Acupuncture - A Benefit?

To preface discussion about the benefits of acupuncture, lets talk about what acupuncture is. First used in China more than 2000 years ago, and is one of the oldest medical procedures known to man. It is a family of procedures that stimulates the anatomy of the body and helps to balance the energy flow throughout the body. It is the same type of acupuncture that is practiced in the United Sates today, through the use of tiny, metallic needles placed in affected areas and manipulated by hand or by electrical stimulation.

Acupuncture is the foundation for Traditional Chinese Medicine and is based on the belief that there are two opposing and forces in our body. They are known as the Yin and Yang of the entire person. The Yin is representative of the cold, slow, or passive principle, and yang represents the hot, excited or active principle. A healthy state is achieved by maintaining a balance state of the yin and yang. This is done through vital pathways or meridians that allow for the flow of qi, or vital energy. The vital energy flow occurs along pathways known as meridians. These meridians connect over 2,000 acupuncture points along the body. There are 12 main meridians, and 8 secondary meridians. Although traditional western medicine does not completely understand how acupuncture works, the proof that it does work has been shown in several studies conducted by western medical facilities.

Does it work? According to the National Institute of Health, the answer is absolutely yes. Acupuncture has been shown to be effective in many areas of health care. Areas such as postoperative nausea, chemotherapy side effects, osteoarthritis, low back pain, headache, menstrual cramps, addiction, carpal tunnel syndrome, and asthma, just to name a few. The study revealed that acupuncture was able to provide pain relief, improve function and mobility of joints due to arthritis inflammation, and served to complement standard care.

There are many who doubt the effectiveness of acupuncture, although once they become patients, they become believers. It has been suggested that acupuncture works and produces its effects through regulating the nervous system. The theory suggests that since acupuncture produces its effect through regulation of the nervous system, it induces the release of endorphins and immune system cells at specific sites on the body. There is also the theory that acupuncture alters the brain chemistry by the changing the neurotransmitters in the brain.

There is no doubt acupuncture was beneficial in the study. Although acupuncture is classified as an alternative medicine therapy, and there is still much to be understood about the way it works, it is a proven aid in maintaining optimal health.

What about the healthy individual, can acupuncture provide a benefit to them? Absolutely. Because acupuncture works off the belief that we must maintain balance of our vital energy flow in order to remain healthy, acupuncture serves as the tool for realignment. Our vital energy flow can be out of balance, and we still feel and appear quite healthy.

J. Brian Keith

Acupuncture Needles Have Healing Effects

Acupuncture needles are thin but powerful. Many people believe in the healing powers of acupuncture needles, and more people turn to the powers of acupuncture needles every year. There are many new acupuncture practitioners and facilities popping up all the time. Acupuncture has increased in popularity as the results have shown the power of these thin acupuncture needles.

Acupuncture is considered an alternative or complementary medicine

at this time. Although it has taken some time to find many proponents in the United States, acupuncture has been around for centuries. Acupuncture depends on the insertion of acupuncture needles at strategic points in the body.

The theory behind acupuncture is that the insertion of acupuncture needles at these strategic points encourages the healing powers of the body. The body has many healing powers that will regenerate and cure. Acupuncture aims at promoting this healing and regeneration. The skilled professional who is trained in acupuncture must know the strategic points in the body that will be useful when these needles are inserted. The acupuncturist will insert the needles precisely to help the body heal.

Acupuncture Needles Are Thin But Powerful

The healing powers of acupuncture through the use of needles placed in proper points seem to be great, but acupuncture is also useful for other goals besides healing and regeneration. Acupuncture has become popular for those who suffer from chronic pain. Many of these people do not want to use drug therapy for their pain or these therapies have been ineffective. Acupuncture has become popular for those who suffer from chronic pain.

People who suffer from headaches have also found some relief through acupuncture. The skilled professionals know exactly where to place acupuncture needles to help these people. These thin needles seem to be painful, but in fact, the pain from the insertion of these needles is minimal.

Acupuncture has also become popular with those who want to quit smoking or lose weight. The acupuncturist will know exactly where to place acupuncture needles to help people quit smoking and lose weight. Acupuncture has been successful in helping people who suffer from stress. Many people live hectic lives because of the pressures of work and home. Stress can be very harmful, and those who manage stress are usually healthier.

Acupuncture will help those who are troubled by the stress in their lives. These people place the needles precisely in strategic points to help their patients reach their goals. The skills of the professionals have helped many people in the past, and the services of acupuncture professionals become more popular all the time.

Rohit Chopra

What Is Acupuncture?

Acupuncture and other forms of traditional Chinese medicine have been around for more than 4,000 years. Yet the explanation for how acupuncture-and Chinese medicine as a whole-works has long been a mystery, if not an object of mockery, for most Western doctors.

The basic theory is outlined in a text from 200 B.C., attributed to the Yellow Emperor (a mythical ruler). In brief, it recognizes in people and in nature a vital energy or life force known as qi (pronounced chee). Qi is the source of movements ranging from voluntary muscle action to blood flow; it protects the body from external influences, and it generates warmth. Qi flows through the body and to the organs by way of an extensive system of channels known as meridians. If the flow of the force is disturbed, the theory goes, the resulting deficiency, excess, or stagnation of qi causes bodily malfunction and thus illness. Acupuncture, in which needles are inserted into specific points along the meridians and manipulated, is said to restore the proper flow of qi and thereby return the body to health.

Practitioners recognize some 1,500 acupoints, most of which have no obvious relationship to their intended targets. For example, a point on the second toe is used to treat headaches and toothaches, while a point near the elbow enhances the immune system. Unlike Western medicine, in which many complex functions are understood to be controlled by interactions in the brain, traditional Chinese medicine holds that there is little connection between the brain and various organs and that stimulating an acupoint sends a message directly to the targeted organ.

What those researchers have been able to measure is a flow of acupuncture-induced endorphins. According to neuroscientist Bruce Pomeranz, of the University of Toronto, numerous studies over the past 20 years have shown that inserting needles into acupoints stimulates nerves in the underlying muscles. That stimulation, researchers believe, sends impulses up the spinal cord to a relatively primitive part of the brain known as the limbic system, as well as to the midbrain and the pituitary gland. Somehow that signaling leads to the release of endorphins and monoamines, chemicals that block pain signals in the spinal cord and the brain. The result: A well-documented generalized "acupuncture analgesia."

As odd as it seemed, sticking a needle into someone's foot had the very same effect as shining a light in someone's eyes. And this was not the generalized analgesic effect, produced by the primitive limbic system, that was seen in the pain studies; this was a function-specific response occurring in the brain's cortex, the area responsible for such sophisticated functions as speech and hearing, memory and intellect. Moreover, the magnitude of brain activity seen on acupuncture stimulation was nearly as strong as that elicited by the flash of light.

Despite the absence of clear-cut explanations, acupuncture's clinical results are attracting interest from mainstream medicine. A panel of independent experts convened last year by the National Institutes of Health concluded that acupuncture is indeed effective in treating nausea due to anesthesia and chemotherapy drugs.

Jerry H. Hall