Urinary issues can be indicative of a multitude of other conditions that are existing in the body. Over the last several decades, especially in the most recent decade in the wake of the opioid epidemic, acupuncture has become more mainstream for an effective treatment option for a plethora of conditions. Urinary issues are no exception to the conditions that acupuncture will treat. There is currently and much broader state of awareness in regards to the side effects of conventional medications for common conditions including urinary problems. Acupuncture has been proven to be an effective and safe modality to treat all urinary conditions like UTI’s, incontinence, overactive bladder, kidney infections, and more.
Urinary Conditions
Urinary conditions, in a nutshell, are conditions that affect the ureters, urethra, bladder, or kidneys. Additionally, these conditions can also indicate other illnesses within the body, so really understanding and listening to the signals that the kidneys and bladder are sending is essential to your health. The interesting thing is that the bladder is, in fact, a vital organ, but unless faced with an issue, people don’t usually talk ab out bladder health. Common urinary problems can not only affect you, but also potentially your day to day life.
Common Urinary Conditions:
- UTI – urinary tract infection can affect both men and women, but they do affect them differently.
- Urinary Incontinence – the unintentional loss of urine, and is also known as bladder failure.
- Kidney Infections – when a bladder infection spreads to the ureters.
- Enlarged Prostate – this makes it difficult for men to empty their bladder.
- Overactive Bladder – this causes frequent urination even if the bladder is not full.
- Urinary Retention – this makes it difficult to urinate even though your bladder will feel full.
- Bladder Infection – caused by bacteria, and causes a burning or painful sensation during urination, blood in the urine, or cloudy urine.
Contrary to popular belief, urinary issues to not only occur in children. The truth is urinary problems can affect quality of life as well as potentially cause other health problems. There could be any number of reasons for urinary issues such as health changes in the nervous system, lifestyle issues, and more.
Health changes that can lead to urinary problems:
- Obesity
- Aging
- Diabetes
- Constipation
- Bladder infection
- Long lasting cough
- Birth defects
There are a multitude of other reasons that you may be experiencing urinary problems. In women specifically, things like menopause, childbirth and pregnancy, and sexual assault can cause pelvic floor issues leading to incontinence. In men, aging can cause the prostate to become larger which can lead to urinary issues. Fortunately, acupuncture treatment can help with multiple urinary problems within one treatment.
Acupuncture for Urinary Issues
Acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is effective for treating urinary problems, and fall under what are known as “Lin Syndromes” which involve painful, dribbling urination caused by disharmonies in the body. Acupuncture treatment is utilized for various conditions to clear out those disharmonies to bring balance back to the body.
Acupuncture Works for Urinary Problems:
- UTI – those who have recurring UTI’s can be resistant to antibiotics, and acupuncture treatment can help strengthen the immune system. Both herbs and acupuncture can be utilized, and has been shown in research both alone and in conjunction with antibiotics, to help better than antibiotics alone with UTI’s.
- 2020 study, Acupuncture for Recurrent Urinary Tract Infection in Women – this study found that acupuncture was beneficial for UTI’s especially given the ever-growing issue of antibiotic resistance.
- 2020 study, Acupuncture for Recurrent Urinary Tract Infection in Women – this study found that acupuncture was beneficial for UTI’s especially given the ever-growing issue of antibiotic resistance.
- Incontinence – nerve stimulation from acupuncture treatment strengthens the sphincter muscles and the bladder leading to better control in the urethra. Not to mention that acupuncture treatment will also address any underlying condition that is causing the bladder dysfunction making it an efficient treatment option.
- 2022 study, Effect of Acupuncture for Mixed Urinary Incontinence in Women – this study found that acupuncture “significantly increase quality of life”, and electroacupuncture “reduced significantly more amount of urine leakage than Tolterodine at 8 weeks.”
- 2022 study, Effect of Acupuncture for Mixed Urinary Incontinence in Women – this study found that acupuncture “significantly increase quality of life”, and electroacupuncture “reduced significantly more amount of urine leakage than Tolterodine at 8 weeks.”
- Overactive Bladder – acupuncture helps to decrease the frequency of urgent urinary episodes by stimulating the nerves responsible for bladder function in the body. Utilizing acupuncture treatment along with pelvic floor exercises is best to mitigate overactive bladder issues.
- Enlarged Prostate – acupuncture works for enlarged prostate by decreasing the size of the prostate, decreasing urinary urgency and frequency, improving urinary flow, and relieving pain.
- Kidney Infection – acupuncture works for kidney infection by alleviating pain, decreasing inflammation and muscle tightness, and stimulating blood flow to the kidneys. Additionally, acupuncture can help improve renal function, therefore helping to prevent permanent kidney damage.
Due to increased knowledge globally of the issues with side effects of pharmaceuticals, an increase in acupuncture treatment as a main option has become a contemporary main health care option for urinary issues and more. The other added benefit of trying acupuncture treatment for urinary problems on top of it being helpful, less invasive, and natural, is that it is an extremely individualized treatment. This means that while in standard medicine, there is usually a medication that is supposed to be a “one-size-fits-all” treatment for urinary conditions, whereas with acupuncture, each individual is looked at based on their history and current issues to determine the appropriate route for treatment.
Essentially, there could be two people with the same urinary condition, but are treated by their acupuncturist with different treatment plans as acupuncture treats the root cause, not just the symptoms. Acupuncture could be a beneficial option for your urinary issues, especially if you don’t know where else to turn.