Acupuncture

How Does it Work?

Acupuncture has unfortunately been maligned by cries of pseudo-science despite the evidence, in part because of the poor way in which its theory is explained. It is important to remember that this system of medicine is legitimately ancient - believing to have begun around 100 BC - and in those days they didn’t have the technology or imaging techniques we enjoy today. However, that does not mean their methods weren’t based in science. Through endless empirical evidence they mapped out a system of points that have withstood the test of time. They used language like ‘qi’ because it was the closest equivalent they had to explain complex ideas. Perhaps unfortunately for us in the west this way of explanation has stuck as a part of the medicinal culture. They use the same terminology in China where it has integrated with their history, but practitioner’s in the US use these terms and they sound like hocus pocus.

If instead of energy we called ‘qi’ what it is - the flow of beneficial materials like blood or oxygen - it would make a lot more sense. As we learn more about the biochemical functions of acupuncture we discover that things like increased blood flow through points of higher subcutaneous oxygen saturation or part of what makes the points work. ‘Inner heat’ is a favorite phrase of acupuncturists which can be better explained as inflammation. As such if we explain acupuncture as increasing blood and oxygen flow, delivering nutrients and white blood cells to specific tissues, we can begin to understand how it is that it can treat such a wide range of ailments.

Let me take off my science hat for a minute, though, because there is more to this system than just making things move. As the study of acupuncture and it’s functions becomes more sophisticated, we are learning that there’s a lot we don’t know. Efforts are being made to map the electro-magnetism of points, and within the last decade discoveries like the primo-vascular system lend credence to what the ancient Chinese discovered thousands of years ago.

How Long Does it Take?

Another common question is how long acupuncture takes. This is difficult to answer because it takes in a lot of factors. The duration of the disease, its severity, lifestyle factors, quality of the practitioner and so forth. In general it is rare for one treatment to completely heal an issues, especially a more chronic one. Typically patients seek out actually only after other methods have failed, so the injury has remained for a long time. In such cases a typical treatment cycle is around ten visits before significant, long-term results can be expected.

A good acupuncturist doesn’t just put needles in a patient and leave. They discuss strategies for extending treatment beyond the clinic. Lifestyle and dietary changes are almost always warranted. Training in proper stretching techniques, mindfulness and other tools are offered in order to see the greatest effects. A practitioner of traditional medicine is trained to see the patient as a holistic entity. What we put into our bodies and the environments we live in all have important effects and contribute to our overall well-being.

Ultimately the best way to know if acupuncture is right for you is to try it yourself. Your first visit will consist of a diagnosis and consultation where you can get to know the system and physician. Miami Acupuncture and Herbal Services offers this initial consultation completely free of charge. We would be happy to discuss how we can help you feel better.

What Does it Treat?

The World Health Organization has determined that acupuncture is a useful tool in the treatment of many issues. To contemplate as you scroll through this expansive list; it’s incomplete! Since acupuncture has only relatively recently gained traction in the western world, there is still much yet to be explored about the diseases it treats.

1. Diseases, symptoms or conditions for which acupuncture has been proved-through controlled trials-to be an effective treatment:

• Adverse reactions to radiotherapy and/or chemotherapy

• Allergic rhinitis (including hay fever)

• Biliary colic

• Depression (including depressive neurosis and depression following stroke)

• Dysentery, acute bacillary

• Dysmenorrhoea, primary

• Epigastralgia, acute (in peptic ulcer, acute and chronic gastritis, and gastrospasm)

• Facial pain (including craniomandibular disorders)

• Headache

• Hypertension, essential

• Hypotension, primary

• Induction of labour

• Knee pain

• Leukopenia

• Low back pain

• Malposition of fetus, correction of

• Morning sickness

• Nausea and vomiting

• Neck pain

• Pain in dentistry (including dental pain and temporomandibular dysfunction)

• Periarthritis of shoulder

• Postoperative pain

• Renal colic

• Rheumatoid arthritis

• Sciatica

• Sprain

• Stroke

• Tennis elbow

2. Diseases, symptoms or conditions for which the therapeutic effect of acupuncture has been shown but for which further proof is needed: 

• Abdominal pain (in acute gastroenteritis or due to gastrointestinal spasm)

• Acne vulgaris

• Alcohol dependence and detoxification

• Bell’s palsy

• Bronchial asthma

• Cancer pain

• Cardiac neurosis

• Cholecystitis, chronic, with acute exacerbation

• Cholelithiasis

• Competition stress syndrome

• Craniocerebral injury, closed

• Diabetes mellitus, non-insulin-dependent

• Earache

• Epidemic haemorrhagic fever

• Epistaxis, simple (without generalized or local disease)

• Eye pain due to subconjunctival injection

• Female infertility

• Facial spasm

• Female urethral syndrome

• Fibromyalgia and fasciitis

• Gastrokinetic disturbance

• Gouty arthritis

• Hepatitis B virus carrier status

• Herpes zoster (human (alpha) herpesvirus 3)

• Hyperlipaemia

• Hypo-ovarianism

• Insomnia

• Labour pain

• Lactation, deficiency

• Male sexual dysfunction, non-organic

• Ménière disease

• Neuralgia, post-herpetic

• Neurodermatitis

• Obesity

• Opium, cocaine and heroin dependence

• Osteoarthritis

• Pain due to endoscopic examination

• Pain in thromboangiitis obliterans

• Polycystic ovary syndrome (Stein-Leventhal syndrome)

• Postextubation in children

• Postoperative convalescence

• Premenstrual syndrome

• Prostatitis, chronic

• Pruritus

• Radicular and pseudoradicular pain syndrome

• Raynaud syndrome, primary

• Recurrent lower urinary-tract infection

• Reflex sympathetic dystrophy

• Retention of urine, traumatic

• Schizophrenia

• Sialism, drug-induced

• Sjögren syndrome

• Sore throat (including tonsillitis)

• Spine pain, acute

• Stiff neck

• Temporomandibular joint dysfunction

• Tietze syndrome

• Tobacco dependence

• Tourette syndrome

• Ulcerative colitis, chronic

• Urolithiasis

• Vascular dementia

• Whooping cough (pertussis)