A Q&A Overview of ACUPUNCTURE

Acupuncture is a 5,000 year old Chinese system of natural healing (no drugs…no surgery), which is concerned with restoring proper energy flow to the various organs, glands and tissues of the body on the premise that most diseases are the result of malfunction due to disrupted energies.

Q:  Where does the disruption of energy flow occur? 

A:  In either or both location: 

• In the channels of energy flow, located throughout the body, just beneath the skin's surface. 
• In the spinal column where vertebrae may become misaligned, thereby compressing vital nerve trunk.

Answer:  The disturbance in energy flow within a patient is determined by many methods, indulging certain signs, symptoms, pain spots, organ reflex points, and by pulse or instrumental findings;.

First, the related skin points are determined.  Then they are appropriately treated by one of over thirty methods of stimulation some of which are:

• Long needle insertion (especially done in acupuncture and anesthesia for surgery)
• Short needle penetration
• Non-piercing needles
• Finger tip pressure (called shishin or “finger needles”)
• metallic balls taped to the points
• Electrical stimulation
• Moxabustion (the burning of herbs over the points. Note: Tile non-piercing needle (teishin) is very popular because the technique is practically painless, there is no blood, no danger of infection, and results are equal to, if not better than other techniques.

Yes.  Besides those diseases associated with the interference of the transmission of energy flow, there are causes such as psychosomatic, states hereditary factors, poisons, adverse environmental conditions, injury germ, malnutrition, etc…, are all disease

Textbook listed conditions run into the hundreds.  Typical ailments usually responding to acupuncture health care include:

• neuralgias
• headaches
• trigeminal neuralgia,
• tics, spasms 
• muscular rheumatism
• neuralgia of the shoulders and arm 
• tennis elbow
• osteoarthritis, rheumatism
• ulcers, stomach problems, diarrhea
• hepatitis
• asthma, bronchitis, shortness of breath, coughs 
• certain types of heart trouble, abnormal blood pressure
• hemorrhoids
• lumbago
• bladder irritation, bed wetting, certain kidney problems
• female disorders, impotence
• glaucoma (sometimes), weak eyesight
• hay fever, loss of smell
• tonsillitis
• loss of hearing
• skin condition
• nervous or psychiatric factors based on the fact that often mental problems arise from physical disorders.  

The above list may seem long as though acupuncture were a Panacea.  The truth is that most textbooks list over two hundred diseases.  Please be mindful of the fact that acupuncture is not alike one drug used for one condition.  On the contrary, acupuncture is a complete healing art within itself, concerned with the digestive, respiratory, eliminatory, reproductive, hormonal, musculoskeletal etc., and seeks to correct health problems with those systems.