As example look at first picture above, when a person gets a headache they press on certain nerves to release that pain, in this case Supra orbital nerves. In Chinese medical terms these two points are called "Bladder 2", when pressed they can relieve a Centrally Located Headache.
Or when you have a pain in your elbow, you press or rub that elbow with you other hand instinctively. When you hit your head you automatically rub the area hit to dissipate the pain... we are really performing acupressure on ourselves.
Lets take one of the examples above, hitting your head on a shelf, or table that you crawled under, this causes an acute neurological signal to the brain which is read as pain. By rubbing the same area, you stimulate many underlying and adjacent nerves sending many diffused neuro-messages. The brain then monitors those and reduces stimulus to the acute message before that and the pain is relaxed.
Acupressure is much the same as it either increases the messaging or slows it to relax the pain and or stresses (built up in tight muscles as a nerve reaction).
We all know Stress ravages the body and health of the individual, it even makes us gain weight. A hormone called Cortisol (Stress Hormone), is released into the body under stress which in turn makes us gain weight. Now stress is not just limited to your mental state, it can also be induced from old injuries, experiences (car accident, childbirth, etc.), and all are cumulative on the individual.
To rid or remove the body of these stresses and their cumulative affects... we can use acupressure, to take the body out of the fight or flight mode. This is invaluable especially for those that are more susceptible or sensitive to stress and the affects they bring.
Yes high energy exercise induces stresses on the body, so for some it is actually counter productive, for them slow rhythmic exercise or walking is a better solution. In fact people that remove stress of all kinds from their lives, live even longer than those that exercise.
When you remove those built up stresses you also lose weight, gain longevity and your whole body functions better.
So a regular acupressure treatment can relieve you of the pain, dysfunction and other health issues brought about by stress. Many people come in for a treatment expecting instant and permanent relief of which they receive in some degree. But it may not rid the body completely as if you spent years accumulating the stress, it will take more than one session to rid yourself of it.
Some massages can exacerbate the issues, especially with firmer pressures. By getting a softer and more nerve (instead of muscle) directed treatment in acupressure you will dissipate the stress faster and more directly.
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Image Credit: buycareprostonline, physiotherapistdelhi, hdwallpapersrocks
