Does Acupuncture Work?
For 3000 years
Chinese medicine has been the primary care medicine of a
third of the worlds population. Thousands of years of
research and development, observation of patterns of
diseases, testing of medicinals and therapies is not
something to take lightly. Like all medicine there are
times when protocols that have succeeded for thousands of
patients will fail for one. We are each unique, but Chinese
medicine has the superior edge to have recognized the
importance and to have incorporated individuals body types
and temperaments in to diagnosis and treatment.
Is Acupuncture a Placebo?
All medicine
incorporates a psychological factor, even aspirin. Like
western medicine, Chinese Herbs and Acupuncture have been
extensively researched in modern scientific forums and
found to have therapeutic affect. Interestingly enough,
young children and animals respond to acupuncture better
than adults do. This is believed by many scientists to be
caused by the fact that apprehensions and fears of adults
get in the way of therapeutic results. The very opposite of
a placebo affect.
Does Acupuncture Hurt?
Acupuncture makes use of needles of varying length and
thickness most of which are thinner than the human hair.
Most acupuncture points and therapies do not cause pain.
There is often a sensation called "de qi" the arrival of Qi
that can be sensed after insertion of the needle. This
sensation is often felt as a tingling like electric, a
fullness or a numbness. The sensation is often considered
pleasant by patients, but if to strong is easily reduced by
the practitioner with an adjustment of the needle. It is
this active feeling upon the needle insertion that is the
indication of the success of the treatment. Often needles
are placed at a distance from the location of pain or the
health concern and the sensation can be felt reaching those
areas as the practitioner manipulates them. It is in this
way that the traditional paths of the meridians were
discovered and charted.
