Acupuncture is a well-established health therapy, which has been safely and effectively used for thousands of years. The hype around acupuncture has only been growing over the past several decades and in the past few years it has virtually exploded. Acupuncture has been promoted alongside all of the many other holistic therapies out there. Along with acupressure, chi gong, aromatherapy, herbal medicine and homeopathy, acupuncture is seen as a more natural way of healing ailments. Many people today are familiar with the shortcomings of modern medical treatments, with expensive and dangerous drugs and surgeries often being prescribed for ailments. But in spite of the flaws of modern medicine and the popularity of alternative health movements, some are still skeptical about acupuncture.
There are many reasons for this skepticism and it is easy to understand why some people feel this way. One of the most obvious reasons people are skeptical of acupuncture is the procedure itself: placing needles into various points on the skin. Many people are squeamish, nervous, or even downright terrified about the prospects of having needles inserted into their bodies. From childhood many people have frightening memories of going to the doctors office and being injected with a needle. For these people the fear has probably carried on into adulthood and they now hold the same fear about acupuncture. If this is the case for you, you should reconsider your apprehension.
The needles used in acupuncture are actually surprisingly thin. Unlike the hypodermic needles used by doctors, acupuncture needles are not large, hollow instruments. The insertion of acupuncture needles is reported by most patients to be surprisingly painless. Even those who were at first frightened at the prospect of acupuncture often find the process not uncomfortable in the least.
There are other reasons why some people avoid acupuncture. One example of this would be the fact that some people simply see this type of therapy as frivolous and pointless. Some simply consider acupuncture and other similar holistic therapies to be silly wastes of time. These skeptics regard acupuncture as nothing but nonsense and hocus pocus, on the same level as voodoo or parlor tricks. Such people would be surprised to hear that the efficacy of acupuncture has been established in numerous famous peer-reviewed studies in medical journals. Therefore, skepticism about how effective acupuncture is simply misguided.
A final reason that some avoid acupuncture is financial. There are many people within the country and around the world who work demanding jobs full of hard, physical labor and make little money in spite of this. For these people, the seemingly exotic technique of acupuncture sometimes seems as though it would be expensive. Many such people would be surprised to learn that the cost of acupuncture is not as prohibitive as often presumed. In fact, many common surgical procedures and pharmaceutical medicines are far more expensive than the attention a qualified acupuncture practitioner would be.
As has been shown, most of the many reasons (or excuses) given by people as to why they should not try acupuncture fall flat when closely examined. As such, there is no reason why people should not use acupuncture to treat their illnesses.
Michael Russell
