Can acupuncture and traditional chinese medicine help with kidney health?

A quick search on wikiHow will tell you there are three ways to pass a kidney stone. There are your home remedies. Drink plenty of water. Add lemon to your diet. Limit your salt and protein intake. Don’t forget to increase your fiber intake and skip those soft drinks. Then, there is prescription medication, such as alpha-blockers to relax the smooth muscle in your body or medicine prescribed for the problems that cause kidney stones. Last but not least, you can always count on medical procedures with terrifying names such as ureteroscopy, shock wave lithotripsy or percutaneous nephrolithotomy. But did you know research has already proven that Acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine assist in the elimination of kidney stones?

Researchers at Jiangxi Jiujisnh Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine have learned that a combination of herbs and the drug tamsulosin (Flomax) enables the passage of kidney stones that have already lodged in the ureter. The ureter is the tube that carries urine from the kidney to the urinary bladder. Also, their studies have shown that the addition of acupuncture significantly increases positive patient outcome rates.

Tamsulosin is one of those aforementioned alpha-blockers. It is used to ease urination, by relaxing the muscles of the bladder and prostate. By itself, it has not proven effective once the kidney stone has moved into the ureter. The researchers at Jiangxi Jiujisnh Hospital added a Chinese herbal medicine formula called San Jin Tang and achieved significant results. As part of an integrative medicine protocol, they followed that up with acupuncture treatment and boosted the success rate even further.

Read Acupuncture is Essential to Back Pain Relief

Combining herbs, acupuncture and other aspects of Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) with modern procedures and medications is known as integrative medicine. It is now common treatment for kidney and urination bladder related disorders. As a standalone procedure, acupuncture is effective for treating conditions such as urinary incontinence.

If you feel your kidney system needs some nourishing, here are some recommendations:

Your kidney is the organ most damaged by stress. Get that stress under control with some Yoga or massage therapy!
Stress relief activities are of little use without proper rest. A balance between activity and rest is essential!
Stretching and exercising your lumbar area and leg muscles are helpful in supporting your kidneys. Again, I recommend massage therapy.
Eat food that is very dark, or even black in color. Dark fruits and vegetables, black beans, black sesame seeds and black walnuts are all recommended. Foods from the sea, such as fish, shellfish, seaweed, kelp and sushi are also excellent.

You didn’t think I would just drop some knowledge on you without mentioning diet and lifestyle, did you? When it comes to my clients, I always bring a healthy balance of information to the table.