Experiences with Hypertension and Acupuncture

Acupuncture for high blood pressure is almost always a slam dunk! As with all Chinese Medical treatment, the underlying cause must be determined in order to achieve results. This underlying diagnosis will determine the specific points used. This is another reason that study results are often unreliable. Many studies choose one set of points to treat every hypertension patient, as if there's a "hypertension prescription." This is not Traditional Chinese Medicine, this is western medicine attempting to apply Acupuncture using its own theories. With hypertension, results are typicall seen within a couple of months. You have to be very careful if you are taking anti-hypertensives, because symptoms of excessively low blood pressure commonly appear. I always advise patients to look for these symptoms and immediately go to their MD for a reduction in dose when they appear.

During some school exams, I got dizzy & flushed. BP 170/90. One of my teachers applied acupupressor, and called her friend who needled me and recommended that I see my dr. 15 mins later my BP was 130/80 and I was allowed to drive the 1.5 hours home.