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Reduce Stress Heal The Body With Acupuncture
By Conrad Raw
Treating Autoimmune Disease with Acupuncture
Over 50 million Americans suffer from autoimmune disease; an autoimmune disease occurs when the body?s immune system attacks healthy tissue.
Due to the complexity of treating autoimmune disorders, integrative medicine solutions including acupuncture and Oriental medicine have received much attention as successful therapies in their treatment. Acupuncture is specifically noted for its use in pain relief, regulating the immune system, managing symptoms and improving quality of life. ]]>
Army To Include AOM for Pain Treatment
[from Acupuncture Today, July 21, 2010]
The statistics are sobering, to say the least. According to leading pain specialists in the Veterans Administration, nine in 10 Iraq and Afghanistan veterans return home with some form of pain, and 60 percent have significant pain.1 Now, a recent announcement by top Army officials may help address this situation and provide our modern military forces with ancient forms of healing to help with pain relief.
On June 25, the Army Surgeon General, Lt. Gen. Eric B. Schoomaker, announced the release of a report by the Pain Management Task Force, which has 109 recommendations for changes in the way Army personnel are treated for pain. Among those recommendations are the inclusion of complementary and alternative treatments such as acupuncture, meditation, biofeedback and yoga. ]]>
Is Cosmetic Acupuncture Effective for Aging?
A major tenet of acupuncture is that to reflect beauty on the outside, you must be healthy on the inside. Cosmetic acupuncture is a unique method of facial rejuvenation based on this philosophy. And its popularity is growing among women in America.]]>
Study: Acupuncture Improves Fertility in Men, Too
Acupuncture Today
Previous research has shown that acupuncture can improve fertility levels in women. Fewer studies on male infertility have been conducted, although evidence suggests that acupuncture can have an effect on sperm production and quality, without causing any changes in behavior or sexual desire. ]]>
Study Supports Acupuncture Effects In Pain Control
The scientific validity of traditional Chinese medicine for pain treatment of pain received a nod of support in the May issue of Anesthesia & Analgesia, official journal of the International Anesthesia Research Society (IARS).
Dr. Philip Lang and colleagues of the University of Munich used quantitative sensory testing to identify changes in pain sensitivity with acupuncture in 24 healthy volunteers. After applying acupuncture to the leg, the researchers found that pain thresholds increased by up to 50 percent. Effects were noted in both the treated leg and the untreated (contralateral) leg. ]]>
Traditional Chinese medicine has incorporated into their healing arts for thousands of years. Acupuncture is the stimulation of areas of the body where penetration of the skin is done with thin needles to unblock qi or chi along the meridians or certain pathways to relieve stress and heal. Meridians are energy pathways or channels. These needles are then manipulated by the hands, laser or by electrical stimulations at certain points near these channels.
The idea behind is for the body to achieve a state of balance between two opposing forces, Yin and Yang. Yin is passive and Yang is aggressive energy. When the body is in a balanced state, which is when energy flows freely and unobstructed through the ‘meridians’ of the body, the body is free of illness and is calm. Imbalance causes illness and stress due to a blockage in the flow of vital energy. Acupuncture targets certain areas on the body that connects to meridians or pathways. There are between 14 and 20 meridians in the body depending on what practitioner one goes to or how badly one is ‘unbalanced’. Generally however, most state there are 12 main meridians and a number of minor ones. Of the 12, six are yin and six are yang.
Most people feel little or no pain with the insertion of needles. The needles are hair thin and metallic. Most feel either very calm or relaxed after treatment while others may feel energized. There are no known side affects and most states will regulate proper care of needles in that they only can be used once and are sterilized.
The meridians are related to an organ or function. The 12 main meridians are: lungs, small intestine, large intestine, bladder, pericardium, gallbladder, stomach, spleen, heart, kidney, the three heaters or san Jiao. San Jiao is not an organ, but more like an energy form and has the function to pretty much oversea things in our internal organs. Along with the 12 main meridians are eight channels or reservoirs to supply qi and blood to the 12 regular channels. The other eight channels are heavily related to the kidneys.
Among the meridians, there are more than 400 points where acupuncturist will apply the needles. Depending on the ailments and treatment, there could be more than 2000 points. These are generally named and numbered depending on which meridian it belongs to.
Acupuncture in some studies has been shown that treatment can stimulate the immune system and can affect circulation, stroke volume of the heart, blood pressure and the production of gastric acid. Hormones can be released, which helps the body respond to stress and injury.
One theory as to why works is the Gate Control Theory, which states that pain may pass through a number of gates along its path through the nervous system. Pain generally passes slowly as it travels, but others signals can be activated to go faster, which effectively crowds out the slower pain signals. Another theory is the electrical theory of pain, which are the body-generating tiny electrical impulses. Some studies have suggested there is a correlation between the channels and the electromagnetic fields in our bodies and when used with electrical stimulation, in can change the neurotransmitter chemicals.
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