What is acupuncture?
Thousands of years ago in China (about 3000 BCE) a system of medicine was developed to help the body overcome disease and promote longevity. This system was based on careful observation of the human body and of the patterns of symptoms displayed when people suffered from illness.
These observations led to the discovery of certain points on the body that when pressed, relived some of these symptoms. The points were sometimes very far away from the area that was injured. For example, pressure applied a point on the wrist would relieve pain on the back of the head.
The points follow a predictable trajectory, like water flowing in a stream. These trajectories and called channels or meridians. There are twelve regular channels that flow from the tips of the fingers and toes, through the body to the chest or head.
At the knees and elbows this stream plunges deeper and affects the internal organs. The steam contains Qi, the vital force in all living things. Qi is invisible like electricity, but necessary for life. Modern research has yet to invent a device that measures this subtle energy, but its influence on the body is unmistakable.
The flow of these waterways is affected by nature: the wind, heat, cold, dryness and dampness. What food, drink. exercise and emotions also influence this energetic flow. Free flowing Qi helps our body function at an optimal level, but when the flow of energy gets stuck, we experience pain.
Modern acupuncturists have taken this way of thinking to a very sophisticated level. Hundreds of acupoints has been mapped out with precise detail to the body’s structural anatomy. An acupuncturist knows where these points are and how stimulating each point will affect the patient.
The tools of a modern acupuncturist vary, but when it comes to needles, these are single use filliform needles, hair thin, most often composed from stainless steel. These needles are sterilized, used once and safely disposed.
An acupuncturist has other tools available, such as moxibustion, the burning of the herb mugwort, to stimulate a point with warmth. Cupping, which uses gentle warmth and suction, brings metabolic waste out of muscle and to the surface of the skin where the body can more easily deal with it.
An acupuncturist can also use their hands. Shiatsu, a form of massage developed in Japan, follows the paths of the meridians to balance the flow of energy and can promote relaxation and relive pain.
Whatever the tool used, the patients body is reminded how to function at its most optimal level. The body yearns for balance, homeostasis, and acupuncture can help free blocked, painful areas, and encourage the free flow of energy, promoting the health of a patient’s physical and mental being.