The Chinese characters 針灸 (transcription zhēnjiǔ) stand for acupuncture and moxibustion. The term acupuncture comes from the latin “acus pungere” which indeed means “needle prick”.
Acupuncture is the insertion of very fine, filiform needles through the skin at specific points on the body with the intention of manipulating Qi. It is one component of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM).
The other Chinese character, moxibustion, already got lost in the translation.
Moxibustion is a form of heat therapy in which dried plant materials called “moxa” are burned on or very near the skin surface. The intention is to dispel cold and invigorate the flow of Qi in the body.
But what else do acupuncturists do besides sticking needles into people?
The other modalities
The school I went to is called Five Branches University, because there are in fact five modalities to Chinese medicine. Besides acupuncture, there is tuina, qigong, nutrition, and herbal medicine.
- Tuina is probably one of the oldest body work systems. It uses the same points as acupuncture, but the practitioner uses fingers, palm, elbows to put pressure on these points and stimulate the flow of qi, and to promote balance and harmony within the body.
- Qigong 氣功 means “cultivating life energy”. Qigong uses movements combined with breathing and meditation to promote the free flow of Qi and reduce stagnation. These techniques are also used for martial-arts training.
The Yin energy a health practitioner uses to restore free flow has its counterpart in the yang energy of a martial arts practitioner who intends to block his opponent’s free flow of Qi and cause pain. - The goal in TCM nutrition is to use food as a means to achieve balance and harmony within the body. In other words “Food is your Medicine”. For example, people with warm (hot) constitutions should eat cool (cold) foods, and people with cool constitutions should eat warming foods.
Nutrition and herbal medicine are on a continuum. - Chinese herbs are more powerful than nutrition and are prescribed to normalize imbalanced energy or Qi in the body when dietary plans aren’t enough. Nutrition and herbs are also the most powerful of the modalities to address deficiencies.
The idea behind everything
The goal of all these modalities is to restore the free flow of Qi, the vital energy that flows in channels in our body, so called meridians.
Why? Because where there is free flow, there is no pain, and where there is no free flow, there is pain.
Also, where Qi goes, blood goes. And as we know from modern medicine, blood carries oxygen and nutrients to the cells to enable them to restore, replace, and repair molecules necessary for their proper function.
So, the body knows how to heal itself, but it is our job to help it with the right building blocks, i.e. proper nutrition, as well as the right amount of movement, and rest. During sleep is when most repair and healing happens.
Traditional eastern medicine in our modern western world
TCM or any other ancient medicine practices are often not our first choice in the western world. The reason for this is simply because we are not very familiar with them. Unfortunately, for a long time, only modern science and evidence based medicine were taught at Universities, even though these modalities are much younger than the traditional ancient ones. All the ancient medicines that had proven their effectiveness for thousands of years before modern science even existed didn’t have enough scientific backup. Studies using western medicine paradigms to prove the effectiveness of ancient modalities have only been done in the past few decades.
Proving the effectiveness of acupuncture using a modern scientific approach – squaring a circle?
The gold standard in evidence based medicine are the so-called randomized controlled trials (RCTs). In these studies, designed by the pharmaceutical industry, patients are randomly assigned to two groups. The treatment group receives the test drug and the control group receives a placebo.
The best way to get accepted by anybody is to speak their language, in this case, to use their gold standard.
However, finding an adequate placebo in acupuncture studies is a challenge in itself. Sham-acupuncture using telescopic needles that retract into the shaft has been used but not very successfully. More efficient ways to prove the effectiveness of acupuncture treatments with all its modalities is to compare it to a group of patients receiving standard western treatment.
Traditional Eastern vs modern western medicine – Different approaches, different “toolkits”
Western medicine is very good at treating acute problems. Their strong tools are surgery and pharmaceuticals. Pills can be very powerful short term, but long term they can be very harmful and do more bad than good! Also, most of the time they just address the symptoms, not the underlying cause.
Alternative approaches often address the root cause of the problem, and therefore, they are more efficient at treating chronic conditions. Often, they will take longer but be more effective in the long run. Think of it this way: if it took a long time to develop a chronic issue, it will also take longer to get back to balance. A simple quick fix like a pill won’t cure it, it can make the symptoms go away, which is definitely helpful, but temporary. The root cause will remain.
So, next time you look for a doctor, think about what’s in their toolkit and ask yourself if they will be able to address your problem. Finding the right therapist is a big part of finding your cure.
Happy healing everyone!
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