Chinese remedy offer relief for suffers of pain
For back pain and a variety of other physical and emotional problems, acupuncture may be a source of relief and provide a cure.
According to Acupuncture Today, acupuncture is one of the oldest, most commonly used systems of healing in the world. It originated in China about 3,500 years ago and has become popular in the United States in the last 30 years. In 1993, the Food and Drug Administration estimated that Americans made nearly 12 million visits per year to acupuncture practitioners and spent approximately $.5 billion on acupuncture treatments.
Karen Wolfe, doctor of acupuncture, said, “Acupuncture literally means needle piercing. It is the practice of inserting very fine needles into the skin to stimulate specific points. This stimulation balances the movement of energy in the body.”
Morgan Carlson, doctor of chiropractics and acupuncture, said humans are all electrical beings and are affected by many energy fields.
“A physical injury often decreases the energy in the body,” he said. “Placing an acupuncture needle in a certain place, is like jump-starting a battery in your car. [The needle] acts as a small antenna and energizes the body cell by cell – the sun, earth, gravity and everything around has energy.”
Wolfe said, “The most common use of acupuncture is to treat muscle and joint pain. The technique is often applied for arthritis, back pain, sports injuries and other similar problems.”
Carlson said, “Acupuncture can virtually treat almost anything from chest pain to allergies, to colds, to morning sickness.”
Traditional Chinese medicine states that there are as many as 2,000 acupuncture points on the human body which are connected by 20 pathways called meridians. These meridians conduct energy, or qi (pronounced “chi”), between the surface of the body and its internal organs according to Accupuncture Today.
Carlson said, “For back pain, we use mostly the bladder and gall bladder meridian because it runs up and down the back.
“[Acupuncture] is very successful,” he said. “Some patients come in and are treated once and get well. For most, though, it takes a series of treatments. It’s like exercise, you can’t expect to build your bicep by working out once.”
Wolfe said, “Very fine, sterile, stainless-steel needles are inserted into the skin at the relevant points. Because the needles are so thin, they do not cause any bleeding. A person may feel a pinprick sensation followed by a tingling or numbness when the needles are inserted. The amount of sensation will depend on the point being treated and the depth to which the needle is inserted. Needles can be inserted and removed in seconds. They can also be left in place for up to a half hour.”
Recently, new techniques have been introduced to aid acupuncture, such as small electrical currents, infrared laser beams, burning of herbs to warm and stimulate energy and ultrasound waves, Wolfe said.
Carlson said he uses acupuncture along with other techniques including exercise, massage, manipulation and physical therapy to aid a patient.
“[Acupuncture] is for everybody,” he said. “Younger people seem to respond to it more quickly but older need it more. It adds energy to the body.”
“Bleeding is very rare because the needles are very fine,” Wolfe said. “It is common for a person to feel a little worse before feeling better. This is because acupuncture brings physical, mental and emotional issues to the surface. Any indication of infection at the sites where the needles were inserted should be reported to the practitioner.”
According to Acupuncture Today, several theories have been presented as to exactly how acupuncture works. One theory suggests that pain impulses are blocked from reaching the spinal cord or brain at various “gates” to these areas. Since a majority of acupuncture points are either connected to or are located near neural structures, this suggests that acupuncture stimulates the nervous system. Another theory suggests that acupuncture stimulates the body to produce narcotic-like substances called endorphins, which reduce pain. Other studies have found that other pain-relieving substances called opiods may be released into the body during acupuncture treatments.
In 1997, a consensus statement released by the National Institutes of Health found that acupuncture could be useful by itself or in combination with other therapies to treat addiction, headaches, menstrual cramps, tennis elbow, fibromyalgia, myofascial pain, osteoarthritis, lower back pain, carpal tunnel syndrome and asthma.