Offering ancient methods for a new approach to living...
What is Acupuncture and how does it work?
Acupuncture is a Chinese healing art that has been used for over 5,000 years. It works on the energy system "Qi" (pronounced Chee) through the insertion of hair thin sterilized stainless steel disposable needles.
Acupuncture works with the body's own energy currents which are measurable as electomagnetic forces. This magnetic force, or "river of energy", follows predictable patterns in the body.
Early Chinese physicians discovered there is an energy network traversing just below the surface of the skin which communicates from the exterior to the internal organs and structures at over 1,000 "Acupoints" on the body. This energy works in harmony with the body's circulatory, nervous, muscular, digestive, genitourinary and all other systems of the body. When this vital energy becomes blocked or weakend, pain or illness occur. The use of acupuncture needles helps to stimulate the blocked Qi (causing stagnation) and move these blockages so that the body may be restored to its normal balance.
People are turning to Alternative Medicine to eliminate the use of drugs which often only mask their symptoms. Research shows that acupuncture can increase the patient's immune system activity, raising the number and activity of white blood cells and levels of r-globulin, in the blood to help the body fight disease. Acupuncture also stimulates nerves through the brain to release endorphins from the pituitary gland. Natural endorphins are 5-10 times more powerful than morphine, but not addictive.
Numerous studies have shown that moving Qi (energy) either by inserting needles or
using other acupuncture modalities into acupuncture points located along the meridian, stimulates nerves in the muscles located there. This stimulation sends electrical impulses up the spinal cord to the brain's limbic and midbrain areas, and to the pituitary gland, all of which signals the release of chemicals such as endorphins that block pain. Another theory of how acupuncture works involves the thalmus, an area of the brain that relays pain signals. Acupuncture can increase blood flow there, altering the sensation of pain.
Chinese Medicine is a coherent and independent system of thought and practice that has been developed over 5 millennia. It is rooted in philosophy, logic and habits of a civiliztion very foreign to our own. The Chinese perception of the body, health and disease is very different from the western perception and thus the Chinese physician looks at the complete mind/body system when any disease develops. Western Medicine might look at an organ to see how it has failed, while an Acupuncture Physician would look to see how the system has failed. Oriental diagnosis does not turn up a specific disease or a precise cause. Our therapy is about bringing your mind/body system back into balance and restoring harmony.
Does this really work?
There are over 10,000 acupuncturists in America and about 4,000 are MD's. Western physicians are obviously placing value on it. Acupuncture has also been endorsed by the National Institutes of Health - a major research center in this country. In 1997 the NIH panel stated, "Acupuncture has fewer side effects and is less invasive than many other things that conventional western medicine does. It is time to take it seriously."