Acupuncture for asthma may sound like an unusual combination. One is an ordinary disease that affects approximately 20 million Americans; the other is a mysterious, esoteric, optional medicine system. A lot of people have asthma, but not a lot of people have tried acupuncture.
But if you're an asthma sufferer, it can seem at times that anything - even something as mysterious as acupuncture - is worth trying. Breathing is something that most us never think about. It is an unconscious process and unless we are ill, we easily get the oxygen we need. But for people with asthma, breathing is always on their minds. There's always the chance that an asthma attack will leave them gasping for air. Generally these attacks are predictable and sometimes they're not, often they're minor and easily handled at house, and often asthma suffers end up in an emergency room. It is no wonder that a few asthma sufferers have turned to acupuncture to cure asthma naturally.
Asthma is a chronic disorder with apparently no cure from modern treatments. There're different types of asthma, but they all produce the same signs and symptoms: rapid breathing, perspiring, rapid heartbeat, and the uncomfortable sensation of suffocation. The exact cause of asthma is not known (there may be a genetic factor at work), but there's no doubt that environmental components - cold, dust, pollution, etc - trigger the attacks. In time of the attacks, inflammation and constriction of the respiratory passages limit the quantity of air that can be inhaled, the attacks can last for minutes or hours and as said earlier, there's no cure. But although there's no cure, there're constant efforts to find new ways of treatment, and there are practitioners and patients who believe that acupuncture for asthma is the answer.
Certainly, the great question is, does acupuncture work? And can acupuncture fruitfully cure asthma? Well, not unlike the look for an explanation for how asthma works, the solutions are not clear - and they depend upon whom you ask. According to conventional acupuncturists, yes, acupuncture for asthma is a successful treatment, especially with asthma in young kids. There are dozens of sites and many testimonials that all attest to the effectiveness of acupuncture as a treatment for asthma. Acupuncture, they say, has worked where any other else has.
But ask the same question - how to cure asthma naturally with acupuncture - of physicians and scientists who are trained in traditional, Western medicine and scientific methodology, and the answer will be quite different. Acupuncture, they say, is as interesting phenomenon, but the question of how it works is less critical than the question does it work, and their answer to that is no. There is no conclusive proof that acupuncture can cure asthma.
So can acupuncture really help someone who suffers from asthma? That seems to depend on your point of view. If you feel that illness is caused by disruption in energy flow and you're convinced by anecdotal reports, the only sensible answer is: try it and find out. Acupuncture for asthma is very secure; serious adverse effects are very rare. But if you're the type of person who needs proof in the conventional sense, it may make more sense to stick with the drugs/therapies you're taking and wait for solid proof that acupuncture can help treat your asthma.
