What is acupuncture and its therapeutic benefits?

ABONE OL

News

November 18, 2020 11:46

BEĞENDİM

ABONE OL

News

Acupuncture is a therapeutic technique used in Traditional Chinese medicine for over thousands of years. The first description including diagnosis and treatment using acupuncture needles was recorded in The Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Internal Medicine in 300 BC in China.

Dr Hanife Mehmet (Melbourne)

Acupuncture involves the insertion of very fine stainless-steel needles into specific areas on the skin, fascia and muscle tissue by an acupuncturist to help relieve pain and a variety of other different symptoms. This causes the stimulation of body walls such as skin and muscle which has a therapeutic effect. So, you’re probably thinking how does acupuncture have this effect? You can think of your body as a city which consists of big roads, small roads, highways and laneways. If there is no problems the traffic flows smoothly through the roads, however; if there is a problem such as a broken down car there will be a traffic jam interrupting the smooth flow of the traffic in these roads, and if the problem is not fixed the traffic jam will become worse. With this concept in mind, think about meridians in the body, these meridians have energy flow or Qi flow and if you have a problem for example you hurt your shoulder or your back this will cause the local muscle/s to become tight. What then happens is that this tightness interrupts the energy flow or Qi flow and therefore, to restore the energy or Qi flow needle/s is inserted into the local area to fix the problem such as the broken car and to help with the traffic flow.

Acupuncture

According to research acupuncture has shown to activate neurohormonal pathways and stimulate biochemical processes in the body; it has also shown to stimulate specific nerves in the body activating the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system. For example, acupuncture stimulation causes the release of hormones such as endorphins, serotonin, enkephalins, and γ-aminobutyric acid, norepinephrine and dopamine. In addition, acupuncture has shown to have a variety of therapeutic benefits for physical, neurological, mental and emotional conditions. It has been commonly used for conditions such as:

acute and chronic pain
respiratory disorders
gastro-intestinal disorders
insomnia
anxiety and depression
menstrual irregularities
infertility

Traditional Chinese medicine involves a holistic approach in which each person is treated as an individual. Before being treated with acupuncture the registered Chinese medicine practitioner will take a comprehensive case history in which the most appropriate acupuncture points will be selected for your condition. Acupuncture does not hurt and causes a tingling sensation when inserted into the skin which gradually fades away. Once the needles are inserted, they are usually kept in place for 25 to 40 minutes, but this varies according to each individual and the condition that they present with. So, what have you learnt about acupuncture and its therapeutic benefits?