Chinese Medical Acupuncture
Unleash Your Body’s Natural Energy
Medical acupuncture is one of the most powerful and effective healing treatments on earth because it acts directly on the causes of illness and pain.
Is acupuncture safe?
As with any medical procedure, which involves piercing the skin, there is a risk of infection associated with acupuncture. However the risk is negligible if your practitioner follows a couple of simple guidelines:
- Use sterile equipment. At Traditional Chinese Medicine Australia we use acupuncture needles made of medical grade stainless steel. Needles are stored in sterile packaging until moments before we use them.
- Disinfect that area to be treated. Before we insert an acupuncture needle we always disinfect that skin with an alcohol swab.
Does acupuncture hurt?
The short answer to this question is generally ‘no’… but now and then you may feel a slight pin-prick as we insert the needle.
Before I go further into answering this important question I want to explain an important distinction between our methods at Traditional Chinese Medicine Australia and many other local acupuncturists:
You see, there is more than one way to insert an acupuncture needle. Many acupuncturists in Australia use plastic applicator tubes to help them insert their needles.
On the bright side, using these applicator tubes does allow for a slightly faster insertion, which means there is less chance you will feel the pin-prick I mentioned before.
However on the negative side, using applicator tubes takes away from your doctors ability to get medical feedback about what’s happening in your body.
You see, there are a number of things your doctor should be feeling for when he or she inserts a needle: things like chi flow and the extent of any blockage at that point.
Because we use the traditional – hands on – method of needle insertion at Traditional Chinese Medicine Australia, we can guarantee you the best treatment that Chinese medical theory has to offer.
The same cant necessarily be said about all acupuncturists in Australia.
Has Acupuncture been proven scientifically to work?
Western medical science has never been sure how to approach acupuncture. This seems to be because the foundations of acupuncture – chi, meridians, and sang fu organ theory – are not observable, the same way arteries and blood are, for example.
However there is increasingly strong support from the mainstream western medical establishment that acupuncture is an effective treatment for certain conditions. In fact the World Health Organisation has identified over 40 such conditions, including: acute and chronic pain, anxiety, back and sine problems, constipation and diarrhea, headache, tinnitus and urinary incontinence, to name a few.
The list grow over the coming years as the results of scientific studies now underway are published.
Chi is the Key!
Medical acupuncture restores the proper flow of life-giving energy, called chi (also spelt ch’I, qi or ki) in your body. When chi flows uninterrupted you experience good health. Your organs function the way they should, your nerves and tissues get the nutrients they need and your system processes and gets rid of toxins faster than they can accumulate.
On the other hand, when chi does not flow smoothly you start to experience the symptoms of poor health. (Please bear in mind that from a traditional Chinese Medicine point of view poor health can mean anything from simple tiredness, a headache, feeling unmotivated ect. right through to life threatening illnesses.)
Chi, Meridians & Organs
Chi flows through your body along channels or meridians. Therefore if your chi is not flowing properly, your acupuncturist will simulate one or more of your meridians.
The most common stimulation technique involves the insertion of ultra-fine needles, 1-2 ½ millimetres into your skin. However, depending on your condition your acupuncturist may decide to give you moxibustion instead, which involves warming your chi with burning cones or sticks of a delicious-smelling moxa wool.
Each of your meridians is associated with an organ. So for instance your heart meridian transports chi to and from your heart, your liver meridian transports chi to and from your liver ect.
When a traditional Chinese medicine practitioner examines you, his or her diagnosis will include an examination of your how your organs are functioning. If a particular organ isn’t functioning properly, then that organ’s meridian will be blocked in some way.
That’s how your doctor knows which meridian to stimulate. Stimulating – or unblocking – a meridian gets the chi flowing freely and as a result, the organ which had a problem starts to function properly again. And you’re on the road to good health again!
