reason they are likely taking the opioids in the first place). Can acupuncture really help? 

Acupuncture and Pain Relief

Chronic pain can be debilitating for those suffering from it and it directly impacts quality of life. People often treat chronic pain with anti-inflammatory medications (both prescription and over-the-counter), physical therapy, or with ice and heat, but those options don’t always provide long lasting relief. People then seek out more and stronger medications to help deal with the chronic pain. This, in turn, can lead to drug dependence and an addiction to finding relief from the pain. 

What acupuncture does best is not to merely address the pain, but to treat the underlying cause of the pain. For example, acupuncture is often indicated to treat chronic pain conditions that radiate pain along a nerve pathway, pain causing muscle spasms, inflammation, scar tissue, and pain that is located in multiple areas of the body. Stopping the cycle of chronic pain is the best way to begin to address the addiction. 

Opioid Dependency

It’s important to acknowledge that many people who suffer from opioid addictions and even those who overdose don’t fit the typical profile of a drug user. These are often people who have suffered from injuries due to a car accident, workplace accident, or even a sports related injury. Injuries like these can cause chronic pain and require pain management. People become dependent on them and are simply desperate to alleviate the pain. The road to addiction can happen without people even realizing it before it is too late.

Perhaps the first benefit acupuncture offers is that it does not introduce chemicals into the patient’s body. Acupuncture is a natural way to address chronic pain by detecting the underlying issue causing the pain. By the placement of the needles, natural hormones are activated in your body to initiate healing from within. 

Those using opioids eventually develop a tolerance to them which requires larger doses to feel the desired effects. Acupuncture will address the root of the problem and not just mask the pain. It has been proven to alleviate stress, reduce inflammation, and improve mood without any chemical interference. This makes it a tremendous option for those suffering from opioid dependence.

As an entirely holistic process and with thousands of studies in support of its use for a variety of conditions, acupuncture has become a trusted pain management option. Many leading national hospitals including Cancer Treatment Centers of America, Mayo Clinic, MD Anderson, Cleveland Clinic, and others offer acupuncture as part of various treatment programs. Some of the most trusted groups in the nation have endorsed the use of acupuncture, especially for treating chronic pain. These groups include the American Medical Association, the American College of Physicians, the American Academy of Family Physicians, and the American Pain Society. 

If you or someone you love is suffering from opioid dependency, end the cycle of addiction and pain with the natural healing properties acupuncture is known for.

The post Acupuncture as an Alternative to Opioids appeared first on Tybee Acupuncture.

Opioids. A word all too common to today’s society. Since the late 1990s, the number of opioid-related deaths has increased dramatically, having taken the lives of nearly 64,000 Americans each year.

The opioid epidemic is considered to be the deadliest crisis in United States history and overdoses have also become the leading cause-of-death in people under the age of 50 in the United States.

OPIOID HISTORY

There are many theories regarding the opioid epidemic and how we got to this point. One thing is for certain is that it began in the 1990s and it started in the medical pharmaceutical industry.

During this period of time, medical doctors were being pressured to treat chronic pain more aggressively. In response to this pressure, doctors began prescribing long-term use of opioids so that patients could better deal with their pain. At the same time that this was happening, pharmaceutical companies were touting opioids as non-addictive and not harmful.

Doctors were prescribing drugs at higher rates and according to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), by 2015, there were enough pills being prescribed to medicate every American daily for three weeks straight.

ADDICTIVE NATURE

There are many who may not know just how addictive opioids can be. Studies have shown that patients who take the medications for as little as a week have a higher chance of developing an addiction.

It’s a common occurrence for those who have previously been prescribed opioids to begin misusing them. Oftentimes, if their supply ran out or their prescription expired, getting medication from friends, family or buying them illegally was how people gathered them.

This behavior led to the medications being harder to obtain and people turning to black market forms of the drugs or using illegal drugs like heroin, to help battle their chronic pain.

USE OF OPIOIDS

Opioids are used to relieve pain because they lower the number of pain signals the body sends to the brain. They also change how the body responds to the pain. Opioids include codeine, fentanyl, morphine, oxycodone, hydrocodone, hydromorphone and tramadol.

They tend to be safe when taken as prescribed, but since they are highly addictive, they can be easily misused and people don’t even realize they have an addiction.

This type of medicine alters the brain by creating artificial endorphins, which make you feel good. Overuse of them can cause the brain to actually stop making natural endorphins if opioids are used too frequently and at high dosages. Thus, the body becomes dependent on the synthetic drug and builds up a tolerance, which requires more and more of the drug to achieve the same level of pain relief.

ACUPUNCTURE AND OPIOIDS

Unfortunately, it seems this epidemic is not going away anytime soon. As doctors start to crack down on the prescriptions they are handing out, more and more people are seeking out other forms of pain-relief and that’s where Acupuncture comes into play!

The stimulation of acupuncture needles improves blood circulation and helps you heal naturally. Undergoing treatment from Traditional Chinese Medicinal practices can also help your body begin producing natural chemicals that are used as painkillers, thus relieving chronic pain without the addiction.

Acupuncture is believed to rebalance energy and qi (the body’s life force) in order to alleviate pain and boost overall health from the inside out!

While there are numerous ways to treat opioid addiction, the fact remains the crisis is one that will be dealt with for generations to come, both physically and financially. If you have additional questions about opioid addiction and how you may benefit from acupuncture treatments, reach out to us and schedule an appointment!

The post Opioid Addiction: What Is It and Why Is It Prevalent Today appeared first on Tybee Acupuncture.