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Acupuncture As A Supplemental Therapy
2004:
Volume 1, Number
2
Dr. Patrick
Gentile
Dr. Gentile is
director of a domplementary
and alternative
medicine
program in Wilmington,
OH.
Acupuncture
is a Chinese system of healing that dates back
at least 3,000 years. In acupuncture, sterile
painless needles— as thin as a hair—are placed
in strategic spots on the body to help fight
pain and disease. The needles sit in place for
10 to 30 minutes while the patient lies
comfortably on a massage table. Many people find
the experience so relaxing they fall asleep
during treatment.
Traditional Chinese medicine tells us that
acupuncture works by directing the flow of qi
(pronounced chi) through the body. According to
ancient Chinese texts, disease arises when the
normal flow of qi is blocked by what we would
define today as stress, infection, poor diet,
and other lifestyle issues such as smoking. From
these and other factors, diseases such as high
blood pressure, heart disease, cancer,
emphysema, arthritis, and other common ailments
may arise. Acupuncture is said to benefit people
with these conditions by unblocking the flow of
the body’s natural energy, thus restoring
health.
Research suggests that acupuncture may exert its
healing effect by way of a network that runs
through the body but is independent of the
nervous or blood circulatory system.
Laboratories continue to study the exact
mechanisms through which acupuncture produces
its therapeutic results. Increasing interest has
focused on acupuncture for treating conditions
that have no known therapy.
Fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome,
irritable bowel syndrome, and
stress are among problems helped by acupuncture
treatments.
In a typical acupuncture session, the patient
lies down and is asked to relax. Then the
acupuncture needles are inserted at specific
points on the body. The location of the needles
and the number of needles used will vary
depending on the condition being treated. In
certain instances, such as low back pain, a mild
electrical current may be added to the treatment
to provide faster and more thorough healing.
Treatments such as acupuncture are intended to
provide a useful supplement to the therapies
being provided by the patient’s physician and
should not be viewed as a replacement for them.
Like all therapies, it may not benefit every
patient, but countless numbers of people have
been helped by acupuncture. Research is ongoing
to define acupuncture and expand its use as its
popularity continues to grow. |
