About Acupuncture

Acupuncture. By Jim Si-So

Acupuncture has had a long history of being one of the major healthcare systems used in the Orient for thousands of years. Other methods such as herbal medicine, joint manipulations, counselling, dietary advice and exercise were also important factors in maintaining a good balance between mind, body and spirit. Indeed, it is this basic approach to healthcare that has allowed Oriental Medicine to transcend time and geographical space. Chinese medicine places importance on our environment as factors that can affect health. This leads to a greater understanding of cause and effect at a deeper level in the role of healthcare. Nowadays acupuncture is employed as an effective clinical tool for many aspects of healthcare, ranging from pain control and sports injuries to mental emotional problems such as depression and addictions.

The term “acupuncture” can be defined as a procedure that involves the stimulation of anatomical points on the body, using a variety of techniques. The acupuncture technique that has been subject to most scientific studies involves penetrating the skin with thin, solid, metallic needles that are manipulated by the hands or by electrical stimulation.

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, the body is seen as a delicate balance of two opposing and inseparable forces: Yin and Yang, with the Yin representing cold, slow or passive characteristics of a person, whilst the Yang represents the hot, excitability or activity of a person. It is then held that when Yin and Yang are moving and yet in balance, a person can be seen to be in total health. This can be seen in the crude analogy of a person’s life-force with a battery cell. We know some batteries can run longer than others, depending on the capacity and design. When we have a good battery, that’s rather like the gift we receive from our ancestors. This might be translated as genetic strength, so if your forbearers abused their bodies or suffered any great traumas and stress, then your battery pack would be compromised to a degree. However, in the same way a faulty or inferior battery can still be serviceable, if we respect the batteries potential, never abuse or overload, and use good maintenance programs, then we can always gain a greater efficiency, and this is what Chinese Medicine is particularly good at. With the correct approach to healthcare, we can all enjoy a greater ease by which we can get more power from our cells.

There are many styles of acupuncture practiced today, ranging from the main branch used in most Chinese hospitals, with its emphasis on physical ailments. This approach employs advanced techniques of electrical or laser acupuncture, point injection acupuncture, where herbal extracts, drugs or even biological extracts such as bee venom is used, to the more subtle Japanese style of acupuncture where fewer points are used, with finer needles utilised. Other schools diverted into specialized forms of acupuncture where either ear points, hand points or feet and knee points were solely used. All styles have their efficiency and aficionados.

In a typical acupuncture session, a detailed consultation would involve basic questions about your health and medical history, and what may surprise a lot of patients is our interest in their daily routines and lifestyle, because this then serves to give the doctor important clues on your biorhythms and the blips that help to make a diagnosis. Following that, a prescription of acupuncture points is selected, and needles are placed into these points. Sometimes the needles are only retained for seconds or minutes, other times they can be left for longer periods of 10 minutes to 45 minutes, depending on what the acupuncturist intends to do with the flow of energy within the patient’s body. Good acupuncture can be rather like inviting a good traffic controller into our psyche. When the stresses and strains of life pile up in our lives, blood, fuel and waste products all back up. When things get blocked and stuck, it’s not much different from the build up of blood pressure or poisons in our bodies when we physically get caught in a road block.

Today, people often ask me what acupuncture can do or help with. Trawling through some brochures from various clinics, I see examples such as:

Neurological Disorders – Post-stroke recovery, Bell’s Palsy & Trigeminal Neuralgia, movement disorders

Upper Respiratory Disorders – Asthma, allergies, bronchitis, sinusitis, sore throat, laryngitis, colds and flu.

Digestive Disorders – Irritable bowel, colitis, constipation, diarrhea, gastritis, heartburn, food allergies, ulcers

Urinary and Reproductive Disorders – Cystitis, menstrual cramps, irregular or heavy periods, infertility, menopausal symptoms.

Immune Function – Recurrent infections, supportive treatment for cancer and AIDS patients

Addictions – Addictions to nicotine, alcohol and drugs.

Eye and Ear Disorders – Tinnitus, Meniere’s disease.

Depression, Anxiety & Insomnia….

I feel those are strong claims because the outcome of any medical treatment is dependant on the response of each patient which is individualistic. So I now tell my patients that acupuncture and the other tools of Chinese Medicine can only help the body to help itself. So in effect, acupuncture does not really treat a disease… its power is its ability to wake up the human body to the function to which it is designed for… self sustenance, self defense and self repair. When these basic functions become sluggish, then disease-like invaders will creep into our fortresses to loot our treasures. This is why so much of our diagnostic skills begin with looking at basic rhythms of human activity, whilst many of our treatment plans are aimed at restoring basic bodily functions such as appetite, bowel motions, energy peaks and troughs, sleep patterns, hormonal balance and most importantly our moods. In fact, one teacher once told me that to lose ones temper is to poison ones liver for three months. When we are all so stressed with the modern world, its a difficult job to keep sane… at least with TCM, there lies answers that we can use in order to be little bit better protected and operate with a greater efficiency in these exciting times where we can draw on the collective wisdoms of the ancient world to help us navigate with greater safety in this new world.