Acupuncture is a part of ancient Chinese medicine. It’s a technique very similar to acupressure.
Fine needles are inserted to stimulate specific points in the skin called meridians which are considered to be energy paths to treat illness and ensure general good health.
When a person experiences sickness or injury the chi (pronounced either ‘chee’ or ‘kie’, like pie) gets blocked and positive energy stops flowing.
Along the body’s exterior surface, there are three hundred and sixty five different points of acupuncture scattered over the body, and all these points follow fourteen main meridian paths.
When specially designed needles or acupressure are placed at certain locations on the meridians the blocks are released thus enabling the chi to circulate freely.
It is something like clearing the blocks in the path of the river to allow its free flow again. Acupuncture regulates the flow of ‘chi’ so it flows at a steady pace, not too fast and not too slow.
This form of medicine has been practiced in China for at least 4,000 years, with these needles found in archaeology digs of the late Shang Dynasty (c.1000 BC).
There are three styles of acupuncture: traditional Yin/Yang Theory, Five Elements, and the Western or medical acupuncture.
The methods used in the different types of this medicine, both to diagnose as well as to treat, are the same, but the approach towards determining the origin of the illness and the treatment vary somewhat between styles.
The basis of five-element acupuncture is the five-element cycle seen in Chinese medicine; the underlying belief is that an illness can be due to a physical cause or emotional stress.
Based on this, it’s thought that only if inner stress is taken care of can physical illness or symptoms be cured.
Five elements method is a slow process, as it does not merely treat the symptoms but the reason behind the illness. Because of this, the process takes a longer period of time to achieve full recovery.
According to the Yin/Yang theory the overall balance of the Yin and Yang has to be maintained for good health. In this type of acupuncture different points are pierced with the needles all along the meridians in order to help cure and affect different illnesses in your body.
Western Acupuncture has a tendency of focusing on the short-term, urgent treatment which combines Western and Eastern medical techniques. There are two sub-categories of the medical aspect.
The first, anesthetic acupuncture, is used in surgical and dental procedures. Again it is used as a temporary pain reliever or as an analgesic for immediate effect.
The second category is acupuncture used to treat long-term illnesses.
Some very respectable and reputable medical research has shown that it’s been very effective for treating allergies, depression, arthritis, asthma, gynecological disorders, infertility, high blood pressure and migraines.
Acupuncture is one of the most effective methods to treat chronic illnesses that haven’t had satisfactory results from traditional treatment or when the illness is caused by problems associated with lifestyle.
