Traditional Acupuncture

Acupuncture From a Traditional Chinese Medicine Approach

Acupuncture is a component of Traditional Chinese Medicine. It is an ancient form of medicine that originated in China thousands of years ago and has evolved into a complete holistic care system.

It is a non-invasive and natural approach to health and healing that recognizes the integrity of the whole person.  

Acupuncture is used to encourage natural healing, improve energy, reduce or relieve pain and improve function of affected areas of the body. It can be a potent tool for harmonizing psychological and emotional imbalances as well as physical pain, disease and dysfunction.

Most people who experience Acupuncture can start to feel the effects of the treatment immediately, and the effect is cumulative, bringing the body and energy system into greater and greater alignment with every treatment.

Here are a few examples Acupuncture can help with:

A bit about Acupuncture’s cultural versatility

Acupuncture has been used for thousands of years and has been adapted by cultures around the world. As this occurs the approach to diagnosis, treatment and even explanation of it’s function changes according to the culture adapting it. In Japan, a branch of acupuncture slowly developed becoming so very gentle, with the finest of needles usually silicone coating for ease of insertion, and focus on energy balance was included using dipoles. In Korea, a branch of acupuncture began focusing on using only the hand for treatment with very short needles. In the west, more recently, Acupuncture was renamed Dry Needling for various reasons. There was an attempt to keep the word Acupuncture to those extensively trained in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) namely ‘Acupuncturists’. Because this treatment was gaining ground, medical practitioners such as Physicians, Chiropractors, Naturopaths and Physiotherapists could practice simple needling techniques with weekend training. So the term Dry Needling came about to help differentiate training.

Then another branch of Acupuncture called IMS (Inter-muscular stimulation) hit mainstream. Why? Because it’s amazingly effective. As the western culture generally perceives the body and health from a different viewpoint, a term like Inter-Muscular Stimulation was much more suited to the accessibility of the approach. But truly, it’s the same technique used by Acupuncturists who may call it Motor Point Acupuncture in the west, or in China ‘Ashi’ points (meaning painful points). The technique of needling into a shortened muscle to release it is the same, the explanation to why and how is what differs depending on the cultural approach. No they do not use different needles as I’ve seen so often in articles, marketing and so on. Acupuncture, as you now know, is flexible and practitioners around the world use a very wide variety of gauges and lengths.  

That’s the beauty of Acupuncture. It works, so however a culture chooses to adapt it and mold it to fit its preconceived notion of health and wellness doesn’t really matter. What matters is that people are getting relief.