What is Acupuncture?

Acupuncture is a powerful and effective medicine that uses tiny pins placed at specific points in the body to reduce or eliminate pain and dramatically relieve suffering caused by many health problems. Acupuncture is not trivial medicine. It is not simply a pain-relieving technique. Acupuncture is GREAT medicine. Unlike Western medicine, which attempts to cover over symptoms, its power lies in its capacity to create real, long-lasting physiological change.

The genius of the early acupuncturists was to understand the structure of the body, and to create a systematic medicine with sophisticated and logically organized treatments, powerful and flexible enough to address the entire range of human health issues. Acupuncture intervenes in the human body to support the defense system in the way the body is designed.

Acupuncture is a major part of Chinese medicine - an ancient and highly developed medical tradition that includes other physical medicines such as cupping and massage, and herbal medicine and lifestyle therapies. These medicines are old, but the interest in them and the developing scientific validation of their effectiveness are evidence that they are part of the future of medicine.

An outgrowth of this scientific validation is the understanding that the language the ancient physicians used to describe the body - rich in natural imagery that referred to the topography of the body in terms of mountains and valleys, and the blood and oxygen flow in terms of water—was a poetic way to describe what they had observed. In the light of modern understanding these descriptions have been shown to be 80% anatomically and physiologically accurate. The clearest example is that the ancients knew that the blood moved in a closed circulatory system more than 2,000 years before that same fact was described by the English physician William Harvey in 1628, a discovery which is considered one of the great achievements in Western medicine.

Today we can treat patients as the ancients did, yet with an understanding illumined by physiological medicine. We rely upon the structure of the body to guide our approach to treatments. We use the natural organization of the body, based on the two basic organizational principles of all animal bodies: the segmental and the longitudinal.

Segmental Organization
Segmental organization describes the distribution of the spinal nerves, which are outgrowths of the spinal cord between each vertebra. The spinal nerves in the neck, known as the cervical nerves, control sensory and motor input in the hands and arms, and information to and from glands and organs in the head and neck such as the thyroid, the sinuses, and vocal cords. The nerves which emerge at the same level as the ribs, known as the thoracic nerves, control the heart, lungs, liver, and the back and abdominal muscles. The lumbar and sacral spinal nerves in the low back control elimination, the reproductive system, the low back muscles, and the muscles of the legs and feet, and so on.

Longitudinal Organization
Imagine a standing human being. Note that for the most part the major blood vessels, peripheral nerves, and muscles are distributed up and down the body, longitudinally. Discovering the importance of this anatomical feature is evidence of the true genius of the early Chinese physicians. Chinese treatment approaches incorporate this longitudinal organization with acupoints situated along the body's major nerves and vessels. When both segmental and longitudinal distributions are included, it results in a systematic approach to an acupuncture treatment, and brings about a highly specific and powerful restorative response.

What is an acupuncture treatment like?

Very thin sterile, disposable, stainless steel needles are inserted into specific points along the affected channels in order to disperse the blockage, and mobilize the body's natural immune response. Usually insertion of the needles is painless. You may feel a dull ache, tingling or warm sensation when the needles are stimulated. Most people experience a very relaxing feeling of peace and wellbeing during and after their treatment. Treatments generally last from 30-45 minutes.

What other methods of treatment does an acupuncturist use?

Needles are only one of the techniques used in Chinese medicine to restore health. Also included in traditional therapies are Moxibustion, herbal medicine, various massage techniques, cupping, electrical stimulation, dietary advice, meditation, exercise, and breathing techniques.