The Acupuncture Fundamentals
Acupuncture has been around for a great many centuries with extraordinary results. I’ll try to summarise the main points toward explaining acupuncture to you.
Acupuncture is a technique of inserting and manipulating delicate needles into specific points on the body to alleviate discomfort or for therapeutic purposes. The word acupuncture comes from Latin acus, ‘needle’, and pungere, ‘to prick’.
According to normal Chinese Medical theory, acupuncture points are situated on meridians along which qi, the vital force, flows.
The main purpose in acupuncture is to balance the Chi or energy of a patient. Acupuncture theory states that as long as the person’s Chi is circulating throughout the body in a balanced, rhythmic manner that person will be healthy. However, if for any reason this rhythmic balance of Chi is interrupted or unbalanced, then the person shall suffer sickness or disease.
When discussing this balance of Chi we have to take into consideration the theory of Yang and Yin, negative and positive, etc. This is the of opposites, which plays a prime role in all aspects of acupuncture. Therefore, some explanation is mandatory about Yang and Yin.
Yang literally means sunlight; Yin literally means shade. As you can see, this is basically a theory of opposites. The Yang and Yin principles are the essential keys to understanding the laws of the five elements. 5 elements are groups of points which form a meridian or energy path, into five basic elements. Which are fire, earth, metal, water, and wood.
Acupuncture uses the body’s meridians which are groups of points that form an energy trail. These energy pathways span the body from finger tips to toe tips, up and down the entire body. Over 1,000 different points are found all over the body. Some researchers feel that these points are related to areas in the body where nerves appear to bundle together or be in high concentration. Meridians affect the organ which they are named after or where they course through in the body.
Acupuncture is just a two way communication between the skin and the internal organs and structures of the body. Stimulation of an Acupuncture point may relieve, or in many cases, cure an illness. There are many acupuncture spots that can be stimulated to have several various effects. Acupuncture points can be stimulated by a large variety of ways, from finger pressure, needles, to laser.
The World Health Organization published a commentary on controlled trials using acupuncture and concluded it was effective for the treatment of twenty-eight conditions and there had been evidence to think it may be effective for several dozen more. Some of the conditions that have been proved to be helped are sinusitis, bronchitis, asthma, low back stiffness, headaches, rheumatoid arthritis and many more. Additionally, the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine of the National Institutes of Health, the American Medical Association, and various government reports have studied and commented on the effects of acupuncture.
There’s a general agreement that acupuncture is totally safe when administered by well trained practitioners using sterile needles, and that further research is appropriate.
More Americans are also using acupuncture, herbal remedies and other elements of alternative Chinese remedies than ever before. The reasons for this vary, but the increasing interest in, and use of, traditional Chinese medicine is due largely to its effectiveness, affordability and lack of bad side-effects compared to Western medication.
acupuncture fundamentals101
Acupuncture Fundamentals 