Should you avoid exercise after acupuncture?

Many patients ask about exercise after acupuncture, and many acupuncturists suggest avoiding it. But is that really necessary?

Acupuncture's Effect on the Autonomic Nervous System (ANS)

"Acupuncture stimulation on some specific acupoints activates sensory nerve fibers...Using information integration and efferents from a complex network of autonomic nuclei of the brain, acupuncture alleviates visceral dysfunction, inflammation via efferent autonomic nerves, and relieves pain and pain affect...[The Autonomic Nervous System] is one of the therapeutic targets for acupuncture and mediates acupuncture’s actions, which restores homeostasis." (1)

Exercise's Effect on the ANS

"During exercise, the cardiovascular system rapidly and appropriately reacts to match the metabolic demands of physical activity. The autonomic nervous system plays an important role in achieving this closely matched circulatory response by precisely increasing efferent sympathetic nervous system activity to the heart, blood vessels and adrenal medulla and decreasing the parasympathetic nerve activity directed toward the heart." (2)

Does increased sympathetic nervous system activity during exercise negate the ANS modulating effects of acupuncture after receiving a treatment?

Answer: Not likely

The ANS response is not one-sided- it's not ALL sympathetic or all parasympathetic. Both divisions (sympathetic and parasympathetic) are necessary to modulate the body's requirements throughout the day and night.

Increased exercise intensity increases sympathetic activity, but parasympathetic is also necessary to make sure homeostasis is maintained. For example, if exercise increases heart rate through increased sympathetic nervous activity, the parasympathetic nervous system is still active in order to ensure the heart rate does not increase to an unsafe level.

In fact, I would argue that acupuncture, with its modulating effect on the ANS, ensures your nervous system response is more efficient, eliminating ANS dysfunction.

A systematic review conducted in 2013 to evaluate the effect of acute acupuncture treatment on exercise performance and postexercise recovery determined:

"Preliminary evidence suggests that acupuncture applied proximally during a single bout of exercise can enhance exercise performance and/or expedite postexercise recovery." (3)

The takeaway:

With all we know regarding the benefits of exercise along with the regulating effects of acupuncture on many different systems in the body, incorporating both exercise and acupuncture into your life can have an overall beneficial influence on your health.

References:

(1) Li Y., Li W., Wang S., Gong Y., et al. (2022). The autonomic nervous system: A potential link to the efficacy of acupuncture, Frontiers in Neuroscience, Vol 16, DOI=10.3389/fnins.2022.1038945, https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnins.2022.1038945/full

(2) https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/44549/autonomic-regulation-of-the-cardiovascular-system-during-exercise

(3) Paola Urroz, Ben Colagiuri, Caroline A. Smith, and Birinder Singh Cheema.Effect of Acute Acupuncture Treatment on Exercise Performance and Postexercise Recovery: A Systematic Review.The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine.Jan 2013.9-16.http://doi.org/10.1089/acm.2011.0727 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22967279/