Acupuncture

[TINNY]

Yeah, from China. So this is the medical theory according to wikipedia:

Traditional Chinese medical theory holds that acupuncture works by redirecting qi “vital energy” in the body. Pain or illnesses are treated by attempting to remedy local or systemic accumulations or deficiencies of qi. Pain is considered to indicate blockage or stagnation of the flow of qi, and an axiom of the medical literature of acupuncture is “no pain, no blockage; no blockage, no pain.”

There's also some info on its potential risks on wikipedia.

[Hajderman]

Acupuncture works and it is the best known therapy for some sorts of deseases. It cured me from very severe form of asthma and my father is acupuncturologist so I see effects on his patients every day.

[TeleMad]

Originally Posted by TINNY

So no one can give any scientific explanations for all these alternativetreatment?

For acupuncture, possibly the body's own endogenous morphines ... endorphins.

"Researchers have examined the possibility that endorphins are at least partially responsible for the pain-reducing effects of acupuncture and placebos (Fields & Levine, 1984; Murray, 1995; Watkins & Mayer, 1982). Such tests rely on the drug naloxone, whose only known effect is to block morphine and endorphins from binding to receptors. Any procedure that reduces pain by stimulating release of endorphins becomes ineffective when naloxone is administered. With the injection of naloxone, acupuncture and placebos do, in fact, lose their power - suggesting that, ordinarily, endorphins help them do their work." (Psychology and Life: Sixteenth Edition, Richard J. Gerrig & Philip G. Zimbardo, Allyn and Bacon Publishers, 2002, p80)

But then note this:

"In the Chinese technique of acupuncture to control pain, fine needles are inserted at specific locations and are either heated or twirled by the therapist. Several theories have been proposed to account for the positive effects, but none is widely accepted or proven. It has been suggested that the pain relief may result from the release of endorphins, but how acupuncture stimulates endorphin release is not known; the acupuncture points do not correspond to the distribution of any of the major peripheral nerves." (Fundamentals of Anatomy & Physiology: Sixth Edition, Frederic H. Martini, Benjamin Cummings, 2004, p513)

[theblackalchemist]

But dosent this process involve disturbence to the nerve ??
by this figure it does seem so but tell me do they pierce the needle deeply ??
: shrug::s hrug:
so how exactly does this work then ??

Curious
TBA

[Michaelangelica]

Originally Posted by Aki

I thought acupunture started in China..

So did I

I read a research review only yesterday (!)about acupuncture and depression.
The consensus was that it does not help.
I didn't post it because I thought it was too depressing.

(Do other people have that eerie thing happen where you meet a word for the first time and then immediately afterwards see it 2-3 times then maybe never again.
Like the only article I have ever read on acupuncture was yesterday and today someone starts a thread on it in hypography?
Is there a word for this phenomenon?)

[Tormod]

Originally Posted by Michaelangelica

Like the only article I have ever read on acupuncture was yesterday and today someone starts a thread on it in hypography?
Is there a word for this phenomenon?)

Yeah - welcome to the club. The thread is from 2004...

*But* - earily enough - last week I started to go to the very same acupuncturist mentioned in the first post in this thread! I am having acute inflammation in both my achilles, something which has become worse since I have been running with it for a while.

I've had three treatments so far so it's too early to say if it works or not. Will report back!

[Jay-qu]

I would be willing to give it a shot one day, at the moment I dont really have anything that I could 'test' it on though.

[InfiniteNow]

I have been trained to cause some serious damage by hitting various pressure points, and having been hit several times at my own points, I can attest that there is something to it... hard to explain, but real enough. Most commonly in medicine, the same points which lead to damage can also be manipulated to lead to healing.


"What do you mean, you're putting a pin in my bladder meridian? That's the corner of my eyeball!"

[Tormod]

I actually asked her today about the depth of the needles etc. We looked at some needles and they come in various lengts (up to several inches). They are extremely thin. The length varies and depends on where they are to be used. For example, really long needles are used to treat points inside the upper leg etc. Mostly the needles are about 2 inches long and the most common depth seems to be around half an inch or so.

I also asked about nerves and blood vessels. She does hit nerves sometimes, which gives the patient immense pain but only for a very brief moment. I guess it's because the needles are so thin. She said that it's impossible not to hit a few blood vessels now and then, but again, since the needles are so thin, the blood coagulates immediately.

I had no less than 4 needles in my left ear today (in addition to 20-25 needles somewhere else) and I can tell you it hurts like hell when she places them there, and after that you don't feel a thing. Most other places you feel nothing, or just a pinprick at most.

[infamous]

I'm dealing with bone spurs in my right heal and sometimes the pain is quite unbearable. Acupuncture is one treatment I hadn't even thought about and might be an interesting possible choice. There's just one hangup; when I was in the Army a medic broke a needle of in my arm. Ever since, I've had a deathly fear of needles of any kind. It's almost impossible for me to get the courage up just to take my annual flu shot. For me to endure all those needles placed abundantly in peculiar locations all over my body is more than I am willing to deal with. Maybe I need some hypnotherpy or some such help in this matter? If I could get over this fear of needles, I'd be willing to try acupuncture.................................Infy