Placement Of Needles At Acupuncture Points example essay topic

Acupuncture is considered to be a new alternative medicine in western society, and has recently become very popular in the United States ("All About Acupuncture"). Acupuncture is the insertion of hair-fine needles into the body's surface, which is supposed to cause psychological effects on the body to cure the patient of an illness. These illnesses may be emotional mental or physical (Singer). But some doctors question the validity of this practice, and believe that acupuncture may be unsafe (Barrett). The first basis of acupuncture was probably first theorized by Shen Nung about 5000 years ago in a document called "Huang Di Nei Jing" (Singer). Shen Nung believed that there is an energy force running through the entire body called "Qi" (pronounced cheer).

Qi travels through the body in "meridians" or channels. These meridians run vertically up and down the body's surface (Singer). The Qi is supposed to be the mental, spiritual, emotional, and physical aspects of life. The Qi reacting with the forces of the "Yin" and "Yang" influence a person's health (Singer). The Yin and Yang represent the positive and negative forces in the universe ("All About Acupuncture"). "Yin is signified by female attributes, passive, dark, cold, moist, that which moves medially...

Yang is signified by male attributes, light, active, warm, dry, that which moves laterally... ". (Singer). If the Qi in a person's body is not in balance with the Yin and Yang then an illness will befall the person, and he or she should be treated with acupuncture, which corrects this imbalance (Singer). The process of acupuncture requires the placement of needles at acupuncture points so the Qi can be balanced. There are about nine different kinds of acupuncture needles, although six needles are commonly used today (Singer).

The needles vary in size, length, and shape of the head. These needles can be placed between 15^0 and 90^0 angles depending on the treatment that is required. Also the needles may be raised, pushed, twirled or plucked (vibration of the needle) to cause sensations called "de qi" to correct the Qi imbalance in the body. Electrical currents may also be applied to the needles to allow stimulation at the acupuncture points.

Acupuncture is often accompanied by acupressure and burning of herbs near the skin to help correct Qi imbalances (Singer). There are several different theories as to how acupuncture possibly works. First acupuncture might possibly cut pain off from reaching the spinal cord or the brain since many acupuncture points are located on neural structures. Also acupuncture could cause the body to produce a narcotic such as endorphins or, which reduce pain ("All About Acupuncture").

Next acupuncture possibly effects the constrictions or dilating of blood vessels. Last acupuncture may even raise levels of hormones, white blood cells, and overall anti-body levels (Singer). Acupuncture can treat a variety of ailments. Arthritis, allergies, stomach pain, back pain, and neck pain are very commonly treated. Also acupuncture can treat emotional and psychological disorders, as well as addictions to drugs and alcohol; but acupuncture cannot get rid of the mental addictions to drugs and alcohol.

Those who use acupuncture say that the treatments will help the patient and are safe (Singer). Stephen Barrett, M.D. believes that acupuncture is not a sufficient way to treat illness. Few trials on acupuncture have been done with great care, and most trials only study the short-term effects of acupuncture not the long-term effects. Barrett also believes that acupuncture is unsafe. There have been cases where acupuncture caused infection, increased pain, fainting, and even a punctured lung, but the more trained a practitioner is, the less likely he or she is to "mess up" (Barrett). There are few studies done on acupuncture, but this treatment has grown in popularity.

Maybe the popularity of acupuncture has grown because it does seem to cure illness; but this could means that the body might have a Qi that balances with the Yin and the Yang. Whether or not acupuncture is a sufficient "alternative medicine" is unclear, but acupuncture d should be further investigated.

Bibliography

Page " All About Acupuncture". Acupuncture Today. 2001 web Stephen, M.
D. "Acupuncture, Qigong, and "Chinese Medicine". Quake Watch. 2001.
Singer, Jeffrey A. "Acupuncture, A Brief Introduction". 2001 web a cup / acupuncture.