Acupuncture can help you fight off a cold

It’s the time of year in clinic when sniffles, coughs, and sore throats are on the rise. These are not modern day illnesses, humans have been fighting colds for a long time and Chinese medicine practitioners have been treating them for thousands of years.

If you come down with a sickness, you may hear your acupuncturist use words like ‘wind cold’ or ‘wind heat’ and feel like they are speaking a different language. However, it is thought that climate factors can become a cause for disease when there is an imbalance between the body’s Qi and a climactic factor [wind, cold, summer-heat, dampness, dryness, fire].

“In Western medicine acute respiratory disease are due to invasion of the body by bacteria or virus. Ancient Chinese medicine did not have a knowledge of the existence of bacteria and viruses and acute respiratory infection were considered to be due to invasion of “Wind” or other climate pathogenic factors (Maciocia, 2024)”.

Traditional Chinese medicine takes a preventative approach and treatments focus on strengthening the body’s Qi in order to combat illness. To do this, a licensed practitioner can use a combination of acupuncture, moxibustion, cupping, gua sha, herbs and dietary recommendations.

If you are feeling the beginnings of an illness, do not cancel your appointment! Acupuncture can help to strengthen your body in order to fight whatever bug you caught.