Acupuncture Schools - What You Should Know About Acupuncture Training

If you're thinking about a career in acupuncture you'll want to learn how and where you can earn a certificate or degree in acupuncture. Perhaps you're already familiar with the field of acupuncture but if not you'll want to find out all you can both online and offline. It's thought that acupuncture has been practiced in China for at least 2,000 years and some think it's probably been practiced at least 3,000 years or so.

First of all you'll want to choose an acupuncture school that offers consultation services for its graduates. The schools that do, allow graduates after graduation, to consult with instructors regarding care of their patients. You'll also want to check to see if your state is on the national list of about 49 acupuncture schools with accredited programs and you'll want to find an acupuncture school that offers smaller classes.

Acupuncture schools that offer courses in traditional Chinese medicine often include related training or courses in traditional medicine

, such as anatomy and physiology, body therapy, massage therapy, and other sciences. For naturopathy schools that offer acupuncture programs there is a list called the: List of Accredited Natural Medicine Colleges in North America. Check with the school you're considering making sure they have a wide selection of study resources available so you can have all the essential acupuncture materials for a broad learning experience.

You'll also want to find out what the acupuncture training, school and program options are in your home area. Try to find a school whose program emphasizes courses in traditional Chinese medicine because acupuncture is just one element of traditional Chinese medicine. There are a few acupuncture schools that teach acupuncture practitioners the five-element Oriental medicine

approach to acupuncture, which is often used in conjunction with the traditional Western medical practices.

Acupuncture is used for: arthritis, headaches, migraines, to quit smoking, to lose weight , fertility, fibromyalgia, depression, insomnia, face lifts as in facial acupuncture, back pain, high blood pressure, pregnancy, cosmetic purposes, anxiety, panic attacks, Crohn's disease, asthma and on dogs and other pets or animals as in veterinary acupuncture.

If you haven't experienced acupuncture make to visit an acupuncture clinic to learn more about acupuncture. You might want to talk to an acupuncture specialist or naturopath about a possible acupuncture career also. Talk to the financial aid counselors at the acupuncture school or college you're considering to see if they have any ideas or suggestions for scholarships, grants or education loans if you need to finance your training.

Before you commit to any acupuncture school or to any acupuncture training you can check out the "Fundamentals of Chinese Acupuncture" by Ellis, Wiseman, and Bosson. This excellent textbook is used in many acupuncture schools and acupuncture training programs and will give you a better idea if you'd like to pursue acupuncture as a career.
If you haven't checked already may sure to check and see if you need a license to practice acupuncture in your state. You may not need a license. Get the facts first on which states require licensing. Note that each state and each discipline has its own criteria about how alternative medicine practitioners are to be professionally licensed, if at all.

Acupuncture programs in acupuncture schools can be expensive and usually require three years or so of classes and sometimes up to five years. If you have a naturopathic school in your area, email or give them a call to find out the licensing requirements in your state. If you do get financing help or aid in the form of federal assistance be sure to have selected a school that's accredited by the Accreditation Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (ACAOM).

An acupuncture career has great career growth potential. Just be sure to find out the length of the coursework and the expense upfront and know how you plan to handle it. Many have done it before you. If possible, intern in an acupuncture clinic in your neighborhood to get first hand experience before you decide. But make sure to learn about the licensing requirements for acupuncturists for your state before you do anything else.

Helen Hecker

Acupuncture - Quit Smoking Via Acupuncture

Acupuncture is known to be an effective treatment for most of the diseases. However, what most people don’t know about is that the technique that has the power to cure several serious disorders can also help quit smoking. Yes, it is true and has been proved that one can quit smoking via Acupuncture therapy.

In fact, acupuncture is a highly effective method widely used for quitting smoking. Now, people who have not been successful in quitting smoking can now achieve success with acupuncture. However, the patient should be willing to quit smoking. The acupuncture therapy promises you quick relief from chronic smoking habits.

The technique of acupuncture is based on the popular belief that ‘Chi’ or the vital energy force usually flows via 12 key channels situated inside the body. There are about 365 acupuncture points available inside the body. Sometimes due to certain problems, these channels can sometimes get blocked and prevents the smooth vital energy flow.

This ultimately leads to chronic habits. Smoking is one of these habits. Acupuncture can act as a great support and effective medium for stopping smoking habits.

When providing this treatment to the patient, the expert inserts about five needles into the ear, especially in the cartilage avoiding the ear canal part. Some needles are also inserted on the hands and wrists. When the needs are pricked in to the skin, the patient is left to relax for about thirty to forty five minutes. All the needles pricked inside the skin works towards providing great impact on reducing craving for smoking.

There are several treatment methods followed when treating excessive craving for smoking under the category of acupuncture. In order to be a complete non smoker, you need to follow a series of sessions. All these sessions emphasize on physical as well as emotional withdrawal symptoms that occur in the patients during the treatment.

Most patients are advised to undergo treatments with herbs while undergoing needle-pricking or acupuncture treatments. All you require to do is to apply a mixture of clove oils, evodia fruit extracts, oil of wintergreen and Sichuan lovage rhizomes in the acupuncture points in order to get faster results.

Acupuncture not only helps you to quit smoking permanently but also brings you a lot of advantages.

Once the acupuncture series treatment is over, your cigarettes start tasting foul. It takes an almost nesty burnt taste. Once this is the case with you, you can proudly pronounce yourself as a ‘non-smoker’.

The acupuncture therapy carried out for quitting smoking tends to reduce several side effects of nicotine withdrawals such as cravings to smoke, anxiety and depression. Blood circulation of the body improves with this therapy. This decongests the lungs and allows you to think positive and carry an optimistic attitude towards life.

Acupuncture is truly beneficial in cases where the patients require emergency treatment for quitting smoking. The treatment will help you to quit smoking within matter of a few days.

However, you need to first check out whether the acupuncturist is experienced and reputed in order to gain maximum benefits.

Bertil Hjert

Acupuncture and Western Medicine

Nearly all of us have grown up with the same kind of medical treatments, and go to the doctor when we have a sore throat or a sore foot. American doctors, and in general, western medicine, have always been interested in the structure of the body, and how each individual organ structure should look when it is healthy. The tools western medicine have developed have been to see these structures better: the microscope, MRIs, and the x-ray camera. In contrast, Chinese medicine, the basis for acupuncture, has been interested in how natural forces, functioning both externally and internally, have affected people. Chinese medicine developed an understanding about how the circulation of blood and energy (called Qi) affect the state of health, and how seasons, emotions, and weather may disturb these flows. The result of this is that western medicine has developed a remarkable array of solutions based on anatomy, whereas the science behind acupuncture has developed many applications of a few basic principles based on physiology.

This study of health also is reflected in the analysis of body chemistry. Western medicine is again interested in the structure of many different fluids, and can tell you what the normal range for sodium ions is, or what shape red blood cells should and should not be. Chinese medicine and acupuncture focuses on Qi energy, the circulation of Qi, polarities (such as Yin and Yang), climatic conditions, and the connection between physical substances and energy. Chinese medicine considers fluids and tissues important, but mainly for their reactions to the more fundamental processes.

Western medicine also differs in a view of acceptable treatment. This can be seen by looking at how a viral infection is treated, where the main problem is the virus. Once the virus is rendered harmless, the patient is viewed as cured. In some special cases, such as transplant patients or HIV positive patients, there is considerable effort taken to address the immune system as well. The philosophy behind acupuncture considers that the most likely reason that the virus was able to flourish in the patient is due to an imbalance in the patient's physical or emotional state, their personal habits, and possibly the climate. The virus is addressed, but the entire well being of the patient is much more important.

Another difference is in the way that Chinese medicine views emotional and mental problems. These have traditionally always been a part of any acupuncture diagnosis and treatment. An emotional imbalance may be a cause for a physical ailment, however, this is not looked upon as a "psychosomatic disorder" and dismissed. This emotional imbalance can also be treated with acupuncture, in order to restore the correct flow of energy, and hence the physical ailment and emotional ailment will both be addressed and treated. Western medicine has only started to treat mental illness as a component of physical health in the last thirty years, and again, by relying on such things as blood analysis.

Chinese medicine, acupuncture, and western medicine have all made great contributions to the healing arts. They come from two distinctly different viewpoints and methods of practice. Hopefully this discussion has given some insight into the differences between the two, and a starting point for thought the next time a health problem needs to be addressed.