::What is Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine?


Acupuncture is an East Asian traditional therapy/medicine and is one of the many aspects of Oriental Medicine along with:
  •         Herbal Therapy
  •         Tai Chi and Qi Gong, and Breathing Meditation
  •         Foods for healing or Medicated Diet
  •         Life Style (Sleep/Rest, General well being, etc)
  •         Body work (Tui Na, Acupressure)
  •        Chinese Psychology with Emphasis on Five-Element Consciousness
 -Acupuncture has been in existence for thousands of years where the first written records of it has been found in one of the oldest written medical textbooks (The Huang-ti Nei-jing: Yellow Emperor’s classics of internal medicine, 4,700 years ago).

-Oriental Medicine is based on philosophical theories of Confucianism and Taoism, with its ordinary fundamental perceptions of human sensory awareness (heat, cold, damp, dry, and wind), and it is based on eight guiding principles (as in excess/deficiency, heat/cold, internal/external, yin/yang).

-The basis of the diagnosis in Oriental Medicine is the state of Imbalance or Disharmony and the treatment principle is to encourage the body back to its state of balance.

This Treatment Principle is illustrated in the Huang-ti Nei-jing:
"If there is heat, cool it;
If there is cold, warm it;
If there is dryness, moisten it;
If there is dampness, dry it;
If there is vacuity, supplement it; and
If there is repletion, drain it."
 
 -Acupuncture is implemented by insertion and manipulation of sterile and very fine needles at various points on the body called acupuncture points located along pathways called Meridians where it is believed that the body’s life force/chi flows.

-In 1998 it was estimated that five million Americans visited Acupuncture practitioners per year.

-In the NIH consensus conference in 1997 it was concluded that studies on Acupuncture showed promising results in treating conditions such as postoperative and chemotherapy nausea to addiction, headache, fibromyalgia, low back pain, menstrual cramps, carpal tunnel syndrome, asthma, stroke rehabilitation, and osteoarthritis.

-NIH also concluded that encouraging results are emerging from research on the mechanism of the action of acupuncture by way of release of opioids from central peripheral nervous system as well as changes in the neuroendocrine function.

- The WHO states that "acupuncture has been shown to be effective in relieving postoperative pain, nausea during pregnancy, nausea and vomiting resulting from chemotherapy, and dental pain. It can also alleviate anxiety, panic disorders and insomnia, and has very few side-effects."