Acupuncture (Back to Top)
What is Acupuncture?
According to Wikipedia, in China, the practice of acupuncture can perhaps be traced as far back as the stone age, with the Bian shi, or sharpened stones. Stone acupuncture needles dating back to 3000 B.C. have been found by archeologists in Inner Mongolia. Clearer evidence exists from the 1st millennium BCE, and archeological evidence has been identified with the period of the Han dynasty (202 BC–220 AD). Forms of it are also described in the literature of traditional Korean medicine where it is called chimsul. It is also important in Kampo, the traditional medicine system of Japan.
Health is a condition of balance of yin and yang within the body. Particularly important in acupuncture is the free flow of Qi (pronounced 'Chee'), a difficult-to-translate concept that pervades Chinese philosophy and is commonly translated as "vital energy"). Qi is immaterial and hence yang; its yin, material counterpart is Blood (capitalized to distinguish it from physiological blood, and very roughly equivalent to it). Acupuncture treatment regulates the flow of Qi and Blood, tonifying where there is deficiency, draining where there is excess, and promoting free flow where there is stagnation. An axiom of the medical literature of acupuncture is "no pain, no blockage; no blockage, no pain."Many patients claim to experience the sensations of stimulus known in Chinese as de qi ("obtaining the Qi" or "arrival of the Qi"). This kind of sensation was historically considered to be evidence of effectively locating the desired point. (There are some electronic devices now available which will make a noise when what they have been programmed to describe as the "correct" acupuncture point is pressed).
TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) treats the human body as a whole that involves several "systems of function" generally named after anatomical organs but not directly associated with them. The Chinese term for these systems is Zang Fu, where zang is translated as "viscera" or solid organs and fu is translated as "bowels" or hollow organs. In order to distinguish systems of function from physical organs, Zang Fu are capitalized in English, thus Lung, Heart, Kidney, etc. Disease is understood as a loss of balance of Yin, Yang, Qi and Blood (which bears some resemblance to homeostasis). Treatment of disease is attempted by modifying the activity of one or more systems of function through the activity of needles, pressure, heat, etc. on sensitive parts of the body of small volume traditionally called "acupuncture points" in English, or "xue" (x, cavities) in Chinese. This is referred to in TCM as treating "patterns of disharmony."
Herbal Medicine (Back to Top)
Herbal Medicine is the therapeutic use of plants, and is one of the oldest forms of health care in the world. Depending on your specific needs, we prescribe specific herbs that produce and contain a variety of chemical substances that act upon the body. Different herbs have been effectively used for a wide range of medicinal purposes including pain relief, hormone balancing, sleep enhancement, improved digestion, skin soothing, and stress relief.
Moxibustion (Back to Top)
Moxibustion is a traditional Chinese medicine technique that involves the burning of mugwort, a small, spongy herb, to facilitate healing. Moxibustion has been used for healing purposes throughout Asia for thousands of years. The purpose of moxibustion, as with most forms of traditional Chinese medicine, is to strengthen the blood, stimulate the flow of Qi (energy), and enhance overall vitality and health.
Among other benefits, a landmark study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 1998 found that up to 75% of women suffering from breech presentations before childbirth had fetuses that rotated to the normal position after receiving moxibustion at an acupuncture point on the bladder meridian.