By Sue Widemark
At this month's forum, Felixa, an acupuncture practitioner shared with us. Since her background had been in nursing, she had been in empirical medicine before she got into acupuncture. She became interested in it when her husband experienced a great deal of relief from his allergies through acupuncture.
The course to be a practitioner is a three year course, generally, at the post graduate level. The practitioner learns not only the points of the 'meridian' (at which needles are placed) but also, message therapy and accupressure and the use of herbs. Our speaker said that she used very few Chinese herbs because Americans were not comfortable taking herbs they had not heard about so most of the herbs she prescribed were those usually found in Health Food stores.
An acupuncture treatment is generally an hour or more in length. From a detailed interview of the patient and an examination of the patient's tongue, she decides what the problem is, in Chinese medical terms. Then she knows at what points, needles will need to be inserted.
The needles are very tiny and our speaker said she uses silicon coated needles which although are more expensive than others, are a lot more comfortable for the patient. It was Chinese technique, she told us, to be less comfortable in the needle insertion as many Chinese feel that if pain is not felt, the treatment will not be effective. Sounds like a Chinese version of the American saw "No pain, no gain"!
Needles are sterile since they come wrapped and are inserted without the practitioner touching them. She told us that a usual treatment involves the insertion of 12 - 26 needles, some in the distant meridian points and others in points local to where the pain is felt. Sometimes, Felixa told us, she uses massage and accupressure along with needle insertion - this is especially true in treatment of back pain. After the needles are inserted, she dims the lights and plays relaxing music. The patient is encouraged to practice meditation or relaxation techniques. Some patients fall asleep. Patients have the needles inserted and are in relaxation for 20-40 minutes, depending on the practitioner and the patient. (She told us that every practitioner treats patients a bit differently as there are many ways to approach a problem.)
Basically, she continued, acupuncture is most effective in pain management (she called it "pain curing" because she feels that the pain will go away in many cases and not return) especially when the pain has been examined by empirical methods and no reason for the pain has been found.
There is a web site for acupuncture: http://www.acupuncture.com
At the web site, they have several very informative articles about acupuncture. According to a recent survey of over 500 people who have experienced acupuncture, improvement in symptoms or pain was experienced by some 77 percent. But only a small percentage experienced a total cure or disappearance of the pain.
Felixa told us that she uses acupuncture to do a 'non surgical' face lift. Several needles are used for this procedure and it must be repeatedly done over several visits for results. After the initial treatments, the patient is encouraged to return for a treatment every six months or so. The speaker had done such a face lift on herself several times, she told us. In her mid-forties, she seemed neither excessively wrinkled nor exceptionally non-wrinkled but rather average for her age.
The Chinese explanation for the efficacy of acupuncture has to do with a theory that a life-force which they call QI (pronounced "CHEE") flows through us on the mapped meridians. When there is a stoppage of this energy, an imbalance of the YIN and the YANG occurs and the person becomes 'diseased'. The insertion of the needles restores the flow of the "QI" and thus, cures the disease.
Western medicine is not comfortable with that explanation, of course, because it involves a belief in Taoism, a religious belief which empirical science rejects in favor of observational evidence. However, Western scientists have had to admit that the success rate of the pain reduction seen in acupuncture is far higher than would be achieved by the placebo effect alone and thus, there must be an empirical reason why this may be. There are several theories. I downloaded the following excerpt from their web page which offers several possible hypotheses: (This is from a paper by Jeffrey Singer)
"The question arises, how does Acupuncture work? Scientists have no real answer to this; as you know many of the workings of the body are still a mystery. There are a few prevailing theories.
1.By some unknown process, Acupuncture raises levels of triglycerides, specific hormones, prostaglandins, white blood counts, gamma globulins, opsonins, and overall anti-body levels. This is called the "Augmentation of Immunity" Theory.
2.The "Endorphin" Theory states that Acupuncture stimulates the secretions of endorphins in the body (specifically Enkaphalins).
3.The "Neurotransmitter" Theory states that certain neurotransmitter levels (such as Seratonin and Noradrenaline) are affected by Acupuncture.
4."Circulatory" Theory: this states that Acupuncture has the effect of constricting or dilating blood vessels. This may be caused by the body's release of Vasodilators (such as Histamine), in response to Acupuncture.
5.One of the most popular theories is the "Gate Control" Theory. According to this theory, the perception of pain is controlled by a part of the nervous system which regulates the impulse, which will later be interpreted as pain. This part of the nervous system is called the "Gate." If the gate is hit with too many impulses, it becomes overwhelmed, and it closes. This prevents some of the impulses from getting through. The first gates to close would be the ones that are the smallest. The nerve fibers that carry the impulses of pain are rather small nerve fibers called "C" fibers. These are the gates that close during Acupuncture. In the related "Motor Gate" Theory, some forms of paralysis can be overcome by Acupuncture. This is done by reopening a "stuck" gate, which is connected to an Anterior Horn cell. The gate, when closed by a disease, stops motor impulses from reaching muscles. This theory was first stated by Professor Jayasuriya in 1977. In it he goes on to say: "...one of the factors contributing to motor recovery is almost certainly the activation of spindle cells. They are stimulated by Gamma motor neurons. If Acupuncture stimulates the Gamma motor neurons, the discharge causes the contraction of Intrafusal Muscle fibers. This activates the Spindle cells, in the same way as muscle stretching. This will bring about muscle contraction."
There are many diseases that can be treated successfully by Acupuncture or its related treatments. The most common ailments currently being treated are: lower backache, Cervical Spondylosis, Condylitis, Arthritic Conditions, Headaches of all kinds (including migraine), Allergic Reactions, general and specific use for Analgesia (including surgery), and relief of muscles spasms. There have also been clinical trials in the use of Acupuncture in treating anxiety disorders and depression. Likewise, very high success rates have been found in treating addictions to alcohol, tobacco (nicotine) and "hard' drugs. Acupuncture can rid the body of the physical dependency, but can not rid the mind of the habit (psychological dependency). For this reason, Acupuncture treatment of addictions has not been fully successful."
Whatever the reason, it is certain that acupuncture is not only interesting to study but has offered relief of pain for many people.
I, being into traditional Western medicine, can't say I am ready to try acupuncture for myself as I feel the above chemical reactions could be achieved by other less invasive methods (the needles stuck in me do not turn me on!). But I continue to be impressed that the ancient physicians had discovered methods of pain management, effective and complex enough to baffle our modern scientists.