Acupuncture

                    Acupuncture is a traditional Chinese medical technique to heal the whole person: Body, Mind &                                                      Spirit. It is based on the Chinese antique cultures such as "Yin Yang", "Five elements: wood,                                                          water, fire, earth, metal," etc. Since 3,000 years ago, the Chinese have gradually recognized                                                          human body health as related with a balance of Yin Yang and a kind of energy, "Qi" (or Chi) flow,                                                   through the body along 14 main channels called meridians. If your body experiences discomfort,                                                    illness, or injury, that means your body has lost the balance of Yin Yang and blocked the flow of                                                      some Qi channels. Acupuncture aids in the restoration of balance and unblocking the Qi flow to                                                      rebuild your health by inserting very fine needles into the skin to stimulate specific anatomic points                                                        in the body (called acupoints or acupuncture points. practitioners of acupuncture also use heat,                                                  pressure, friction, suction, or impulses of electromagnetic energy to stimulate the points. Traditional                                                       Chinese medicine has identified some 500 specific points that can be treated using acupuncture for                                          therapeutic purposes.

                    Acupuncture is one of the oldest, most commonly used medical procedures in the world. In the past                                                     40 years acupuncture has become a well-known, reasonably available treatment in developed and                                                   developing countries. Originating in China more than 2,000 years ago, acupuncture began to gain                                                 attention 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.

                    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. The acupuncture technique that has been most                                                      studied scientifically involves penetrating the skin with thin, solid, metallic needles that are stimulated                                               either manually or electrically.

                    Acupuncture has been practiced in China for more than 2,000 years, and some experts think it has                                                   been around for 3,000 years. Today, the needles are twirled, heated or even stimulated with weak                                                electrical current, ultrasound, or certain wavelengths of light.  Acupuncture is used to regulate or                                                    correct the flow of Qi to restore health.  But no matter how it is done, scientific research can never                                          demonstrate that unblocking Qi by acupuncture or any other means is effective against any disease.                                                     Qi is defined as undetectable by the methods of empirical science.

                    A variation of traditional acupuncture is called auriculotherapy or ear acupuncture. It is a method of                                             diagnosis and treatment based on the belief that the ear is the map of the bodily organs. For example,                                                    a problem with organ such as liver is to be treated by sticking a needle into a certain point on the ear                                                  that is supposed to be the corresponding point for that organ. (Similar notions about a part of the body                                              being an organ map are held by those who practice iridology [the iris is the map of the body] and                                              reflexology [the foot is the map of the body].) Staplepuncture, a variation of auricullotherapy, puts                                                   staples at key points on the ear hoping to do such things as help people stop smoking.
 

                                                            Conditions Treated by Acupuncture

                               Quit smoking                                                                 Lose wieght
                               Anxiety/Depression                                                        Insomnia
                               Arthritis/Joint pain                                                          Knee Pain
                               Auto-immune disorders                                                   Menopause
                               Back pain                                                                      Multiple Sclerosis
                               Bladder/Kidney problem                                                  Neck pain/stiffness
                               Carpal Tunnel                                                                 Paralysis/Numbness
                               Diabetes                                                                        Post-stroke Syndrome
                               Digestive disorder                                                           Sciatica
                               Eating disorders                                                             Shoulder pain
                               Fatigue/Low energy                                                        Sinusitis
                               Headache/Migraine                                                         Sport injuries
                               Heart problems/Palpitations                                             Stress/Tension
                               Immune system deficiency                                              TMJ
                               Women's issues                          

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