What is This Acupuncture Anyway?
Acupuncture hails from China and it’s beginnings can be traced back over 2000 years, making it one of the world’s oldest known health care systems! Acupuncture is the insertion of very fine needles into specific sites called acupuncture points, in order to clear energy blockages and also maintain a healthy flow of chi or qi through the body.
What Specific Benefits Can I Reap From Acupuncture?
Being a non-invasive healing technique that works with the energy in your body rather than attempting to over stimulate some areas to compensate for the poor functioning of others (as is the case with many pain relief drugs), acupuncture can assist in a wide range of pathologies. Acupuncture has been touted to be beneficial in the treatment of migraines, stroke, tinnitus, asthma, bowel problems, actually pretty much anything you can think of.
Acupuncture is thought to work by stimulating specific energy channels at the sites the needles are inserted. Stimulating these energy channels releases any blockages at the specific sites, and is thus thought to remedy ailments relating to the blocked acupuncture areas.
Because acupuncture works with energy channels that are already inside the body, rather than pumping in chemicals that are foreign to our bodies, the natural healing abilities of the body are stimulated so the immune system benefits in the long run as well.
Is Acupuncture Safe?
It’s rare to experience side-effects from acupuncture since it’s all about redirecting energy that’s already in your body to begin with. However, if you have a major blockage in your shoulders, for example, and all this energy is redirected in an acupuncture session, you might end up with a bit of a headache as the energy channels even out. Similarly, symptoms of some ailments can worsen over the few days following an acupuncture session as energy rebalances in the body. This should not be taken as a negative sign, it’s just verification that the treatment is starting to work its magic!
The needles used in acupuncture are smooth ended (rather than hollow), stainless steel and solid, so if you’re worried about pain worry no more! The most you will feel when they are being inserted is a mild sting, and that’s if you feel anything at all. Once they’ve been inserted you wouldn’t even know they were there. Because the needles are sterilized before use and disposed of immediately after use there is no risk of infection from an acupuncture treatment.
If you have an ailment that isn’t being cured by the chemical band-aids that are palmed out by regular GP’s these days, you have nothing to lose. Give acupuncture a go!
