Acupuncture

A form of Chinese Medicine which uses the conductive power of metal needles, inserted at specific energy points within the body, to re-balance a person's energy flow and field.

Historical Background

Acupuncture has been around for thousands of years and is strongly connected with Taoist traditions. While science does not really understand why acupuncture works, its effectiveness has been repeatedly documented for treating a wide variety of ailments. Acupuncture works by using needles to stimulate the energy of very specific points of the body in order to rebalance the parts of the body associated with those points. Many people use acupuncture on a regular basis as a form of preventive medicine, as it aids in rebalancing. Due to this widely demonstrated efficacy, some insurance companies will even cover it, and people can submit it for flex spending as well.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Why would you use Acupuncture?

Acupuncture can be used to help treat just about any illness as well as being useful for general overall health.

2. What are the benefits of Acupuncture?

The benefits of acupuncture are that it tends to be a fairly balanced approach to treating illness, in that the practitioner will look at factors affecting the person on all levels, rather than focus specifically on the single visible point of illness. As much illness has many underlying factors, this approach tends to produce more lasting change.

3. What should you consider regarding Acupuncture?

What to consider is to check a practitioner's credentials and patient recommendations. Check whether the practitioner continues to attend workshops and/or conventions to keep learning and refining. Does the practitioner have any western medical training, such as nursing? This is not necessarily a deal breaker type of question, but it can be very good training for the practitioner to have if they are able to integrate the two together, especially when looking to treat a chronic illness.

References

1. Dillard, M.d., D.c., C.ac., James, and Terra Ziporyn, Ph.d. Alternative Medicine for Dummies. Foster City: IDG Books Worldwide, 1998.
2. Fleischman, Ph. D., Gary F. Acupuncture: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know. New York: Barrytown, Ltd., 1998.
3. Mole, Peter. Acupuncture: Energy Balancing for Body, Mind and Spirit. Shaftesbury: Element, 1992.