Most people have heard of the art of acupuncture and maybe you've given some thought to trying it out. While acupuncture is still not common in the United States, it has been in Chinese medicine for centuries and remains prominent even today.
Recently, the World Health Organization performed a broad study which concluded that acupuncture does have a positive effect on many common ailments. The Western world still tends to view acupuncture with skepticism. However, many people in the United States have started changing their minds.
The Belief behind Acupuncture
Chinese medicine and Western medicine have very different views on the human body. The primary difference with Chinese medicine is the way they break down the function of the body. Being a Chinese creation, acupuncture embraces the Chinese view of the body.
The belief is that the body is broken down into pathways which all flow like a road system through the body. The road system must be properly maintained and traffic must flow smoothly. If the areas begin to stagnate, acupuncture can be used to reinvigorate the body.
What Happens During an Acupuncture Treatment?
Let us use a common headache as an example for an acupuncture doctor. In Western medicine, you would simply ingest an analgesic such as aspirin.
Acupuncturists, rather than giving you medication, would target areas in the face and head as well as the webbing of the thumb, all of which they believe to be directly related to headaches.
They would take very fine metal threads and insert them into targeted areas, all while applying pressure to the thumb. Once the headache subsides, the threads are removed.
What Can Acupuncture Help With?
The 2003 study performed by the World Health Organization concluded that acupuncture had a positive outcome on a long list of ailments. While the Western world still remains skeptical, Chinese medicine has been using acupuncture alongside modern medicine and finding positive results. The only way to really discover whether acupuncture is helpful to you is to try it out.
Many Americans still have reservations about acupuncture. On the outside, acupuncture may appear to be painful, with a dozen small needles poking out of a person.
And having to reconsider the notions of how the body works may be difficult. However, acupuncture is actually extremely safe and painless so giving it a shot may completely change your perception of it.
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By: Bannard Chiropractic
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