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Acupuncture

Ancient Healing Art

By Dr. Bruce Eichelberger, OMD

Acupuncture is the ancient healing art of stimulating specific areas on the body to promote healing, relieve pain and rebalance energy.

Acupuncture is the ancient healing art of stimulating specific areas on the body to promote healing, relieve pain and rebalance energy. Opinions vary about its origins, but historians estimate it began between 3,000 and 5,000 years ago.

The specific body areas stimulated are called "acupuncture points." There are 365 original points that are traditionally used, plus around 700 additional points that have been discovered over time.

The principal concept of acupuncture is that all disease results from basic energy imbalances within the body. The traditional explanation for these imbalances is that Qi (pronounced "Chee") is either weak or stagnant. Qi, commonly translated as "energy," is the vitality that supports our ability to move, breath, think, etc.

For example, when someone has fatigue, poor digestion and gets frequent colds, weak Qi could be to blame. By contrast, feeling tense, frustrated and reactive due to stress are usually symptoms of blocked or stagnant Qi.

For example, people often seek acupuncture to relieve pain. Back pain, neck pain, joint pain, general aches and pains, headaches, menstrual pains, etc. all respond well to acupuncture. By using acupuncture to supplement weak Qi or release stagnant Qi, the pain subsides.

Similarly, non-pain symptoms such as poor digestion, allergies, breathing problems, stress and fatigue also respond well. Just like pain, the effectiveness of acupuncture in these cases comes from either supporting weak Qi or unblocking stuck Qi as indicated by the individual situation.

How Does It Work?

One of the questions I'm most commonly asked is, "How does acupuncture work?"

Because it is such an ancient discipline, nobody truly knows its exact physical mechanism. Even with modern diagnostic techniques such as MRIs and lab work, we are only able to see the effects of acupuncture, not the exact mechanism creating them. Ultimately we know it is working because a person's symptoms and quality of life improve.

An example of seeing acupuncture's effects with modern measurement happened to one of my patients. She came in to relieve pain caused by a bone spur on her heel. Her podiatrist had taken x-rays showing the spur. After a month of treatment the pain was gone. She was happy, but curious about the status of the bone spurs. The next x-ray showed no bone spurs.

Some argue that acupuncture only works because a person believes it will. When I hear this I am always reminded that animals respond very well to acupuncture without any need to "believe."

More Than One Way To Treat Acupuncture Points

Although in the West we associate this treatment with stimulating body points with fine needles, there are numerous other ways to stimulate them. In fact, the Chinese name for acupuncture, Zhen Jiu, means "needle and moxa therapy." Moxa is an herb that is used to warm the points.

In addition to needles and heat, point stimulation by pressure (acupressure), magnets and mild electrical current can be effective. Although each way of stimulating points has a slightly different effect, all can create improvements. In some cases, one way of treating is better than others, for example if there is a cold condition in the body, applying heat will have an even better response.

Does It Hurt?

The other most frequent question I'm asked is whether acupuncture hurts. People who ask this usually have never experienced it. And, they often have had a previous painful experience with needles such as getting a shot or having blood drawn.

The first thing I tell people who ask this is that acupuncture needles are very different from a hypodermic needle. For one thing, they are very small, just about the diameter of a hair. It takes skill and practice to insert such fine needles painlessly through the skin. Depending on the gauge of the needles, you could probably place 8 or 10 acupuncture needles inside of a hypodermic needle. In addition, unlike hollow hypodermic needles, the acupuncture needles are solid.

The other factor that can affect how someone experiences acupuncture is that each person has different levels of sensitivity and anticipation about treatments. This means that everyone experiences acupuncture somewhat differently. On one extreme there are people who respond very well to very light stimulus on the points. On the other extreme there are people who require a much stronger stimulus to feel better. I always prefer to start very light when first working with a new patient until we can tell how best they respond.

During the treatments patients typically feel mild or even no sensation. What sensation they feel is usually a sense of pressure, tingling or warmth in the area of treatment. Sometimes that sensation will feel as though it's traveling to other areas of the body. This is a good sign that the treatment is working well. Afterwards there should be a noticeable improvement in the symptoms being treated. As an added benefit, patients also feel relaxed, calm and more mentally clear.

Resources:

• The Web That Has No Weaver: Understanding Chinese Medicine, Kaptchuk, Ted J., Congdon & Weed, 1983
• The Theoretical Foundations of Chinese Medicine: Systems of Correspondence, Porkert, Manfred (MIT Press, 1974
• Acupuncture: The Ancient Chinese Art of Healing and How it Works Scientifically, Mann, Felix, Random House, Inc., 1973

Dr. Eichelberger practices Oriental Medicine in Reno, Nevada. He emphasizes individualized treatments for each patient. These can include acupuncture, herbal medicine and metabolic typing. You can reach him at (775) 827-6901 or through his web site www.RenoAlternativeMedicine.com