According to Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), illness and disease are caused by imbalances or breaks in the flow of life force throughout the body. To restore its harmonious flow and health, this "qi" or life force is manipulated by the inserting fine needles into acupuncture points throughout the body. These acupuncture points are primary to the practice of acupuncture by licensed acupuncturists, and according to Traditional Chinese Medicine, there are dozens of them all over the human body.
In all, there are over 360 acupuncture points which can be used for stimulation. When fine needles are inserted into these points, the flow of energy through those points can be either interrupted or strengthened. By directing this energy, many health problems can be healed or improved. Tender acupuncture points may indicate area of abnormal energy flow.
If, like most people, you have a fear of needles, you've probably avoided acupuncture as a healing modality. You'll be glad to know, however, that the needles used in acupuncture are so fine that they are painless in the vast majority of cases. And since they are only inserted millimeters deep, they do not draw blood. Licensed acupuncturists have hundreds of hours of training, making them quite adept at making acupuncture sessions as pain-free as possible. When a needle's insertion is felt in rare instances, the sensation is so mild that it resembles only a minor bite from an insect such as a mosquito. So fear not; acupuncture is not a masochistic exercise but a health-producing one.
Western science is still attempting to identify meridians using Western tools. The difficulty for Western scientists in this task lies in the fact that the meridians don't directly correspond to nerve or blood pathways. Some researchers have hypothesized that the meridians are actually located throughout the body's connective tissue.
Western scientists are also attempting to put together the mechanism by which acupuncture points affect the body. New data is suggesting that acupuncture points are actually specialized conductors of the body's biological electromagnetic signals. For example, the flow of a pain signal from a body part to the spinal cord and eventually to the brain are controlled by what Western science posits are "gates" throughout the central nervous system. Like streets and alleys, the body's nerve pathways can handle a limited amount of information or flow through its pathways.
To continue with the streets and alleys metaphor, some signals are given a higher clearance than normal signals such as pain. These higher priority/clearance are like emergency vehicles - ambulances, police cars, fire trucks - which supersede the slower, lower priority signals in their quest to reach the brain. These super signals may even bump the slower signals off the road altogether, preventing them from ever reaching the brain. Acupuncture may generate these priority signals, which crowd out pain signals because of the limited throughput of the nerves. The acupuncture signals may not only diminish the speed and severity of the pain signals, they may actually prevent them from being received by the brain at all. Acupuncture may also trigger the release of chemicals and hormones which reduce pain, and they may also alert the immune system to pay special attention to certain part of the body's roads.
Studies have also found that the stimulation of acupuncture points not only attenuates pain but also affects directly the body's circulation, blood pressure, cell production in blood, and immune system function. The points also stimulate the brain and spinal cord to release chemicals into the rest of the body which alter brain chemistry in a beneficial way.
Regardless of when Western science finally unravels the mystery of acupuncture and its points, there is ample evidence to show that acupuncture is effective in treating a variety of diseases. These acupuncture points stimulate the central nervous system at points along the skin with increased electrical conductivity. By balancing qi through its influence on the yin and yang forces in the body, acupuncture is capable of producing amazing medical results.
In all, there are over 360 acupuncture points which can be used for stimulation. When fine needles are inserted into these points, the flow of energy through those points can be either interrupted or strengthened. By directing this energy, many health problems can be healed or improved. Tender acupuncture points may indicate area of abnormal energy flow.
If, like most people, you have a fear of needles, you've probably avoided acupuncture as a healing modality. You'll be glad to know, however, that the needles used in acupuncture are so fine that they are painless in the vast majority of cases. And since they are only inserted millimeters deep, they do not draw blood. Licensed acupuncturists have hundreds of hours of training, making them quite adept at making acupuncture sessions as pain-free as possible. When a needle's insertion is felt in rare instances, the sensation is so mild that it resembles only a minor bite from an insect such as a mosquito. So fear not; acupuncture is not a masochistic exercise but a health-producing one.
Western science is still attempting to identify meridians using Western tools. The difficulty for Western scientists in this task lies in the fact that the meridians don't directly correspond to nerve or blood pathways. Some researchers have hypothesized that the meridians are actually located throughout the body's connective tissue.
Western scientists are also attempting to put together the mechanism by which acupuncture points affect the body. New data is suggesting that acupuncture points are actually specialized conductors of the body's biological electromagnetic signals. For example, the flow of a pain signal from a body part to the spinal cord and eventually to the brain are controlled by what Western science posits are "gates" throughout the central nervous system. Like streets and alleys, the body's nerve pathways can handle a limited amount of information or flow through its pathways.
To continue with the streets and alleys metaphor, some signals are given a higher clearance than normal signals such as pain. These higher priority/clearance are like emergency vehicles - ambulances, police cars, fire trucks - which supersede the slower, lower priority signals in their quest to reach the brain. These super signals may even bump the slower signals off the road altogether, preventing them from ever reaching the brain. Acupuncture may generate these priority signals, which crowd out pain signals because of the limited throughput of the nerves. The acupuncture signals may not only diminish the speed and severity of the pain signals, they may actually prevent them from being received by the brain at all. Acupuncture may also trigger the release of chemicals and hormones which reduce pain, and they may also alert the immune system to pay special attention to certain part of the body's roads.
Studies have also found that the stimulation of acupuncture points not only attenuates pain but also affects directly the body's circulation, blood pressure, cell production in blood, and immune system function. The points also stimulate the brain and spinal cord to release chemicals into the rest of the body which alter brain chemistry in a beneficial way.
Regardless of when Western science finally unravels the mystery of acupuncture and its points, there is ample evidence to show that acupuncture is effective in treating a variety of diseases. These acupuncture points stimulate the central nervous system at points along the skin with increased electrical conductivity. By balancing qi through its influence on the yin and yang forces in the body, acupuncture is capable of producing amazing medical results.
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Do you need help in relieving pain, quitting smoking, or treating infertility? Evolve Wellness is a Los Angeles Acupuncture Center that has been helping hundreds of patients overcome a variety of medical challenges since 1998. Call or schedule an appointment with one of our Los Angeles Acupuncturists today.
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