If you suffer from dry mouth, acupuncture may be able to help you. There is good evidence to suggest that acupuncture is beneficial for dry mouth.
Interestingly the study that supported this used an acupuncture point on the index finger to increase saliva production. So how can a needle inserted in the index finger increase saliva production and help to combat the symptoms of dry mouth?
To understand how this might work, it's necessary to look at the principles behind acupuncture. Acupuncture works on the principal of universal life energy, or Qi. This universal life energy flows throughout our body, running in channels, called meridians, that lie just beneath the skin.
Practitioners believe that if these meridians become blocked, we can become unwell. Acupuncturists insert needles at key points along the meridians to unblock the flow of Qi, and allow the body to begin healing itself.
According to this belief, there are locations throughout the body that relate to other, distant parts of the body. Thus, for example, the Large Intestine meridian is believed to run across the nasal labial groove outside the lips, which is right over the salivary glands.
Thus it makes sense that inserting a needle in one location can have a profound effect in another part of the body, even as far apart as the hand and the face.
