Acupunture & Chinese Medicine Therapy

The intent of acupuncture therapy is to promote health and alleviate pain and suffering. The method by which this is accomplished, though it may seem strange and mysterious to many, has been time tested over thousands of years and continues to be validated today.
The perspective from which an acupuncturist views health and sickness hinges on concepts of "vital energy," "energetic balance" and "energetic imbalance." Just as the Western medical doctor monitors the blood flowing through blood vessels and the messages traveling via the nervous system, the acupuncturist assesses the flow and distribution of this "vital energy" within its pathways, known as "meridians and channels".

The acupuncturist is able to influence health and sickness by stimulating certain areas along these "meridians". Traditionally these areas or "acupoints" were stimulated by fine, slender needles. Today, many additional forms of stimulation are incorporated, including herbs, electricity, magnets and lasers. Still, the aim remains the same - adjust the "vital energy" so the proper amount reaches the proper place at the proper time. This helps your body heal itself.

Acupuncture is just one form of therapy used within the coherent system of healing known as Oriental Medicine. Oriental Medicine includes herbology, physical therapy, dietetics and special exercises (such as Tai Chi and Qi Gong), and is a complete medical system unto itself and is not another branch of modern Western medicine. Acupuncture evolved from principles and philosophies unique to Oriental thinking and Oriental Medicine, and is most effectively applied when done in accordance with those principles .

How is acupuncture administered?

The acupuncture method most well-known uses needles. Disposable, stainless steel needles that are slightly thicker than a human hair are inserted into the skin at acupoints. The acupuncture practitioner determines the correct acupoints to use for the problem being treated. The inserted needles may be twirled, moved up and down at different speeds and depths, heated, or charged with a weak electric current. There are other acupuncture methods that do not use needles.

Some acupuncture techniques include the following:

• Electroacupuncture: A procedure in which pulses of weak electrical current are sent through acupuncture needles into acupoints in the skin.
• Trigger point acupuncture: The placing of acupuncture needles in a place on the skin that is away from the painful part of the body. Trigger points have to do with referred pain, pain that is not felt at the site of injury, but is sent along nerves and felt elsewhere in the body.
• Laser acupuncture: The use of a weak laser beam instead of an acupuncture needle to stimulate an acupoint.
• Acupuncture point injection: The use of a syringe and needle to inject drugs, vitamins, herbal extracts, or other fluids into the body at an acupoint.
• Microwave acupuncture: The use of a microwave device attached to an acupuncture needle to deliver microwave radiation to an acupoint.
• Acupressure: A type of massage therapy in which the fingers are used to press on an acupoint. In cancer patients, acupressure has been used to control symptoms such as pain or nausea and vomiting.
• Moxibustion: A type of heat therapy in which an herb is burned above the body to warm a meridian at an acupoint and increase the flow of blood and qi. The herb may be placed directly on the skin, held close to the skin for several minutes, or placed on the tip of an acupuncture needle.
• Cupping: A procedure in which a rounded glass cup is warmed and placed upside down over an area of the body, making a vacuum that holds the cup to the skin. Cupping is used to increase the flow of blood and qi. It is believed to open up the skin’s pores and allow toxins to leave the body.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             Source  : http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/pdq/cam/acupuncture/patient/page2 

CHINA NO.1

Traditional Chinese medicines play major a role in Chinese lifestyle that is substantially different than the role of medicines in the west. They are part of everyday and social life in Chinese society. Those that have been scientifically analyzed have sometimes been found to be ineffective, have sometimes made contributions to science-based pharmacology, and sometimes have been found to contain dangerous toxins.

TCM is based on Daoist philosophical and religious conceptions of balance and opposites (yin and yang), and other metaphysical belief systems. Ill health is believed to result from an imbalance between what are believed to be interconnected organ systems, with one organ system believed to weaken or overexcite others. TCM practitioners believe that plant and animal products, and minerals can be used to stimulate or calm particular systems and bring them into balance. It is believed that insertion of needles in points of the body (acupuncture) and burning points of the body (moxibustion) stimulates the systems directly along what TCM believes are metaphysical flow lines of qi "energy", and that these can also be stimulated by practices such a special kind of massage and excercise. Astrological beliefs are also believed to affect qi flow in the body, e.g., the alignment of homes with the planets and stars, and the year, month, day, and hour of birth .

TCM is subject to criticism regarding a number of issues: its lack of scientific basis, its questionable effectiveness, its medicines containingtoxins, its being used instead of proven science based medicines, possible side effects of its treatment methods, the ecological impact onendangered species by creating a black market demand for ineffective medicines made from animal parts, and the superstitious beliefs it promotes.

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