Acupressure is often called acupuncture without the needles. Instead of needles, acupressure involves the application of manual pressure (usually with the fingertips) to specific points on the body.
According to the principles of traditional Chinese medicine, invisible pathways of energy called meridians flow within the body. At least 14 meridians are thought to connect our organs with other parts of the body. Acupuncture and acupressure points lie along those meridians.
There's currently a lack of studies exploring the effectiveness of acupressure. Still, some evidence suggests that wrist acupressure may help relieve pain after a sports injury.
In a 2017 study published in the Clinical Journal of Sports Medicine, for instance, researchers examined the effects of three minutes of acupressure, three minutes of sham acupressure, or no acupressure in athletes who had sustained a sports injury on the same day.
The study concluded that acupressure was effective in reducing pain intensity compared with sham acupressure or no acupressure. There was no change in anxiety.
