Acupressure has been used for thousands of years as a healing therapy for a variety of symptoms and diseases. In TCM, it’s believed that healing is facilitated through balancing qi, or the life force inside the body, notes the University of Michigan Health's Rogel Cancer Center. According to TCM theory, qi flows along paths throughout the body, known as meridians, on which the acupressure points lie.

“The pressure used on these specific points helps decrease pain and promote overall health and wellness,” explains Ema Melanaphy, a certified reiki master teacher and qualified holistic acupressure practitioner based in the United Kingdom.

Today, acupressure is used as a complementary therapy in conventional Western , and although robust research is limited, some studies suggest that it may help with a number of symptoms, including pain, nausea, vomiting, and trouble sleeping, as well as possibly benefiting mental health.

While researchers are unsure exactly how acupressure works, Tom Ingegno, a doctor of acupuncture and Chinese at Charm City Integrative Health in Baltimore, says that studies done on the benefits of acupuncture can provide some clues as to the possible efficacy of acupressure therapy.

Research has shown, for example, that acupuncture can help regulate vagus nerve activity (which can disengage the fight-or-flight response), increase the circulation of blood, and reduce inflammation.

“It would make sense that acupressure, which is using the same theory, can do this, too, at least to a milder extent,” Dr. Ingegno says. Additional theories include effects on the local tissues, brain function, neurohormonal activity, and physiologic pathways, per a review.

Here are some ways that acupressure may potentially improve overall health and wellness, though it’s important to note, more research on acupressure is needed to further explore and better understand its impact on the body and mind for various conditions and groups of people.

1. May Relieve Pain
One of the most researched benefits of acupressure is its therapeutic effects for pain. “This is something where we see positive studies, and yes, some people will chalk it all up to bias, but real acupressure outperforms sham acupressure [applying pressure to non-acupoint spots],” Ingegno says.

A retrospective, uncontrolled study published in May 2019 in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary looked at a nonacademic database of self-reported effects of acupressure therapy on pain in more than 500 people across several states from 2012 to 2018. Treatments lasted less than 30 minutes, and participants included hospitalized patients and nurses who received acupressure by a trained practitioner, as well as members of the public who self-applied acupressure after being minimally trained. The participants used a scale to rate their level of pain before and immediately after acupressure treatments. When comparing their average scores before and after, the researchers found that acupressure significantly improved pain among participants, seeing the most improvement in scores for hospitalized patients.

Another study of 79 athletes who had sustained an acute musculoskeletal sports injury determined that just three minutes of acupressure therapy was more effective at decreasing pain compared with the two control groups: one that received pressure to non-acupoints and one that received no treatment at all (resting in a room).

Acupressure may also help relieve sinus pain. “I have seen it utilized to help relieve the pressure caused by sinusitis, a condition characterized by inflammation in the sinus cavities around the face and head,” Melanaphy says.

There’s some research to back this up. A study published in 2021 in Chinese looked at 41 people with seasonal allergies who experienced sinus pressure and other allergy symptoms. The researchers found that self-administered acupressure of the face, head, and arms that is traditionally used to treat sinus issues, alongside , was more effective at relieving symptoms than alone.

2. May Boost Mental Health and Well-Being
Acupressure is also thought to boost mental health. It’s anecdotally said to have a relaxing effect, says Matthew Cavanaugh, a doctor of chiropractic based in Lafayette, Louisiana. Research suggests that the treatment may help alleviate stress and improve well-being.

One study of 59 shift-work nurses in South Korea found that 15 minutes of acupressure a day for three days led to significant improvements in stress, fatigue, and anxiety compared with the control group.

Other research suggests that acupressure may even help with symptoms of depression. A systematic review published in January 2022 in World Journal of Psychiatry concluded that the practice reduced symptoms in people with mild to moderate depression compared with the control group. However, it’s important to note that the studies in the review were limited, and more robust research is needed to validate these findings.

3. May Promote Better Sleep
Some studies have found that acupressure can help promote better sleep and may be useful in treating certain sleep disorders.

“There has been good research on acupressure and sleep issues, including insomnia and difficulty falling and staying asleep,” Ingegno says.

One meta-analysis found that although the 13 studies that met the criteria showed a lot of variability in results, in a subanalysis, there was evidence of some improvements in sleep, such as with latency (the time it takes to fall asleep) as well as overall sleep duration.

In another study, researchers treated 63 nursing home residents experiencing sleep disturbances and psychological distress with either acupressure using acupressure points or stimulation of a non-acupoint away from known meridian lines. The results showed that those who received true acupressure experienced greater improvements in sleep quality and mental well-being than those in the control group, who received non-acupoint stimulation.

4. May Reduce Nausea and Vomiting
Some studies show that acupressure may be beneficial in minimizing nausea and vomiting due to various health concerns, including in those experiencing pregnancy and receiving chemotherapy.

Alongside anti-nausea , auricular acupressure was found to be more effective at relieving nausea and vomiting than the standard alone in a study of 114 people with breast cancer undergoing chemotherapy.

In another study of 90 pregnant women, for the 30 people in the acupressure group, 10 minutes of acupressure four times a day was associated with a significant reduction in the severity of nausea, vomiting, and retching compared with 30 non-acupoint participants and 30 -only participants (who received vitamin B5 and metoclopramide) in two control groups.

5. May Enhance Quality of Life for Cancer Survivors
In addition to helping soothe the unpleasant side effects of chemotherapy, acupressure may help improve the well-being of cancer survivors.

Cancer can take a major toll on both physical and mental health, and can lead to pain, depression, anxiety, and difficulty sleeping. In a study published in October 2018 in the journal JNCI Cancer Spectrum, researchers tested whether acupressure could help relieve these symptoms in breast cancer survivors. They found that those who were trained in self-administered acupressure experienced more significant improvements compared with those who received standard care.

This research was a follow-up to a previous study by the same scientific group, which concluded that acupressure led to a greater reduction in fatigue among breast cancer survivors compared with standard care.