Acupuncture

Parent Category: Forms of therapy Complementary and alternative therapies

based on the German version "Akupunktur"

Description

A form of alternative medicine and a component of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in which thin needles are inserted into the body. Acupuncture is a pseudoscience; the theories and practices of TCM are not based on scientific knowledge, and it has been characterized as quackery.

Wikipedia.org

Form

Individual therapy, outpatient and inpatient

Clinical applications

Pain patients

Time

Costs

Since 2007 is acpunture covered by the German public health insurances

Benefits

This may relieve pain by releasing endorphins, the body's natural pain-killing chemicals, and by affecting the part of the brain that governs serotonin, a brain chemical involved with mood.

Potential adverse

Internal organ, tissue, or nerve injury is the main complications of acupuncture especially for pneumothorax and central nervous system injury. Adverse effects also included syncope, infections, hemorrhage, allergy, burn, aphonia, hysteria, cough, thirst, fever, somnolence, and broken needles.