Exploring the Role of Acupuncture in Managing Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: A Review

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a psychiatric disorder that presents as a series of symptoms, such as intrusion symptoms, avoidance, cognitive changes, altered arousal, and hyperreactivity after exposure to one or more traumatic events. Acupuncture is gradually recognized as an integrative therapy and may help in managing PTSD symptoms or related comorbidities, helping prepare patients to address traumatic events. Therefore, this review aims to investigate the effectiveness of acupuncture in managing PTSD symptoms. Essentially, acupuncture may help regulate several brain regions, such as the amygdala, prefrontal cortex, and hypothalamus, and modulate the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis. Previous studies have commonly used Baihui, Neiguan, Fengchi, Yintang, and Taichong acupoints for managing PTSD. Several findings supported the efficacy of acupuncture in clinical settings as a monotherapy and adjunct therapy in symptom management, which are beneficial in patients with PTSD. Acupuncture has been effective in mitigating PTSD symptoms, being an alternative to individuals who show limited response to pharmacological treatment and psychotherapy and those who are concerned about the cost of managing PTSD symptoms with both pharmacological and nonpharmacological (e.g., psychotherapy) interventions.