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Acupuncture: Difference between revisions
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== Traditional Method == | == Traditional Method == | ||
How Acupuncture Works | |||
The ancient Chinese believed that there is a universal life energy, called Chi, present in all things ranging from infinitely tiny molecules to living breathing human beings. | |||
This Chi is said to circulate throughout the body along specific pathways or meridians. As long as this energy flows freely throughout the meridians, health is maintained, but once the flow of energy is blocked, the homeostatic system is disrupted resulting in pain or illness. | |||
Visualize if you will, rivers that flood and cause disasters or an electrical grid short-circuiting that causes blackouts etc. This is what happens to our somatic and spiritual landscapes when our Chi is not flowing harmoniously. The insertion of needles into specific points on these “channels” allows for the manipulation and harmonization of ones Chi, which results in improved health, and thus, increased fertility.[http://www.acupuncture.com/newsletters/m_oct09/acupuncture%20fertility.htm] | |||
TCM is based on a pre-scientific paradigm of medicine that developed over several thousand years and involves concepts that have no counterpart within contemporary medicine.[10] In TCM, the body is treated as a whole that is comprised of several "systems of function" known as the zang-fu (脏腑). These systems are named after specific organs, though the systems and organs are not directly associated. The zang systems are associated with the solid, yin organs such as the liver while the fu systems are associated with the hollow yang organs such as the intestines. Health is explained as a state of balance between the yin and yang, with disease ascribed to either of these forces being unbalanced, blocked or stagnant. The yang force is the immaterial qi, a concept that is roughly translated as "vital energy". The yin counterpart is Blood, which is linked to but not identical with physical blood, and capitalized to distinguish the two. TCM uses a variety of interventions, including pressure, heat and acupuncture applied to the body's acupuncture points (in Chinese 穴 or xue meaning "cavities") to modify the activity of the zang-fu. | TCM is based on a pre-scientific paradigm of medicine that developed over several thousand years and involves concepts that have no counterpart within contemporary medicine.[10] In TCM, the body is treated as a whole that is comprised of several "systems of function" known as the zang-fu (脏腑). These systems are named after specific organs, though the systems and organs are not directly associated. The zang systems are associated with the solid, yin organs such as the liver while the fu systems are associated with the hollow yang organs such as the intestines. Health is explained as a state of balance between the yin and yang, with disease ascribed to either of these forces being unbalanced, blocked or stagnant. The yang force is the immaterial qi, a concept that is roughly translated as "vital energy". The yin counterpart is Blood, which is linked to but not identical with physical blood, and capitalized to distinguish the two. TCM uses a variety of interventions, including pressure, heat and acupuncture applied to the body's acupuncture points (in Chinese 穴 or xue meaning "cavities") to modify the activity of the zang-fu. | ||
[edit] Acupuncture points and meridians | [edit] Acupuncture points and meridians | ||
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At least one study found that acupuncture "seems to alleviate pain just barely better than sticking needles into nonspecified parts of the body"[46] and concluded that some of acupuncture's effects may be due to the placebo effect. | At least one study found that acupuncture "seems to alleviate pain just barely better than sticking needles into nonspecified parts of the body"[46] and concluded that some of acupuncture's effects may be due to the placebo effect. | ||
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acupuncture] | [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acupuncture] | ||
== Modern Method == | == Modern Method == | ||
Most modern acupuncturists use disposable stainless steel needles of fine diameter (0.007 to 0.020 in (0.18 to 0.51 mm)), sterilized with ethylene oxide or by autoclave. These needles are far smaller in diameter (and therefore less painful) than hypodermic injection needles since they do not have to be hollow for purposes of injection. The upper third of these needles is wound with a thicker wire (typically bronze), or covered in plastic, to stiffen the needle and provide a handle for the acupuncturist to grasp while inserting. The size and type of needle used, and the depth of insertion, depend on the acupuncture style being practiced. | Most modern acupuncturists use disposable stainless steel needles of fine diameter (0.007 to 0.020 in (0.18 to 0.51 mm)), sterilized with ethylene oxide or by autoclave. These needles are far smaller in diameter (and therefore less painful) than hypodermic injection needles since they do not have to be hollow for purposes of injection. The upper third of these needles is wound with a thicker wire (typically bronze), or covered in plastic, to stiffen the needle and provide a handle for the acupuncturist to grasp while inserting. The size and type of needle used, and the depth of insertion, depend on the acupuncture style being practiced. | ||
