Melbourne's Trusted Team for Acupuncture & Chinese Herbal Medicine

Vaccine Side Effects – A How to Treat Guide with Chinese Medicine

So… you are considering a vaccination or experiencing vaccination side effects?

Vaccine Side effects are often mild and go away in a short period of time… without medical intervention.

Yet, some can be more severe, long lasting and need treatment. You may be experiencing them right now.

Approaching or recovering from a vaccination can be an emotional rollercoaster…

Don’t worry many of our patients experience fear, anxiety and hope… a broad range of emotions

In this article we show you how Chinese medicine minimises the side effects from future vaccines…

… or deals with the effects you have.

Symptoms vary in severity from body aches to nerve pain and even stroke!

So let’s jump in and take a look at some common vaccination side effects…

Acupuncture for vaccination side effects

After a vaccine, the body may respond with flu-like symptoms…

… fatigue, headache, fever, chills, nausea and soreness at the injection site.

As mentioned, side effects of vaccines are often mild and go away in a short period of time… others are long lasting and need treatment.

There can be a variety of side effects from different vaccines, such as the HPV, influenza or COVID-19 vaccines…

Post vaccination side effects include:

vaccination side effects

Neurological symptoms

  • Eye palsy
  • Stroke
  • Eye stroke
  • Bell’s Palsy
  • Nerve pain
  • Paralysis

Others

  • Fatigue
  • Coughing
  • Irregular periods
  • Pericarditis
  • Palpitations
  • Unexplained chest pains

Pain symptoms

  • Body aches
  • Sciatica
  • Chest pain
  • Existing pains that are getting worse

Digestive problems

  • Constipation
  • Irregular bowel movements
  • Bloating
  • Gastro-like symptoms (nausea, diarrhoea, vomiting)

Also, an adverse event following immunisation can be induced by the hypersensitivity of organs or an immune response to vaccines1,2.

Some people may be considered at a higher risk for side effects… due to age, chronic health conditions or allergies that compromise their immune strength.

Side effects from vaccinations can be considered to be the body’s response to the inoculation.

Basically, vaccine processes are pretty straightforward… although the creating and testing them is not.

Following a vaccine, the body’s immune system gets activated… it creates cells that will seek and destroy the invading pathogen that makes us sick.

Symptoms follow…

…body aches, fever, muscle soreness and headaches to name a few.

These are signs of your immune system working.

But, there can also be more serious multi-organ dysfunctions that get triggered in response!

And it is these adverse reactions that need medical intervention.

“Is it safe to get acupuncture after a vaccine?”

It’s now time to look at the management of vaccine side effects with Acupuncture.

One of the questions that we receive is “is it safe to get acupuncture after covid vaccine?”.

And the answer is yes!

In fact, acupuncture after vaccinations can be beneficial…

Acupuncture helps your body deal with the aftermath of the vaccine.

Also, we need to consider the state your body is in before the vaccination.

A preventative approach can help with preparing for the vaccine.

Stabilising the arising symptoms post vaccine, is the initial goal of Chinese medicine.

Don’t underestimate the importance of acupuncture supporting the body’s immune system post vaccination…

Your body needs help to manage the reaction and address any lingering symptoms.

It is a natural and safe treatment option after a vaccination as it doesn’t further add anything else to the body.

Rather, acupuncture utilises your body’s natural healing mechanisms.. overcoming foreign invaders such as infections or vaccinations.

Where a severe neurological response has occured post vaccination, we use Neuro-Acupuncture.

Neuro-Acupuncture helps mitigate any inflammation or damage.

And most importantly to help restore neurological function and movement.

By improving the body’s circulation, sensory functions also benefit.

Sensory function benefits include:

  • vision
  • smelling
  • hearing
  • touch or taste

 

… the circulatory network brings about natural healing… the blood, immune cells and building blocks.

How can Chinese medicine minimise the side effects from vaccines?

Let’s look at the Chinese medicine point of view…

A pathogen is something that attacks the body from the external world into our internal environment.

And this occurs because of two reasons.

1. the body’s defense mechanisms are weak and therefore making it easy for the pathogen to invade us.

2. the pathogen is a particularly strong strain breaking through even more robust immune systems.

So, it is with this in mind that we emphasise the importance of prevention…

…not only for vaccinations, but for seasonal colds and flus.

In this way we better prepare your body’s immunity to ward off circulating pathogens.

But what about with vaccinations?

With vaccines, it is the case of something foreign being introduced to our body… our defense system gets triggered to help deal with it.

So the goal of Chinese medicine is to help strengthen the body’s fighting capabilities…

We strengthen the immune system to diffuse the invader in a way that is least destructive to the rest of the body.

It is when the body’s defense line fails to address the pathogen at the surface level that problems arise…

… it falls further into the interior where it can affect the rest of your body’s systems.

Our blood, digestion and menstruation systems can be compromised… thus creating problems with the normal functioning of our body.

Long term symptoms of weakness, fatigue, headaches and body aches may be experienced.

The body is busy dealing with fixing itself!

So TCM management of side-effects of covid-19 vaccination requires an approach before and after the vaccine.

What Chinese herbal medicine should I take?

As for all Chinese herbal medicine, prescriptions are based on the individual…

… depending on what reaction you have and what your underlying state of health is.

The good news is the formula prescribed can target both the root and the branch.

In reality the effect is cumulative…

Chinese herbal medicine is like compound interest on your investment.. strengthening your own healing capabilities in a natural way.

While strengethening your immune system we help clear the manifestations of the vaccine side effects…

The market price just went up!

It’s a no brainer, just prior to your vaccinations or booster shots we prescribe a course of Chinese herbal medicine…

Your body now has the capacity to respond to the vaccine in a more robust way.

 

Preparing for your body for vaccinations

To be able to better prepare your body’s immunity to receive vaccinations, we recommend starting a course of treatments as soon as possible… before and after the vaccinations or booster shots.

The course of treatments includes taking Chinese herbal medicine and acupuncture.

The covid vaccine and herbal supplements are taken concurrently

Different people need different approaches to treatment… there is no cookie cutter approach…

No underlying conditions?

Then treatments are one week before and one week after.

For the following we recommend treatments 4 weeks prior to your scheduled vaccination:

  • those who have a weaker immune system
  • those who have a chronic condition
  • or those who have had previous bad reactions to vaccinations

… as well as continued follow up treatments to address any symptoms that may arise.

I have vaccine side effects, now what?

Acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine are used to help restore our body’s functioning capacity…

We tailor our herbal medicine prescriptions for each person’s body and symptoms.

There are many different combinations based on the presentation.

And as for the acupuncture, the goals will be to help calm the body in order for it to prioritise healing.

So what comes next?

Our practitioners at Sustain Health can help mitigate side effects from vaccinations.

Particularly in the last 12 months where we have seen a big influx in these sorts of conditions.

The first step is a thorough examination in the initial consultation.

Our practitioners will assess your condition and come up with a treatment plan that fits your symptoms.

This initial consultation includes the acupuncture treatment… where you will start to feel the treatments benefit right away.

Get in touch with us today.

  1. He Q, Mao Q, Zhang J, Bian L, Gao F, Wang J, et al. COVID-19 vaccines: current understanding on immunogenicity, safety, and further considerations. Front Immunol. 2021;12:669339
  2. Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Safety Monitoring of an Additional Dose of COVID-19 Vaccine — United States, August 12–September 19, 2021. 2021. 

Written by

Sustain Health
Sustain Health is a multidisciplinary, wellness clinic located in South Melbourne, Australia. We believe good medicine is about looking at the whole being, treating the person and keeping them well. We view each patient as an individual affected by their unique lifestyle, diet, environment, emotions and attitude. Every individual’s health needs a tailored approach to achieve better and sustainable medical solutions. Sustain Health currently offers its clients: * Fertility * IVF Support * Acupuncture * Chinese Medicine * Chiropractic

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