ACUPUNCTURE Q & A
ACUPUNCTURE Q & A
Question: What is acupuncture?
Answer: Acupuncture is a form of healing that is based on the use of needles to correct malfunctions in the body. It was found over centuries that in all patients, the same skin areas became hypersensitive in the presence of a specific illness or organ dysfunction. The sensitive areas varied consistently according to various organ malfunctions. Acupuncture affects the energy level and the functioning of internal organs by either stimulating or depressing their action. Acupuncture works through the insertion of thread-like, stainless steel needles in specific points on the body. These points are grouped along energetic channels (or meridians) that cross the body. Upon insertion the patient may feel a slight sensation, but the needles are designed to be virtually painless. Disposable needles are used one time only and then discarded. Therefore, no disease can be transmitted.
Question: What diseases respond well to acupuncture?
Answer: According to the World Health Organization (WHO) acupuncture therapy is effective in 47 kinds of diseases:
Acute sinusitis, bronchial asthma, toothache, hiccup, chronic duodenal ulcer (to relieve pain), constipation, diarrhea, facial paralysis, headache, migraine, trigeminal neuralgia, incomplete paralysis after apoplexy, peripheral neurologic diseases, Meniere’s syndrome, neurogenic bladder dysfunction, nocturia, intercostal neuralgia, arm and neck syndrome, frozen shoulder, tennis elbow, sciatica, backache, osteoarthritis, and many more.
It is especially effective in treating muscular and nervous system diseases. Clinical experience has proven that acupuncture is effective in stress reduction, weight control, deep relaxation, enhanced physical function, rejuvenation of skin and complexion. It has helped patients withdraw from drugs, smoking, alcohol addiction, and it also relieves insomnia, palpitation, anxiety, depression and impotence. It also relieves deafness, tinnitus, corrects sports and athletic injuries improving athletic performance and is very effective in weight control.
Question: How effective is acupuncture?
Answer: It is highly effective in the treatment of both acute and chronic pain problems, asthma, digestive system, stroke/neurological and other chronic situations.
Question: What are the advantages of acupuncture therapy?
Answer: Acupuncture therapy treats patients without drugs. It is a completely natural treatment so it does not have side effects as drugs usually do. Acupuncture therapy raises patients’ own inner forces by enhancing them to allow patients to cure themselves. Acupuncture therapy can raise patients’ own activity of the immune system, thus preventing disease. Additionally, acupuncture benefits many people who have not been helped by conventional medical methods.
Question: How does acupuncture work?
Answer:Objective scientific evidence shows that acupuncture has a physical basis and proves that it does not work by hypnosis or suggestion. More studies have shown that the function of acupuncture is linked with the nervous, endocrine and immunological systems. For example, acupuncture stimulates secretion of endogenous hormones (ie endorphins, etc.) in the brain or spinal cord for pain control. Acupuncture also increases white blood cells and antibodies, thereby increasing the body’s resistance to inflammation.
Question: What happens in an acupuncture treatment?
Answer: The first acupuncture session typically lasts about an hour, with follow-up sessions taking 30 minutes to an hour. You'll be asked to lie or sit on a padded table, and to remove or loosen just enough clothing to get comfortable during treatment. A practitioner will take a detailed health history, and a practitioner of traditional Chinese medicine will also examine your tongue and take your pulse in several different places. The treatment involves using 2 to 15 hair-thin disposable sterile needles inserted just under the skin, or deeper. Acupuncture shouldn't hurt much. You may feel a "pinch" or sting and some warmth or tingling for a few seconds. If pain persists, tell the therapist right away. The therapist will leave the needles in place for a few minutes to an hour (20 minutes is typical), checking to make sure you are comfortable or to remove or manipulate some needles to stimulate the acupoints. Sometimes tiny amounts of an herb called mugwort (or moxa in China) are burned and held – painlessly – over the stimulation points. After the treatment, you'll be asked to rest quietly for a while and then get up slowly, noticing for any changes. You may feel a bit lightheaded from the treatment. People have widely different responses to acupuncture – even people with the same disease or symptoms. Some feel an immediate and strong effect, some may take several sessions to feel improvements.