Acupuncture - Getting to the Point
Historically the Chinese and other Eastern cultures have observed that good health is about maintaining the physical, mental and emotional balance within the body as a whole. It is therefore not necessarily just the area affected by specific pain or disease which is treated.
Chinese medicine treats the source of the condition, following the principle that it's easier to direct the flow of a river closer to its source than its estuary. Treatment with acupuncture can redirect and channel the body's natural response mechanisms and this often leads to a more permanent resolution to the problem than in other medical cultures.
Acupuncture in the Far East and China, is tried and tested and has been used successfully for thousands of years. However, in the West there is an increasing amount of scientific research into its uses, but, there is very little data that conforms to the Western medical gold standard of double-blind random controlled trials. Therefore its efficacy must still be considered unknown and all reference to research made within the paragraphs below need to be seen in this context.
Belief in its effectiveness is founded in the concept that our health is dependent on the body's motivating energy and that this moves in a smooth and balanced way through a series of connected channels under the skin. This energy is known as qi (chee).The flow of qi can be disturbed by a number of factors - these include poor nutrition, infections, trauma, hereditary factors and emotional factors; such as anxiety, stress and grief. When your qi is unbalanced poor health often results.
Acupuncture involves the insertion of ultra fine disposable needles at chosen points along the channels of energy. It aims to stimulate the body's own natural healing response to restore vitality and balance.
Many people use acupuncture to help with:
Stress
Back Pain
Fertility - male and female
Asthma
Pregnancy related illness - nausea and vomiting
Migraine
Parkinsons Disease
Dental Pain
Others choose acupuncture as a preventative medicine to strenghten the immune system or because they feel generally unwell. Acupuncture is considered suitable for all ages and its use alongside conventional medicine is encouraged.
