Tag Archives: acupuncture

Alternative Health

Acupuncture and Extreme Cases

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What are some extreme cases where acupuncture is useful? Let us talk about a few particularly interesting ones. The first is using acupuncture on a person in a coma. Many times people in comas only receive minimal care. When my father was in a long term care hospital, I often walked by two rooms where the occupants were in comas, one I knew had been that way for at least several months. After treating any conditions that the doctors were aware of, there was little else to do for these patients. The one that was there for months never had any visitors as far as I could see, and the hospital was maintaining him until at some time he might come out of his coma. The practice of acupuncture can help a person in a coma in the following ways: clear the physical senses, calm the spirit, clear the brain, strengthen the heart, and eliminate phlegm. Without getting too specific, these areas are regulated by different organs of the body and the energy from those organs, and insertion of needles at correct points will redirect that energy.

Depending on the patient, sometimes the needles might be twirled gently. Western medicine distinguishes comatose patients based on their originating symptom (brain tumor, car accident, etc), but the practice of acupuncture groups the patients by their set of common symptoms. The use of acupuncture for these patients will improve their overall well being, and in some cases the patients revive after a time, though it is not possible medically to determine why they revive.

A second use of acupuncture is for someone that is prone to simple fainting. As a caution, a physician should determine if the cause is serious heart trouble. If not, there are standard acupuncture regimes which will regulate energy to allow the blood to freely recirculate through the entire body, including the head. It is also interesting to note that a number of times this physical symptom can be accompanied by a social problem such as overwork, or an emotional problem such as internally rebelling from a situation that the patient wanted to be released from. Acupuncture can restore harmony to both the physical and emotional components of the patient.

Another application of acupuncture is for patients in emergency situations. It would be best to have an actual acupuncture practitioner at the scene, but anyone can use these simple techniques. If someone has lost consciousness, apply a strong pressure with your fingernail in the groove between the nose and mouth, about one third of the way down from the nose. This is a simple acupuncture point that may well awaken the patient. Chest-related emergencies can be helped with the acupuncture point on the underside of the forearm, between the two tendons, and about two thumb widths back from the last wrist crease. This may help for people experiencing palpitations, hiccups, stomach pain, and lung problems. Press firmly.

These just list a few unusual applications where acupuncture would be useful. There are also acupuncture regimens for people that have gone into shock, a drowning victim that is now breathing but still unconscious, acupuncture support for patients with broken limbs, etc. I hope this has expanded your view on many additional uses for acupuncture.

Alternative Health

Acupuncture and Electricity

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Acupuncture has been shown to have great success in treating pain, stress, and a number of diseases. Acupuncture has a number of different techniques, and one of them is to apply a very low-level electric charge to the needle. This particular technique is creating interest in a field that was started in America in the 1930s and 1940s, but lost support soon afterward. This field is how to use low levels of electricity as a tool for medical therapy.

The initial discovery of acupuncture points on the body was by centuries of observation of the tender spots on the skin when a patient had certain symptoms. These acupuncture points can now be discovered and duplicated by scientists. They can find these same acupuncture points (given in any standard diagram) by using electrical apparatus. Scientists can also use infrared photography to find the temperature differences between these acupuncture points and the surrounding skin. So the acupuncture points have a different electrical behavior than the surrounding cells when the patient suffers from the associated symptom.

Several claims for acupuncture seem to get some support from other research using electricity. One scientist, Becker, has had tissue regrown by animals when he applied a low-level electric current to the site of the tissue. Even heart tissue has been restored without any scarring. Low level electric pulses have also been used to make bone fractures heal significantly faster than fractures left to heal on their own.

How do these two previous experience relate to the fundamentals of acupuncture? The basis of acupuncture is the correct distribution and flow of energy throughout the body. When energy is depleted, regrowth and stimulation and vitality do not occur. An acupuncture treatment restores the energy needed to a specific area. This research (especially the bone research) supports the claim that acupuncture sessions are of significant benefit for those with broken arms or other broken bones in the feet, ankles, and wrists, or other locations. Acupuncture has been known as an effective treatment for patients with heart palpitations, and the EKG results scientifically support that claim. Patients that are attached to an EKG machine and undergo an acupuncture treatment show a difference in the structure of the heartbeat, which is controlled by electric impulses from the nerves.

When an acupuncture needle is inserted into the skin, there is an electrical activity at that point, since the cells at that point are disturbed, and cells by their structure have various electrical charges within them. This is also shown by such techniques as Kirlian photography, where the photograph after a needle is inserted has a very different energy shape than before the needle insertion.

This exploration of the interaction between electricity and acupuncture has come back to expand the techniques used in acupuncture. The most basic technique for an acupuncture treatment is to use needles inserted into the skin of the patient. The location of the insertion, its depth and technique, bring about the results from the treatment. An additional technique is the application of heat, or moxa, which we will not go into. A third addition may be the use of herbs, either at the point of insertion, or given to the patient separately. A technique directly related to the above research, and also harkening back to the experiments of the 1930s and 1940s, is to affect the acupuncture points by a low voltage electric current. This is used in place of the needle. All these results and new ideas make research in acupuncture an exciting field to be working in and reading about.

Alternative Health, Wellness Programs

Acupuncture and Drug Abuse

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Acupuncture is a bright light on the road to recovery for many drug addicts and alcoholics. As an addict is recovering, the physical and psychological urge to get another fix or get another drink can be overwhelming. If the addict can get past that feeling, there is more hope for another successful day on the road to recovery. Currently there are a number of chemicals to help reduce that feeling, such as the nicotine patches to help people stop smoking. However, a major advantage of using acupuncture is that it uses no chemicals in the treatment, can be used for a number of different addictions, and is quite inexpensive compared to a number of other treatments.

Let’s take a look into a clinic that uses acupuncture to treat recovering addicts. Before the clinic used acupuncture, it was somewhat loud and not a pleasant place to be. The treatment room holds dozens of clients at the same time, each sitting in a chair. Each person sits with five long needles dangling from each ear. Depending on the person, a few also have some acupuncture needles in their hands, arms, or feet. When the time comes to remove the needles, some are removed by one of the acupuncture practitioners, or an assistant, or some clients remove their own needles at the appropriate time. Needles are left in the patient for an average of about forty-five minutes. The chairs are arranged so that the clients can see and talk to each other if they wish. This helps when they share experiences, and helps if some of the new clients are nervous about the use of acupuncture. The room, though it holds a number of often troubled patients, is generally quite calm and peaceful.

What advantage is there in using acupuncture for a recovering addict? Most of the addicts describe a release of that feeling that insists they must find a fix or must find a drink. The patient describes it as the feeling when you get home after a long day and take off your shoes. The effect of the treatment lasts for about a day, and so newly recovering addicts are scheduled for daily treatments. People such as dry alcoholics can come by on a periodic basis, or when they feel they need another acupuncture treatment. Many dry alcoholics are fine as long as their daily life is not stressful, but if a family problem arises at home or at work, the familiar feeling becomes strong once again. At those times an acupuncture clinic is a great help, for it affects an actual physical change in the person.

Many detox clinics that use acupuncture in its regimen incorporate it into an overall program, where the acupuncture treatments are the first steps that a patient takes. A typical clinic will schedule a new patient for daily acupuncture sessions, and at each session take a sample to ensure the patient has not used drugs during the past day. After 10 “clean” days, the patient is considered in sufficient shape to start additional therapy, such as a twelve step program. Acupuncture treatments continue during this time. If a patient has a relapse, the patient just starts all over again with the ten day acupuncture treatment.

Using acupuncture in recovery programs has definite advantages, both economically and in support of physical and mental health for the recovering addicts. It is just another example where the use of acupuncture incorporates healing in all areas: physical, mental, and emotional.

Alternative Health

Acupuncture and Children

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As parents, we all want our children to be happy and healthy. Consider the idea that acupuncture might be a wonderful way to treat your child’s health. Acupuncture can be good preventative treatment, as well as a technique to cure various symptoms. In China, some acupuncture professionals in China are paid only as long as their clients remain healthy!

Your first question might be if any children are actually acupuncture clients? Sure! Nearly all children find acupuncture treatments very easy, even enjoyable. Especially the younger ones, for acupuncture needles are not painful, and younger children don’t have our “a needle is painful” association that adults do. Children also seem to be more aware of their bodies than adults, and can feel themselves feeling better quite quickly. Also, the improvement in energy and vitality is often so clear with children.

Are there differences for acupuncture treatment with children? The general treatment is similar, determining the locations and times to insert needles in order to effect the treatment. (Needles are inserted to different depths depending on the treatment, anything from just under the skin up to a maximum of a few inches. Even so, the needle insertion does not hurt. Sometimes an insertion can be described as a “slight pinch”, but once the needle is in, it isn’t felt at all unless it is moved.) The number of needles and the number of treatments for children is generally less, for their very active bodies respond quickly to less stimulation. Because of this, acupuncture treatments for children often bring noticeable results very quickly.

Another good reason to visit an acupuncture clinic with your child is that the diagnosis uses a number of different aspects: physical symptoms, observed physical signs such as the pulse and condition of the tongue, behavioral symptoms such as anger, aggression, depression, an even external physical conditions and the time of year. A goal of acupuncture is to bring the whole person into harmony: physically, emotionally, mentally, and socially. This attention to the child as a whole is of great benefit, both to the child and to your whole family.

You can bring your child in for an acupuncture visit to maintain their health, for a physical symptom, or for a behavioral problem. One common problem that frequently responds quite well to several acupuncture visits is the problem of bed-wetting. Some children have the problem disappear after one acupuncture visit; others may require a few more visits. Interestingly, most parents are aware that the child has negative emotions, and assume that of course it stems from having wet the bed. However, a number of parents report that, after thinking on it, that actually sadness or other emotion preceded the bedwetting by several weeks. This is not always true, but there is often a connection other than the assumed “wet the bed then feel bad” connection.

Something that you may want to discuss with your acupuncture practitioner is child vaccinations. As time goes on, more vaccines seem to become available for a wider range of diseases, as the recent popularity of the chicken pox vaccine. Most acupuncture practitioners have a list of vaccines they still strongly recommend, such as the vaccine against polio. It is worthwhile to discuss the various vaccines with your acupuncture practitioner.So, please consider an acupuncture practitioner as a wonderful health specialist for your child.