ACUPUNCTURE
(Article by herbalist Dave
Hawkins, MH, CNC)
With the growing
interest in natural therapies, acupuncture and acupressure
stand out as leaders in bringing awareness of balance back
to our bodies.
Acupuncture is part of a
complex, integrated healing system that goes for beyond
pain relief but is used to treat many health disorders.
Acupuncture in the western world has been gaining
acceptance since the mid 70’s. There are numerous
practitioners, colleges, and hospitals currently using this
form of therapy.
It was
originally brought to
America
by the Chinese immigration in the 1880’s. It originated
over 5000 years ago and is part of the healing system
called TCM (traditional Chinese medicine) which
incorporates numerous natural therapies including, massage,
herbal preparations,
moxibustion.
Let’s get into
some details about how acupuncture works.
This will apply
equally to acupressure. The practice of acupuncture is
based on the belief that health is determined by the vital
energy called chi. Chi moves through every living thing. It
is thought that chi moves through channels called
meridians. There are 12 major energy meridian pathways each
linked to specific organs or organ systems. There are
literally over 1000 points along these meridians.
Most
practitioners utilize between 150 and 200 of these points.
Acupuncture utilizes thin needles to stimulate these
points. Acupressure uses finger
pressure to stimulate these same points.
As Herbert
Benson relates “We in the west are now looking more
carefully, and less condescendingly, at alternative
practices of medicine and the mind-body interactions. We
are using scientific technologies to investigate
nonspecific therapies and placebo effects.” In the 1960’s
professor Kim Bong Han and a team of researchers attempted
to document the existence of meridians in the human body.
They found
evidence that there exists an independent series of fine
duct like tubes corresponding to the paths of traditional
acupuncture meridians. Fluids in this system sometimes
travel in the same direction as the blood and lymph but can
flow in the opposite direction. These ducts are different
that the blood and lymph vessels.
The existence
of meridians was further established by French researcher
Pierre de Vernejoul, who
injected radioactive isotopes into
acupoints of humans and tracked their movement with
a special camera. The isotopes did indeed travel along the
meridians further indicating that meridians do comprise a
system of separate pathways within the body.
In the mid
seventies the NIH (National Institute of Health) issued a
grant to Robert Becker Md. and Maria
Reichmanis, a biophysicist, were able to prove that
electrical currents did flow along meridians and that 25
percent of the acupoints did
exist with measurable lines. They reasoned the points acted
as amplifiers to boost the electrical signals as they
travel along the meridians. Insertion of the needles could
interfere with the flow and thus restrict pain.
The World
Health Organization has cited 104 different conditions that
acupuncture can treat. These range from migraines,
sinusitis, asthma, cold and flu, addictions, ulcers,
trigeminal neuralgia, tennis elbow, paralysis from stroke,
arthritis and environmental induced illnesses.
In relation to
pain control it appears that acupuncture
stimulates the
release of endorphins and enkephalins,
the body’s natural pain killing chemicals. According to
David Eisenberg, MD of
Harvard Medical
School “There is
evidence that acupuncture influences the production and
distribution of a great many neurotransmitters and
neuromodulators and that this
in turn alters perception of pain.”
Another
interesting aspect of acupuncture is in the substitution
for anesthesia. More than 90 percent of all head and neck
surgeries performed at the Beijing
Neuro-Surgical Institute are performed with needles.
It has also been successful with thyroid operations, open
heart surgery, abdominal and lung surgery.
A typical
treatment consists of an assessment of medical history, the
use of facial and tongue diagnosis, radial pulse diagnosis
and a detailed assessment of voice, urine, digestive
habits, sleep patterns and stress.
After this has been done needles are placed in specific
locations relating to your condition. Essentially this is
painless process with an occasional prickling sensation
when the needle is first inserted.
The needles are
made in different lengths and gauges but are basically
hair-thin solid and made of stainless steel. The treatment
can last as short as a few seconds to forty five minutes.
The use of ear needles can last for
days or even weeks. In regards to the use of the ear
and acupuncture, this is called
Auriculotherapy.
This therapy
was developed in
France
after world war 11 by Paul Nogier
MD. Dr. Nogier had worked out
thirty basic points on the ear that could neurologically
affect different layers of tissue. He presented this
information at the Munich Acupuncture Convention.
This led to
further research on the subject in
China and
Japan which further
substantiated Dr. Nogier’s
work. Today’s ear acupuncture charts have been adopted by
the Chinese and acupuncturist worldwide. Dr.
Nogier is considered the
father of modern ear acupuncture.
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