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Acupuncture Healing Arts Center |
Acupuncture
Acupuncture (along with herbology, dietetics, physical therapy, and exercise regimes such as Tai Chi and Qi Gong) is a science that comes from the healing system known as Chinese medicine or Oriental medicine. Based on ancient Eastern philosophies, it treats pain and dysfunction and promotes health through a technique used for thousands of years.
Acupuncturists diagnose conditions by assessing the flow of vital energy along pathways called meridians and channels, which can be seen with advanced imaging. This is comparable to the way Western medical doctors make diagnosis based on how blood flows through the blood vessels or on how messages travel through the nervous system. If vital energy is blocked, acupuncturists use needles, electric current, or laser to stimulate areas along the meridians known as acupoints in order to restore proper energy flow, thereby preventing illness or restoring a patient’s health.
The National Institute of Health (NIH) endorsed acupuncture in 1997 and confirmed that acupuncture can control general pain and nausea from pregnancy, surgery, and chemotherapy. In addition, they found that acupuncture effectively treats headaches, menstrual cramps, fibromyalgia, osteoarthritis, muscle pain, low back pain, tennis elbow, carpal tunnel syndrome, asthma, addictions, and many other illnesses. It can also facilitate stroke rehabilitation. Further, an article published in Ob/Gyn Journal declared that acupuncture can increase the chance of successful in vitro fertilization (IVF) by as much as 30 percent.
Acupuncture has been practiced for thousands of years in the East. In North America, acupuncture has more recently come into general use in clinics and hospitals, and acupuncture training is now included in the curricula of medical schools such as UCLA and Harvard. According to The Washington Post in 1994, 15 million—or about six percent—of Americans have utilized acupuncture for the treatment of symptoms such as chronic pain, fatigue, digestive problems, and many other conditions. Without doubt, that number has grown even more today.
The needles used in acupuncture are classified as medical instruments by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (US FDA), and so their safety and effectiveness is assured. These needles are fine, thin, and comparable in size to a human hair. In fact, four to eight acupuncture needles put together are thinner than an average hypodermic needle. Therefore, acupuncture is not painful. Its sensation has been described as that of a mosquito bite, and most patients are so comfortable during a treatment that they fall asleep.
For those who may be wary of acupuncture needles, there are alternative therapies such as acupressure, electrical stimulation, and laser treatment. Laser therapy, specifically, has been shown effective in the treatment of osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, frozen shoulder, carpal tunnel syndrome, leg ulcers, ligament and tendon injuries, and chronic neck and back pain.
