What is acupuncture?
Acupuncture is one of the oldest, most commonly used medical procedures in the world. Originating in China more than 5,000 years ago, acupuncture began to become better known in the United States in 1971, when New York Times reporter James Reston wrote about how doctors in China used needles to ease his pain after surgery. President Richard Nixon promoted the integration of acupuncture and Chinese medicine upon returning from a trip to China in 1972. He wanted his fellow americans to enjoy the obvious health benefits offered by acupuncture.
The term acupuncture describes a family of procedures involving stimulation of anatomical points on the body by a variety of techniques. American practices of acupuncture incorporate medical traditions from China, Japan, Korea, and other countries. Manipulated by the hands or by electrical stimulation. Acupuncture uses fine disposable stainless-steel needles that are inserted into specific points of the skin and manipulated by the hands or by electrical stimulation. These points serve as gates to access an invisible network of channels (meridians) that carry a vital energy called Qi (pronounced chee). When this vital energy flows unobstructed it nourishes and regulates the body. However, when Qi becomes blocked or impaired due to trauma, poor diet, excessive emotional stress or other pathological factors, the individual experiences pain, illness or reduced immunity. The correct use of acupuncture can restore the normal flow of Qi, thus helping the body to heal itself.
Most of the work on the scientific validation of acupuncture has concentrated on the analgesic properties of acupuncture.There are naturally occurring chemicals such as endorphins and enkephalins that act as natural pain modulators and have been shown to change and increase with acupuncture. More recent validation with MRI, PET, and MEG scans have detected the effects of acupuncture on neural correlates, suggesting acupuncture's effects are greater than mere analgesia.
Auricular therapy is based on the micro-acupuncture system of the ear. It can also be applied needle-free with ear seeds, ear pellets or electrical stimulation.
According to the principles of auricular therapy, each area of the ear corresponds to a different anatomical portion of the body. A large number of sites have been identified on the ear which become spontaneously tender or otherwise react to the presence of disease or injury elsewhere in the body. These sites are reportedly consistent from one individual to the next. Stimulation of these ear points in time exerts certain therapeutic effects on those parts of the body with which they are associated.
As a comprehensive system of diagnosis and treatment, ear reflexology is of recent origin. A French physician by the name of Nogier, writing in a German acupuncture periodical in 1957, first drew serious attention to the correspondences between specific sites on the ear and other parts of the body. After years of careful observation relating points of tenderness, morphological and coloration changes on the ear to disease elsewhere in the body, more than 200 sites were charted on the auricle (ear) by Chinese medical workers. Ear reflexology is not only effective in the treatment of a wide range of common diseases, it can also be used with good results in the treatment of difficult emotional states.
Acupuncture