Posts Tagged ‘Acupuncture’

Cupping – An Alternative to Acupuncture

June 12th, 2010
Michael Russell asked:




Cupping has been a part of Chinese medicine for thousands of years and is practiced today by many acupuncturists and herbalists. It is often used as an alternative to acupuncture and can be applied to most of the same acupuncture points and meridians although some points may be too small for cupping. It is used in China today primarily to treat respiratory ailments such as asthma and bronchitis but is also used for arthritis, low back pain, depression, gastrointestinal problems and many types of pain in large soft tissue areas. Sometimes cupping is used after acupuncture to further stimulate the flow of blood and qi to the area.

The general idea is to create a partial vacuum inside a cup, which is then placed on the skin. The suction on the surface of the skin from the cup stimulates blood flow in the area, relieves congestion and inflammation in the muscles and opens up pathways to eliminate toxins. In ancient Chinese practice, the cups were made of bamboo, animal horns or pottery. Today the cups are most often made of thick glass so that the acupuncturist can see the skin under the cup. The most common way of creating a vacuum inside the cup is to burn something inside the cup, often a cotton ball soaked in alcohol or a candle. The burning consumes the oxygen inside the cup, which lowers the density of the air inside thereby creating a partial vacuum. The cup is then quickly turned upside down and the open end is placed on the skin. The partial vacuum holds the cup in place but, if necessary, oil can be placed on the skin before hand so that the cup can be moved around. This method is called gliding cupping and can be used to cover a fairly large area of skin. However, more often many cups are used at once to cover a large area such as the back or abdomen. Cups are usually applied to acupuncture points but can also be used on specific areas of pain. In a normal cupping session, the cups are left in place for 10 to 15 minutes.

Burning something inside the cup, referred to as dry or fire cupping is only one way of creating the suction. A more modern technique is to use a vacuum pump or flexible suction cup attached to the glass cup to draw out the air after the cup has been placed on the skin. This method is called air cupping. In some cases, the skin is pricked with a needle before the cup is applied. This is called wet cupping and is believed to help remove toxins from the body. Usually only a few drops of blood are drawn out by the pressure during wet cupping.

Cupping is considered to be fairly safe but should not be used on rashes or on people who bleed easily or have a high fever. There is no sensation of pain from cupping although you will definitely feel the pulling on your skin. Occasionally a minor skin bruise can be seen after cupping but it usually clears up after a few days. As an alternative to using acupuncture needles, cupping avoids the pain and puncturing of the skin and does not demand an experienced practitioner. There is no danger of needle injury or infection.

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Lose Weight Through Acupuncture

June 9th, 2010
Ian James Bennett asked:




While acupuncture is mainly used as a form of pain relief, there are a number of other conditions which acupuncture can be used for such as weight loss. It can even help with conditions such as sinusitis, tonsillitis, bronchitis or even the common cold. As we all know the most popular use of acupuncture is to help with the body’s joints and muscle pain, but acupuncture has the greatest impact on the systems of the body including respiratory, reproductive, urinary and digestive. Acupuncture can also help with migraines or headaches, even disorders such as insomnia, depression, fatigue or irritable bowel syndrome. All in all acupuncture is a fantastic healing art which has been used for hundreds of years.

Acupuncture alone will not cure weight loss as a good diet and exercise will always be the main way to lose weight. However acupuncture and herbal medicine can provide an excellent compliment to diet and exercise. What the acupuncturist does is to diagnose if there is any underlying problems which could be hindering your weight loss. Some of the problems which acupuncture can help with are Thyroid dysfunction, Polycystic ovaries, sluggish metabolisms or diabetes. These are just a few of the underlying problems you may have which affect your weight and can be helped by acupuncture. Acupuncture and herbal medicine can also be used to reduce cravings and increase will power, helping the body to lose weight. The Chinese have a wide range of advice in the weight loss area but acupuncture is by far the most famous of the healing arts.

Acupuncture can only be performed at a clinic or hospital. The sessions can last between 45 minutes to an hour, and can cost between ?25 – ?40 but prices vary. Obviously acupuncture can only be done by a professional and specialist equipment is used. If you decide to try acupuncture it is wise to go for a consultation first to determine which problem you need help with.

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Chinese Acupuncture History

June 5th, 2010
Mike Herman asked:




Chinese acupuncture history shows us that acupuncture is an ancient medicine used to promote good health and maintain a healthy body. It is carried out by inserting hundreds of tiny needles into special acupuncture points in the body where “qi”. Qi is reported as being the body’s natural energy source, travels through channels around the body.

Acupuncture can be thought of as the oldest, known practice of medicine that is still being used today. Besides knowing that Chinese acupuncture history and it’s medical practice, what else do we know?

By following the roots of acupuncture we can see that archeologists have found the Chinese acupuncture history and medical practice going back thousands of years. These remnants were found in the form of Hieroglyphs in cave dwellings and date back to one thousand years before Jesus Christ was born, making them 3,000 years old.

Looking even further than this, there is evidence that acupuncture was used thousands of years prior to the archeological finds mentioned.

A five thousand year old mummy was found in the Alps mountain range and named Otzi. When scientists were investigating the mummy and what it could tell us, they were interested to find that Otzi had several ailments, and what they found more intriguing was that Otzi had tattoos located at the acupuncture points that would be used today for the ailments he suffered with.

It may be disheartening, or interesting to learn that the origins of acupuncture in China are uncertain. The reason this is uncertain is that the first mention of acupuncture in a Chinese medical text dated to three hundred years before Christ but Chinese medical texts found from the first century before Christ, two hundred year later, had no reference to acupuncture in them.

It has been a much talked about debate, but research has shown that the first needles used by those of years gone by were made from sharp Bian stone, this changed through the years to bronze, gold and then silver.

Fast-forward to today and we still use acupuncture. The acupuncture we use is a descendant of that used by Daoism philosophers two thousand years ago; this shows that although the material used for the needles has changed, the actual treatment of acupuncture has not changed through the millennia.

There has been ripples of talk through the scientific and archeological communities that Europe may have had its own version of acupuncture pre Christ but there is no evidence to support this. As far as we are aware, acupuncture did not cross over to the west until the late 1960′s and 1970′s where it became the interest of people in Great Britain.

Acupuncture has grown in stature and become a widely used alternative treatment in the western world, which shows that there must be some positive affect from the treatment.

This is a complete history of acupuncture to date; it will be interesting to see what will lie in the future use of acupuncture. If acupuncture can last through centuries of war, illness and famine, through times where publication of material was not as easy as it is done, then it is clear that it will last for many years to come.

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