An Overview of Acupuncture
Acupuncture is the Chinese tradition for health and healing that has been in use in China and for thousands of years. This eastern wisdom has also become popular as an alternative or complimentary medication to western medicine. Acupuncture near one’s locality is a part of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), and not an individual system of medicine. In the process of acupuncture, fine needles are inserted on particular pressure point on the skin to maintain the flow of “Qi” in the body. The pressure points are referred as meridians and there are 12 main meridians in the human body, coupled into 6 pairs. Each pair consist of 1 Yin meridian and 1 Yang meridian that are interconnected through a vessel. Pressure points play an important role in maintaining the flow of “Qi” though the body. In addition to the traditional acupuncture some of the non-traditional forms also exist such as homoeopuncture, electro-acupuncture, point-injection therapy, bleeding technique, auto-immunization therapy, catgut embedding therapy, and scalp acupuncture. Though, these are not as prevalent as the traditional practice using the needles.
The philosophy
Yin and Yang is the fundamental belief of the Chinese philosophy of life. The five elements; water, wood, fire, earth and metal are present in the human body and, Yin and Yang is responsible for maintaining the correct proportion of each one of them. This correct proportion brings the harmonious equilibrium or balanced flow of “Qi” in the human body for complete wellness. The five elements are believed to be associated to body organs or systems as follows;
‘Water’ is present in body in the form of fluids; blood, lymph, mucus, semen and fats. Imbalance of these fluids affects the kidney and the urinary bladder. The ‘Wood’ energy in the body is responsible for digestion, heartbeats, respiration, and metabolism. Imbalance in this causes the malfunctioning of liver and the gall-bladder. The energy of ‘Fire’ influences the working of circulatory system and the power of speech. The imbalance in this energy affects the functioning of heart and small intestine. The energy of the ‘Earth’ element is for mental stability and feeling of contentment. Stomach and spleen are most affected by the imbalance of this energy. The energy from the ‘Metal’ element is responsible for working of the lungs and the large intestine, and its imbalance in the body affects the lungs and the large intestine.
Therefore, acupuncture near one’s locality basically finds out which element has disturbed the energy equilibrium in the body to identify the affected system. This analysis then decides which pressure point must be treated to balance the energy flow.
The diagnosis
Unlike western medicine system, acupuncture considers the whole system instead of focusing on one problem only. History of the patient is important to understand which system of the body has affected the wellness in past and what effects it has today. History of the patient also tries to understand the symptoms and conditions that might have been inherited in the person. The practitioner asks questions about current lifestyle, eating habits and general physical, mental, and emotional health. This helps in identifying the system with imbalanced energy flow. This way of diagnosis may sometimes take time but it proves helpful for deeper and long lasting heath.
Chinese medicine believes there are 28 characters of blood flow. Practitioners often check this flow through pulse reading. They use the three fingers of their each hand to check the points on the patient’s wrist. These points on the wrists are believed to be related various systems in the body. The left wrist relate to the functioning of heart, liver and kidney, while the right hand wrist relates to the functioning of lungs, spleen and kidney.
The benefits
Acupuncture near me area has many benefits but one of the important benefits is that it does not have side effects and can help in number of health conditions such as respiratory issues, back pain, stress, anxiety, depression, migraine, digestive disorders, gastrointestinal issues and more. It also helps people with addition of drugs or alcohol.