SO HOW DOES ACUPUNCTURE WORK?
If you asked me what goes on in your body and mind during acupuncture, or how the application of tiny needles could possibly improve your health, the answer might surprise you.
I don't know.
Let me explain. Acupuncture is a very precise discipline, based on a complex medical model . That means I can always use my experience and training to reproduce very specific results. But exactly what goes on inside the body is still a mystery.
Western medical science has taken quite an interest in Acupuncture. There has been some very positive laboratory research and much scientific speculation. Theories range from pain control through endorphin release (so-called ‘happy hormones'), to the ‘pain gate' theory, to ideas about a sophisticated communication system within the body based on negative ion flows. Personally I find this very interesting, but slightly irrelevant to the day to day task of getting people better. What's more none of these modern, scientific theories account for the full range of Acupuncture's potential to heal.
The only theory that does explain the totality of the therapy seems to be the ancient Chinese one. In brief, the idea is that our being consists of subtle communication channels, (meridians), accessed via acupuncture points all over the body. These meridians are said to control the balanced flow of ch'i – the ‘life force'. When ch'i becomes imbalanced, we become ill. Acupuncture needles are said to correct the flow of ch'i, thus restoring health.
To us it may sound far-fetched, but if one proceeds from this viewpoint, people do tend to get better! Of course some will say it's ‘all in the mind', a mere placebo. Well maybe, but I've seen Acupuncture practised on horses, dogs and newborn babies. They regained their health remarkably quickly, and weren't really in a position to imagine any of it!
TO FIND OUT MORE, PLEASE CALL ROB LONG AT THE WALSINGHAM CLINIC, TRURO, 01872 263163.
I don't know.
Let me explain. Acupuncture is a very precise discipline, based on a complex medical model . That means I can always use my experience and training to reproduce very specific results. But exactly what goes on inside the body is still a mystery.
Western medical science has taken quite an interest in Acupuncture. There has been some very positive laboratory research and much scientific speculation. Theories range from pain control through endorphin release (so-called ‘happy hormones'), to the ‘pain gate' theory, to ideas about a sophisticated communication system within the body based on negative ion flows. Personally I find this very interesting, but slightly irrelevant to the day to day task of getting people better. What's more none of these modern, scientific theories account for the full range of Acupuncture's potential to heal.
The only theory that does explain the totality of the therapy seems to be the ancient Chinese one. In brief, the idea is that our being consists of subtle communication channels, (meridians), accessed via acupuncture points all over the body. These meridians are said to control the balanced flow of ch'i – the ‘life force'. When ch'i becomes imbalanced, we become ill. Acupuncture needles are said to correct the flow of ch'i, thus restoring health.
To us it may sound far-fetched, but if one proceeds from this viewpoint, people do tend to get better! Of course some will say it's ‘all in the mind', a mere placebo. Well maybe, but I've seen Acupuncture practised on horses, dogs and newborn babies. They regained their health remarkably quickly, and weren't really in a position to imagine any of it!
TO FIND OUT MORE, PLEASE CALL ROB LONG AT THE WALSINGHAM CLINIC, TRURO, 01872 263163.