What Is Acupuncture

Acupuncture is a form of medicinal therapy that falls within the ambit of the articulate system of healing called Oriental Medicine. The other therapies that come under this category are herbology, physical therapy, dietetics and special exercises. Acupuncture, in itself, is a complete medical system, but is very different from the other branches of the modern Western medicine. This therapy finds its origin in the principles and philosophies that are based on the Oriental thinking and Oriental medicine. Read on to explore more about acupuncture therapy, through this article.

Acupuncture Therapy

History

Most of the people would be surprised to know that Acupuncture is one of the oldest and most practiced medical therapies in the world. It is said to have been originated in China, over 2,000 years ago. However, many acupuncturists are of the opinion that this therapy is about 5,000 years old and was also popular in ancient Egypt. Whatever the truth may be, the modern world came to know about this therapy through James Reston, a New York Times reporter. He wrote extensively about how the medical practitioners in China used needles to ease his post-surgery pain, in 1971. This incident brought great popularity to acupuncture and renewed worldwide interest in this unique therapy of healing. Today, acupuncture is recognized in almost all the parts of the world.

Basic Premise

The objective of acupuncture therapy, like any other medical therapy, is to encourage health and lessen the pain and sufferings of people. However, the method by which this is done can give strange and inexplicable thoughts to the people who do not have an idea about it. Still, acupuncture has been time tested over thousands of years and continues to prove itself effective in the treatment of several kinds of diseases. The basic premise of this therapy is based on the principle of energy.

According to the acupuncturists, health and sickness are caused due to a problem in the energy balance, which acupuncture seeks to correct. The principle of vital energy, energetic balance and energetic imbalance is applied in the therapy. Just like allopathic doctors monitor the blood flowing through blood vessels and the signals traveling through your nerves, acupuncturists checks the course and dissemination of vital energy in your body within its pathways, known as meridians and channels.

Treatment

The treatment in acupuncture does not involve chemical or drugs. Rather, an acupuncturist influences your health and sickness, by stimulating certain parts of your body, along the ‘meridians’. Conventionally, these areas (better known as ‘acu-points’), were stimulated with slender pointed needles. However, in present times, several other forms of stimulation have been incorporated. Herbs, electricity, magnets and lasers are a few of the modern means of this therapy. Still, the basic aspect of acupuncture remains the same i.e. to navigate the ‘vital energy’ in a proper way, so that the required amount of energy reaches the right place, in requisite time duration. According to acupuncture, this navigation of energy helps the body to easily recover from the ailments.

Advantages And Disadvantages Of Acupuncture

More and more people, suffering from mild to chronic ailments, are now opting for the traditional Chinese medication technique - acupuncture. During this treatment, needles are inserted at strategic locations in the human body, to stimulate the nerves in the spinal cord. This facilitates the release of certain pain-reduction neurotransmitter, which ultimately relieves the pain. Although the treatment has a number of advantages, certain disadvantages are also related to it. To know all about the health benefits and risks of acupuncture, go through the following lines.

Health Benefits Of Acupuncture

Acupuncture provides relief to the patient from physical as well as mental ailments.
In an attempt to eliminate the root causes of a health problem, the treatment examines the entire human body and its relation to the environment.
Acupuncture is a natural substitute to medicine, because the treatment aims to reduce pain naturally.
The treatment helps remove toxins and helps fast healing, because it increases blood flow, when the needles are inserted into the strategic locations of the human body.
Since acupuncture works on the vital energy (Qi) points of the body, it restores and maintains the overall health.
Studies conducted by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) reveal that acupuncture has lower adverse effects on the human body, as compared to the prescribed medications and other medical procedures followed for treating similar conditions.
The treatment of acupuncture is suitable for all age groups, from children, adults to even senior citizens.
It is equally beneficial for people with low immunity.
It increases stamina, restores energy, regulates hormones and boosts the immune system of the body.
Acupuncture is a natural cure for a number of diseases including headache, back pain, insomnia, stress and fatigue. Apart from this, the treatment is effective in curing chronic diseases such as osteoarthritis, hearing loss, dental pain, asthma, diabetes, infertility, migraine, tennis elbow, allergies and hypertension.

Risks Of Acupuncture

Acupuncture is safe only when it is performed by a trained and licensed acupuncturist.
The needles for the treatment should be non-toxic and used only once. They should be properly labeled and sealed. The patient may suffer from various infectious diseases, if the needles are re-used or not sterile.
The effectiveness of acupuncture cannot be generalized. Its effect varies from person to person.
The patient can incur mild soreness in the acupunctured areas in his/her body, after the completion of the treatment.
Few complications have been reported due to the use of needles. If the needles are not inserted properly, it may lead to organ rupture or infection.
Improper placement of needle can lead to bleeding, swelling and painful sensation in the acupunctured areas of the body.
Acupuncture is not recommended for damaged body parts, such as broken bones.
The treatment is not recommended for people suffering from bleeding disorders and patients on blood thinners.
Although the treatment eliminates the root cause of a number of diseases, it is still not able to detect certain other diseases prevalent among people.

Side Effects Of Acupuncture

Acupuncture is basically a healing method, in which fine needles are inserted into certain specific points, also called trigger points, in the body. The insertion is mainly aimed at relieving the person of pain. Used mainly for therapeutic purposes, the healing technique has been known to offer many health benefits to patients. However, there have been instances though quite rare, of certain negative effects as well. Though not too serious, they might result in discomfort to the person being treated. In case you want to further explore the side effects that might result from acupuncture, go through the following lines.

Negative Effects Of Acupuncture

One of the main side effects of acupuncture, which many of the people experience, is a regular sensation of warmth, tenderness, and tingling in the treated body parts. This especially happens when the acupuncture needles touch the acupoint, also called the trigger point.
In very few cases, the acupuncture needles end up penetrating through the minute blood capillaries. In such a case, there are chances of mild bruising and bleeding, from the treatment.
While receiving the treatment, some of the patients might experience a temporary drop in blood pressure levels, i.e. suffer from low blood pressure, along with fatigue. In rare cases, the blood pressure might drop to the point that the patient ends up fainting also.
There have been very rare instances of the patients suffering from allergic reactions to the stainless steel needles used in acupuncture. However, this is quite uncommon and mainly experienced when the needles have not been sterilized properly.
The PENS or TENS treatment in acupuncture involves the use of electrical stimulation at various key trigger points. At times, this might result in the patient experiencing temporary tingling sensation or pins and needles sensation around the area treated.
The use of electro-stimulators in acupuncture might result in nerve damage, especially if the electricity is passed on for extended periods of time or is set at a high frequency. This side-effect is mostly seen in cases when the stimulators were not working well.
Many-a-times, herbs are used in acupuncture treatment. Because of the caffeine content therein or allergic reactions in patients that cannot tolerate certain herbs, the usage might result in insomnia. This is another one of the rare side effects of acupuncture.
The use of moxibustion technique in acupuncture might result in burns on the patient's skin. This mainly results in the cases where the herbs are burnt and held too close to the skin.
In the acupuncture treatments that involve cupping and guasha, there is a chance of blood drawing close to the skin surface. This, in turn, leads to bruising on the patient's skin.
Acupuncture involves putting pressure on the nerves of the patient. At times, this might result in the inflammation of the nerve. On the other hand, incorrect insertion of needles might result in perforation of some of the vital organs.