Acupuncture            Back to Alternative Health   Home
Acupuncture is a comprehensive system of healing that originated in China about 2,500 years ago. It involves the insertion and manipulation of needles at specific points along the body to regulate the flow of Qi and restore the balance of Yin and Yang. In contrast with the pain and anxiety most of us associate with the needles used to draw blood or give injections, most people find acupuncture to be quite gentle and relaxing. Acupuncture needles (made of stainless-steel, silver or gold) are solid, smooth and very thin to minimize pain and injury to the tissue and blood vessels.

Acupuncture is practiced widely throughout the US, Europe and Asia by highly-skilled, certified or licensed professionals, often with excellent clinical results. It can be a safe and effective way to recover from an injury, illness or surgical procedure, build immunity, ease the stress of modern living
or simply maintain good health. Although it has been practiced for millennia, the physiological mechanisms of acupuncture are not yet fully understood. According to the National Institutes for Health (NIH), the insertion of acupuncture needles at certain points seems to send biochemical messages to the brain and spinal cord (the central nervous system). It is thought that the central nervous system then directs the body to raise or lower production of specific biochemicals, like endorphins (pain-killing chemicals in the brain). In this way, acupuncture changes the way 
we experience pain, and influences the body's self-healing and self-regulating abilities.  
Specific conditions that benefit from acupuncture treatment include (but are not limited to): post-operative and chemotherapy-related nausea and vomiting, post-operative dental pain, stroke rehabilitation, headache, menstrual cramps, tennis elbow, fibromyalgia, myofascial pain, osteoarthritis, low back pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, asthma and allergies, digestive disorders, insomnia, sciatica, fatigue, arthritis, high blood pressure, common colds and flu’s, psoriasis and eczema.
Acupuncture is an ancient system of healing developed over thousands of years as part of the traditional medicine of China, Japan and other Eastern countries.

The earliest records of acupuncture date back over 2,000 years and today there are over 3,000,000 practitioners worldwide. Although the majority of these practice in the East, over the last 50 years an increasing number of people in the West have trained to become acupuncturists.

The practice of acupuncture is thought to have begun with the discovery that the stimulation of specific areas on the skin affects the functioning of certain organs of the body. Moxibustion, the warming of acupuncture points through the use of smoldering herbs, is often used as a supplement and the needles may also be
stimulated using a small electric current.

History

Descriptions of acupuncture appear in Chinese medical texts dating back to about 90 B.C. Through close observation of the natural world, cultivation of martial arts, and simple trial and error, the ancient Chinese developed complex theories and formulas to diagnose and treat disease. These theories and formulas were recorded, studied, tested, and passed down from generation to generation. However, knowledge of acupuncture did not reach the West until descriptions of it were brought home by European traders. By the 1800s, acupuncture was practiced widely in Europe, most notably in France.

In 1971, during President Nixon's official visit to China, a member of the press corps,
James Reston, became ill with an appendicitis and had to have surgery. As part of his
care, he received acupuncture treatment and wrote about it for the New York Times.
Back home in the US, his report sparked an interest in acupuncture that has since
grown tremendously. By 1993, the FDA estimated that there were between 9 and 12
million patient visits to acupuncturists, and between 1992 and 2000 the number of
licensed acupuncturists tripled (from 5,525 to 14,228). In 1997, the National Institutes
for Health issued a Consensus Statement on Acupuncture to attempt to explain how
acupuncture works on a physiological level, offer and review evidence of its
effectiveness in treating specific conditions, and make recommendations for patients,
practitoners and researchers. Today 36 states license professional acupuncturists and
there are 27 acupuncture schools across the country. More than ever before, health
insurance companies are agreeing to pay for acupuncture treatment; serious scientific
research on acupuncture is being conducted; and acupuncture is becoming integrated
with Western medicine, allowing some acupuncturists to work in hospitals and clinics.

Referrals:

If you are in Massachusetts and you would like names and telephone numbers of healers in that area, please email me in the guest book and I will be delighted to get you connected with some really fine healers.

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