Can Acpuncture Help Increase Sexual Passion And Enjoy Love?

Illustration (Thiago Schemper/Pexels)

JAKARTA - Libido is low, impotence, or difficulty reaching orgasm is not always closely related to sexual functions or sex organs. It can also be influenced by mental and emotional conditions or underlying health problems. For that reason, many people turn to acupuncture, the practice of traditional Chinese medicine by stabbing small stainless steel needles into the skin. Because this holistic approach is proven to help increase sexual arousal and sexual pleasure in making love.

Acupuncture is one of the most commonly used treatments in traditional Chinese medicine to help improve a person's sexual health. And the more evidence suggests that acupuncture can help increase libido, sexual dysfunction, and some basic issues that can make sex less fun.

We often accept patients who come for sexual health-related issues, said Joseph Alban, an acupuncture doctor and New York State licensed acupuncture expert quoted from Everyday Health, Thursday, August 1. He has been practicing for nearly two decades at Alban Acupuncture in New York City.

"It can be for major problems, such as poor libido or premature ejaculation, or related to underlying health problems, such as pelvic pain or endometrosis," he said.

While Western medicine considers the body a series of mechanical, chemical, and electrical circuits. In traditional Chinese systems, the body is seen as more holistic.

Acupuncture is useful in treating various conditions to help people achieve optimal health. Sexual health is an important component of this," said Dr. Alban.

Qi can be translated as a vital 'life force,' and refers to the energy of life believed by Chinese medicine practitioners to improve health and libido.

"We use qi to grow, digest food, reproduce, heal the body, exercise, carry out daily activities, and detoxify. All body functions come from qi," said Alban.

According to the belief of traditional Chinese medicine, there is qi that has been owned since birth, which people in the West refer to as a person's constitution, and then we also get qi from the food that is eaten and the air that is inhaled," Alban said.

"The traditional system using acupuncture aims to overcome this lack or imbalance of life's strength," he explained.

What causes the qi deficiency? Alban believes that qi is regulated through stress management and moving your body.

A person becomes deficient qi especially because of a poor diet, too much stress, too much drink, lack of exercise, and disease. Acupuncture helps stimulate the body to increase production and flow qi, which allows the body to refill qi, he added.

This practice uses needles to remove blockages or imbalances in qi energy that connect various organs. Helping the strength of life and energy flow, according to StatPearls.

One example is kidney qi deficiency, which is said to be associated with low libido, according to Treatment of Infertility With Chinese Medicine (Second Edition). However, more evidence is needed to establish this relationship.

"In kidney qi deficiency, kidney energy is weak, and must try to increase it to overcome this problem," Alban said.

Alban recommends choosing and combining certain acupuncture points such as kidney 3 (tai xi, or Jurang Besar) or bladder 23 (Shenshu, or Shu's kidney) along with other acupuncture points that help move qi.

"We can also use various types of stimulation together with acupuncture, such as moxibusi, which is the burning of a mugwort rifle near the skin," he said.

In Alban's experience, acupuncture is usually given for several weeks. People often come for weekly visits for two to four months. While some people can do it on their own without acupuncture care. For other patients, he will design a program that requires visits once a month or a series of three or four consecutive visits once or twice a year.

A pilot study published in August 2022 in Sexual Medicine found that acupuncture is associated with a significant improvement in women's sexual dysfunction. A total of 24 women received acupuncture from October 2018 to February 2022, and changes in sexual functions before and after treatment were judged through questionnaires. Sexual desire, sexual arousal, vaginal lubrication, orgasm, sexual satisfaction, and dispareunia (nyeri during intercourse) all improved significantly after treatment.

In a systematic review published in October 2021 in the Journal of Complementary and Integrative Medicine, which aims to evaluate the effects of acupressure on sexual dysfunction. The researchers observed 13 papers and found evidence that acupuncture has a positive effect on sexual dysfunction without serious side effects. The benefits are seen in desire, libido, erectile dysfunction, and impotence.