Australian Healthy Living

The ancient Chinese philosophy of acupuncture is complicated and uses non-Western medical terminology. So it is occasionally difficult to describe what it is in terms other than metal, earth, fire, water and wood - the five elements of oriental philosophy.

Imagine that the pathways of energy through the body are like rivers flowing into and around the organs and then outside along the skin, up and down the legs and arms, over the head and down the back. This gives you an idea of how our energy or "life force" called chi, flows.

The internal energy is called yin and the outside flowing chi is called yang. It is the balance between the two which creates the harmony called health. The pathways that I describe as rivers are called `meridians'.

The meridians pass through organs, which give them their names: the bladder meridian; the heart meridian and so on. They are not related to the nervous system, but run along an independent system that has no identifiable link.

Acupuncture organises this flow to where it is needed for the healthy functioning of the body. Once you understand that pain attracts a lot of energy around the area in trouble, then you can appreciate the tension which accumulates in that part of your body. Acupuncture can manipulate that energy and disperse it.

How do we obtain chi?

Chi energy enters the body in three ways. First, by inheritance, given to us at birth by our mothers. (It is not easy to choose our parents carefully.) Secondly, by eating the correct food, and finally by breathing in deeply through the lungs. Diet and exercise are also important.

Chi energy flow is interrupted by a variety of mishaps: faulty nutrition, lack of exercise, poor posture, shallow breathing, poisoned air and water, not enough sleep and relaxation, changing too quickly from one temperature to another, stress, emotional upsets and scars on the body.

We measure `chi' by lightly placing our fingertips along the radial artery on either wrist. The acupuncturist can, by the manner in which he/she spins the needle, either stimulate energy or sedate it. The energy, when sedated, reduces the pain. This can resolve the problem or give a breathing space for the therapist to find the cause of the pain.

The relaxation provided by acupuncture reduces the panic often felt when people suffer. The more tension the more pain. It's a vicious circle that the fine needles can break.

How does acupuncture work?

There are various explanations, but none unanimously agreed on. One is that stimulation of nerve endings make the brain react by secreting endorphins... the body's own answer to pain relief. The other is the `gate' theory where the needling floods the brain with overwhelming nerve stimulation, blocking the pain response.

Does acupuncture hurt?

There is always the sting of the needles' entry but it is over quickly. Then it depends on how the experienced practitioner uses the needles and how they are spun.

A lady who bought me a box of chocolates was very apprehensive when I said I needed to insert a small needle to relax a very tight muscle. I said, `If I hurt you, you can take back the chocolates.' My son enjoyed them for his birthday!

If all is well there has to be the sensation of the needle `grabbing' the energy. Nevertheless, acupuncture needles are very fine as no fluid is pumped through them. A hypodermic needle hurts because fluid goes into an area where there is no space for it until the tissues absorb the material.

What does acupuncture help?

Remember, acupuncturists treat the whole person not just a symptom. However you can treat depression through stimulation of fire using the heart meridian or equally well the small intestine meridian. It sounds confusing but once you have studied it, it all becomes clear.

Ladies putting on weight before their menstrual periods or having trouble holding their urine after menopause, need their bladder or kidney meridian balanced. Their water element is in trouble. Also, fluids out of kilter affect high blood pressure and this can be reduced with the needles.

With acupuncture you can help so many problems since you are affecting energy flow in a person. Sluggish organ function is helped enormously. Hormone production and temperature, can also be treated by acupuncture.

Acupuncture is well worth considering as an alternative for pain relief. There are no side effects to worry about. But there is, however, more to acupuncture than just needles.

Acupuncture and laser

Thanks to the Chinese, acupuncture has been around for thousands of years. But they have been quick to update the therapy and have used modern technology to advantage. Now, you can have laser acupuncture if you are very nervous of needles.

What's the difference - apart from the cost of the machinery you may ask? Laser is not as effective if there is severe pain. But if your body needs relaxing, or the amount of tension in some part of you requires reducing, then it is quite effective.

>Ear acupuncture

Ear acupuncture works very well with the laser machine (which is a very intense but divergent light beam). In the ear there are many effective points for treating the inaccessible body organs e.g. bowel, stomach, uterus and bladder, etc.

The entire central nervous system can be given a boost through a point in the ear called "the gate of heaven". One of my favourite treatments is to dry up constantly runny noses. The relevant point for this is called the `internal secretion point': it works like turning off a tap.

Another technique, called moxibustion, dries out mucous and gives a great boost to the body's energy.

Moxibustion

There is a herb called mugwort and it is burnt and applied near the skin on certain acupuncture points thus stimulating the chi. It can be burnt like a rolled cigar or used on the end of the needle. In China I frequently saw it burning gently away in a little wooden box that was placed on certain parts of the body.

This is a very effective treatment and one of my favourites. The only danger is to the therapist who breathes in its fumes for years. I'm now slightly allergic to it after using it many times to dry up the patient's bronchitis. I take a special homoeopathic remedy to counteract the smoke of moxa.

Phlegm comes up so easily after a moxibustion treatment and the patient goes away warm and relaxed with no pain on coughing. All those nights spent hacking away in bed with a bout of bronchitis are so unnecessary.

For asthmatics it is perfect to prevent an attack brought on by accumulated mucous. Being a bronchial asthmatic myself for most of my schooldays, I now use moxibustion as a preventative each year before winter. I rarely get bronchitis any more.

Misuse of acupuncture machines and incorrectly applied acupuncture: Use of acupuncture machines using electrical, magnetic or static electricity by untrained people usually on themselves, can create serious imbalances in the energy flow. This is because if you are using the machines on points that are giving you pain, you will constantly be using the same points without any moderation. The cause of the pain is not being treated, so the pain is being treated the same way in the same place each time. This eventually exhausts the energy in those meridians.

Unfortunately I have had to help people at the point of collapse from this type of abuse. My treatment is to correct the almost total draining of chi energy out of several meridians. Can you imagine the health effects on the internal organs? The usual symptom is exhaustion, no energy to get up and go, and it takes quite considerable time to get to this state.

A man came in for treatment for stomach pain and tension. He had been suffering for more than a month. It was an unusual episode as he was generally very relaxed and had a strong stomach. There was no possibility of a food upset or allergy.

On asking further of past illnesses, he told me how he had partial success a few months earlier with acupuncture for sinusitis. He had been to see a practitioner who practised acupuncture. He had given him fourteen treatments with the needles around the head and face to relieve sinus pain.

He was questioned about the positions of the needles and it was obvious that at no stage had there been a treatment to balance the chi energies. The result had been a blockage of energy from the head interfering with normal flow to the stomach. After the pulses were read and the accumulated energy around the solar plexus released, he felt much better.

Licencing

All practitioners who use acupuncture must obtain a licence from their local health officer who grants it following a clinic inspection and compliance with the "Skin Penetration Act" unless you are exempted by being already a registered Health Practitioner. There is only registration for acupuncturists in Victoria. Federal Registration is expected by July 2012.