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Acupuncture origins...

Acupuncture, and Traditional Chinese Medicine in general, are rooted in Taoist philosophy. Although acupuncture practice dates from much earlier, with evidence of stone and later of bronze, silver and gold needles having been used, the earliest known medical acupuncture text is Huang Di Nei Jing (The Yellow Emperor Classic of Internal Medicine), dated around 300 BC. Acupuncture practice gradually evolved and was refined over the centuries, however that text still provides the theoretical foundation for modern practise. In China today acupuncture is routinely used in hospitals alongside Western medicine to treat both acute and chronic cases, and is subject to a national policy of extensive clinical research.

Acupuncture

Acupuncture

Acupuncture as a system of medicine...

Acupuncture, along with Chinese herbal medicine, and Chinese massage and exercise, is one of the components of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), a complete system of medicine with a recorded history of over 2000 years. Traditional Chinese Medicine fundamentally differs from Western medicine in its understanding of the human body and its approach to diagnosing and treating illnesses. Western medicine takes a mechanistic view of the body in which different organs are viewed as each performing an individual and self-contained function, much like the separate components within a machine, and consequently its treatments target individual symptoms largely in isolation. By contrast, Traditional Chinese Medicine views the body as an integrated system, and diseases as manifestations of imbalances within that system. Therefore Traditional Chinese Medicine treatments aim primarily at restoring and maintaining balance and harmony within the body.

Diagnosis of Acupuncture

Diagnosis of Acupuncture

Diagnosis

Since the basic principle of acupuncture is to restore and maintain the balance of the entire organism, diagnosis has to account for the condition of the whole person rather than just rely on information about specific individual symptoms.

The first step in assessing your overall condition involves taking your "case". This is generally done by means of an extensive interview, and for this reason the first consultation may take longer than subsequent sessions. The acupuncture practitioner will ask you questions relating not only to your present symptoms and any previous or current treatment, but also about your medical history, your diet, appetite, sleep patterns, stress and emotional state. Both what is said and how it is said are important in developing a proper understanding of the whole person. The acupuncturist will then examine your tongue and take your pulse. Pulse taking is very different from the taking of the arterial pulse by a Western doctor. Pulses are felt in both wrists, and their quality, rhythm and strength are all significant as they help assess the flow of energy within your body. Tongue examination is visual and is also an important diagnostic tool. The structure, colour and coating of different areas of your tongue provide an in-depth insight into your physical health.

Treatment...

Acupuncture works on the principle that stimulation of specific areas, or acupuncture points, on or beneath the skin affects the functioning of specific organs. There are several hundreds acupuncture points on the body, and their location may not be close to that of the organs they affect. Typically four to six different points may be used in one treatment session. During a course of treatment different points may be used in different sessions as your condition changes. Acupuncture needles are fine and solid, rather than hollow like those used for injections or blood tests, to which they bear little resemblance. When a needle is inserted you may feel a tingling or dull ache sensation. Depending on the required effect, needles can be inserted and withdrawn immediately, or may be left in place for about twenty minutes. It is not uncommon to experience a pleasant feeling of relaxation during treatment. The duration of a course of treatment varies depending on the individual and the conditions being treated. The frequency of treatment sessions also varies, and may change within the same treatment course, often with more frequent sessions in the early stages.

Facial acupuncture

Facial acupuncture
Facial acupuncture, the "newest" trend in anti-aging facial treatments, promises youthful skin without the scalpel.When it comes to improving your appearance in the 21st century, the general belief is the newer the technique, the better. Whether it's the latest science in skin care or the most cutting-edge cosmetic procedure, if it's new and improved, we think it will improve us too. Not everyone accepts the theory. A growing number of people are turning to the ancient technique of facial acupuncture.

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Traditional theory of chinese medicine

Traditional theory
Traditional Chinese medicine
Main article: Traditional Chinese medicine
Chinese medicine is based on a pre-scientific paradigm of medicine that developed over several thousand years. Its theory holds the following explanation of acupuncture:
Health is a condition of balance of yin and yang within the body. Particularly important in acupuncture is the free flow of Qi, a difficult-to-translate concept that pervades Chinese philosophy and is commonly translated as "vital energy"). Qi is immaterial and hence yang; its yin, material counterpart is Blood (capitalized to distinguish it from physiological blood, and very roughly equivalent to it). Acupuncture treatment regulates the flow of Qi and Blood, tonifying where there is deficiency, draining where there is excess, and promoting free flow where there is stagnation. An axiom of the medical literature of acupuncture is "no pain, no blockage; no blockage, no pain."
Many patients claim to experience the sensations of stimulus known in Chinese as de qi ("obtaining the Qi" or "arrival of the Qi"). This kind of sensation was historically considered to be evidence of effectively locating the desired point. (There are some electronic devices now available which will make a noise when what they have been programmed to describe as the "correct" acupuncture point is pressed).
TCM treats the human body as a whole that involves several "systems of function" generally named after anatomical organs but not directly associated with them. The Chinese term for these systems is Zang Fu, where zang is translated as "viscera" or solid organs and fu is translated as "bowels" or hollow organs. In order to distinguish systems of function from physical organs, Zang Fu are capitalized in English, thus Lung, Heart, Kidney, etc. Disease is understood as a loss of balance of Yin, Yang, Qi and Blood (which bears some resemblance to homeostasis). Treatment of disease is attempted by modifying the activity of one or more systems of function through the activity of needles, pressure, heat, etc. on sensitive parts of the body of small volume traditionally called "acupuncture points" in English, or "xue" (穴, cavities) in Chinese. This is referred to in TCM as treating "patterns of disharmo
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