Acupuncture is a safe treatment for all. It has proved to be effective in pregnancy management and for the relief of pain in childbirth. Acupuncture is also helpful for people trying to overcome addictions such as those related to smoking, alcohol, food or drugs. Some people may have acupuncture as a preventive measure to strengthen their constitution, or because they feel unwell in themselves without being “ill” in a Western sense. It can also be used alongside conventional medicine in the treatment of both acute and chronic diseases. However, it is important for me to point out that the above said is not a proven fact and not a claim I am making, but rather my opinion, since neither the CAP (Committee of Advertising Practice) nor the ASA (Advertising Standards Authority) have so far accepted that there is sufficient evidence that acupuncture works in such situations. A
few words about its traditional roots:
According to traditional Chinese philosophy, our health is dependent
on the body’s motivating life force energy, known as Qi, which
moves in a smooth and balanced way through a series of channels
beneath the skin, and deeper inside the body. Health is the state
of perfect harmony of the Qi, and when Qi becomes unbalanced, illness
results. The flow of Qi can be disturbed by many factors. These
include emotional states such as anxiety, stress, anger, fear or
grief, hereditary factors, poor diet, weather conditions, infections,
toxic substances and traumas.
Description
of the treatment? The majority of needles will be placed in the arms or legs, below the elbows or knees. This is where the channels have influential points known as the command points. Needles are also placed around the local area of the problem. Another area where needles can be applied is the ear, which is known as auricular acupuncture. You will usually remain dressed during the treatment, with the clothing only removed to reveal the site of the needling. If needles are placed on the back, chest, abdomen, head or neck, it is usually sufficient to just open a few buttons, or slightly lower the shirt, skirt or trousers. Most patients hardly feel the initial insertion of the needle. Acupuncture needles are many times finer than injection needles, or those used in blood tests, and bear little resemblance to the latter. Once a needle is in place, it should be gently manipulated, usually rotated or softly moved in and out (“lift and thrust”), in order to obtain the correct therapeutic effect. This is known as “obtaining deqi (arrival of Qi)”, and should be felt as a spreading sensation. It can be very subtle, like a tingling, or the sensation of a magnetic field, or it can be stronger, like a mild toothache. Occasionally it is quite powerful, like an electric current. If the spreading is felt along the pathway of the channel, this can be a very good indication that the point has been chosen and needled well, and the response might be favourable. When there is coldness, and the aim is to warm the acupuncture channel, I may use Moxa, which can be used without needles. Moxa is a dried herb, which gets burnt over the point without burning you. This is generally very popular and well tolerated. Some patients are troubled by its smell, which is the reason why I now mainly use Japanese smokeless Moxa. Occasionally I apply a minute, battery-generated electric current (1mVolt, 1 mAmp) to the needles, which you will feel as a gentle tapping or fluttering. This is used in inflammatory conditions, where the electro-acupuncture is often better tolerated than strong hand manipulation. I usually accompany the acupuncture with a form of healing, which I like to call ‘qi healing’. My hands are placed several inches above the needles. In the manner of performing Qi Gong I allow the energy (the qi) to flow through my left hand into a particular point and along the channel, to be received out of another point through my right hand. This you often feel as a warmth and heaviness, which is usually very relaxing.
How
does acupuncture work? Acupuncture has an anti allergic effect, which helps with hay fever and allergic shock (anaphylaxis). I could list many more effects, which have been documented, but I hope that the above helps to illustrate the point that acupuncture is a useful tool to help the body to heal itself. There
have been many reports of acupuncture being effective in enhancing
the body’s immune response. I have personal experience with
successfully using acupuncture and moxibustion in raising the level
of the red and white blood cells (bone marrow function) during chemotherapy.
The jury is still out, and it is probably right to say at this stage that we do not fully understand how acupuncture works. However, there is now a lot of known data, which can go a long way to explain how acupuncture works according to the western model. The
Traditional model: Fundamental to understanding health
and illness in traditional Chinese medicine is the concept of a
life force, called Qi (as in Tai Qi, Qi Gong and Reiki). This is
rather similar to the concept of atoms, where the balance of electro-magnetic
forces determines the density, temperature and function of matter.
On
the other hand a gas, like helium, contains very few atoms, which
are moving extremely fast. It is the opposite of dense by nature,
quick moving, volatile, and tends to be hot. The Qi of helium is
therefore extremely Yang. In Chinese medicine health is seen as a continuously maintained equilibrium of the various manifestations of Qi, which for practical purposes are subdivided into the ‘five substances’, essence, Qi, blood, body fluids and spirit. Acupuncture is the thousands of years old practice of sticking pins into specific points, which are known to tonify, move, reinforce, reduce, harmonise or regulate the Qi, depending on which action is required according to the principles of a traditional diagnosis. The latter is a lengthy, complicated subject in it’s own right. Suffice it to say that tongue and pulse diagnosis form an important part of it. So if the body shows signs of heat and excess, like this is the case in an overactive thyroid, we aim to find appropriate points that can help to reduce the Yang, clear excess, calm overactivity and cool the body. This action, called reducing or sedating, is enhanced by a specific way of manipulating the needle, in this case forceful anti-clockwise lifting and gentle clockwise thrusting, with a large amplitude. If the body shows signs of tiredness, underactivity, coldness, etc. our action should be reinforcing, tonifying and warming. Now the needle action tends to be gentle clockwise thrusting followed by gentle and slow anticlockwise lifting, with small amplitude. We also often use a herb called moxa which gets burned on or near the needle (moxibustion). The
examples above are just two of a variety of permutations, and the
process of diagnosing and treating can be quite complicated in some
cases. What points to choose and which action to perform on them
was, I presume, empirically found and passed on over many thousands
of years. Much of what we practice as traditional acupuncture today
was formulated from around 200 BC (Yellow Emperors Classic) through
to the Ming dynasty (1368 – 1644) and beyond. Even the last
100 years have seen plenty of revisions and new concepts of ‘traditional’
acupuncture.
Occasionally
an acupuncture needle can hit a blood vessel and leave a bruise.
This happens especially when the point is ‘congested’,
as may be the case on the temples during a headache, for example.
I try my utmost to anticipate these bruises, by pressing on the
point with a cotton swab, after the needle has been removed. Acupuncture,
being a system of regulating the body’s energy flow rather
than the application of an external substance, has no side effects
as such. However, it is possible for symptoms to get slightly worse
before they get better, which usually only happens in the beginning
of treatment. This phenomenon, more common in chronic conditions
and well known in other naturopathic systems of healing, is the
consequence of adjustments made by the body during the process of
rebalancing Most patients feel very relaxed after a treatment. In some cases you can feel tired or a little spaced out afterwards. This may affect your ability to drive a car, or going to work immediately after the treatment.
Can
I have acupuncture without needles? |
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