Monthly Archives: July 2014

0 Scared of Acupuncture? You Shouldn’t Be!

Acupuncture has recently become wildly popular in Western medicine as an alternative medical treatment, but many people are still very hesitant about it. Have a stranger stick needles into my skin? Um, no thank you. But here are a few reasons why there is no reason to fear acupuncture therapy

Acupuncture has been around for thousands of years. Ancient Chinese cultures — as far back as the 900s B.C. — practiced acupuncture therapy with needles made out of wood, bamboo, and bone. Despite a lack of scientific data regarding acupuncture, acupuncture remained a popular medical practice among Chinese cultures for many centuries. Why should this make you feel better? Because if this practice wasn’t effective, it would have died out a long time ago.

The U.S. FDA classifies acupuncture needles as legitimate medical instruments. This means that acupuncture needles have been extensively tested and are guaranteed to be completely safe. They aren’t so much like traditional “needles” you might use for sewing; instead, they’re a bit more like stiff, yet very thin, stainless steel wires that are lightly pressed into specific pressure points in the skin. These “pressure points” have already been researched and carefully mapped out on the human body (pressure point locations are all the same in human bodies), and an acupuncturist will focus on certain points for certain types of treatment.

For example, acupuncture therapy for chronic back pain focuses on points on the back, while cosmetic acupuncture for all-natural “face lifts” focus on points on the face that stimulate collagen production. One acupuncturist even discovered that, when using acupuncture for depression or acupuncture for anxiety, stimulating only a few points in and around the ear could be very effective. Why should this make you feel better? Because the art of acupuncture is perhaps better described as “a science” rather than “an art.” Nothing about it is random.

Acupuncturists are highly trained technicians. Just because acupuncture therapy tends to be classified as an “alternative” medical practice, that doesn’t mean that acupuncturists can bypass training. While they do not have to attend medical school like other doctors, acupuncturists have to undergo a rigorous course load and collect over 1,000 hours in a clinical internship before they certified to practice on patients. Why should this make you feel better? Because acupuncturists definitely know what they’re doing when it comes to using alternative medical treatments to help their patients feel better.

Feeling a little more convinced now? Thought so. But even if you aren’t 100% ready to make an appointment yet, know that it’s okay to feel hesitant about it — but don’t let your hesitation keep you from finding relief. If you, like so many others around the world, are suffering from any type of physical ailment or chronic pain, then acupuncture is definitely worth a try.

0 One Group of Acupuncturists is Changing the Way We Treat Mental Health Problems

You may already know that acupuncture therapy in the U.S is becoming more popular for treating physical ailments such as headaches, chronic lower back pain, and osteoarthritis. You may even be part of the 6.5% of Americans who have tried acupuncture therapy.

A group of trained practitioners called Acupuncturists Without Borders are now utilizing acupuncture for a different reason. The online subscription jweekly.com recently published an excellent story about Carla Cassler, a member of Acupuncturists Without Borders. Cassler’s story began when she traveled to Israel and offered acupuncture treatments for anxiety and depression, specifically focusing on treating issues caused by post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Cassler noticed that in one of her trips to the war-torn country that, “When you’re in Israel, every conversation is related in some way to some kind of trauma.” This resonated with her so she was determined to do something about it.

Cassler and her associates decided to use a method developed by the National Acupuncture Detoxification Association that focuses on placing needles into five different pressure points in the ear. The ear may seem like a sensitive and almost dangerous part of the body to involve in acupuncture therapy, but Cassler asserts that it is “safe and simple” and that “the ear is a microcosm of the whole body.” The five pressure points in the ear directly connect to the brain and other regulatory centers of the nervous system, so focusing on the ear allows an acupuncturist to soothe anxiety and stress., something that the people of Israel desperately need. This particular treatment is especially helpful to victims of terror attacks, wars, and natural disasters that are common throughout the Middle East. Acupuncturists Without Borders have also taken their practices to areas in Central and South America, the Caribbean, and Far-East Asia. Cassler noted that acupuncture therapy was used in the 1990s to treat victims of the Holocaust, although it was not widely accepted as an alternative medical treatment back then.

It’s clear that using acupuncture for anxiety-related issues is becoming more popular because it is simple and effective. Cassler’s account of her first acupuncture workshop in Israel proves that the benefits of acupuncture therapy go beyond what can be measured in percentages and statistics. Cassler noted that the first day of the workshop was a bit strained, but in just one day, people were smiling and hugging. Cassler described the second day as filled with “all the things that happen when you have human contact.”

Human contact is probably something that doesn’t cross your mind on a daily basis, but you do notice its absence when you have been away from friends and family for any period of time. The pressure points in which typical acupuncture treatments focus on can be scientifically studied, and we can produce concrete evidence that shows how effective the treatments are for physical ailments. It seems though; the biggest benefit of acupuncture therapy could simply be more human contact. It doesn’t matter if someone is a victim of trauma or just a sufferer of everyday stress — creating more human contact could be the one solution we have been looking for.