DAAN Chinese Herbs and Acupuncture

Interesting interview with an acupuncturist, with a good background of what acupuncture is and how it works.

JF: You showed me, on your hand, how deep the needles are inserted, and it’s really not far at all. What exactly happens when a needle is inserted?

EH: According to Chinese medicine, the needle is accessing an energetic frequency that the energy meridian in the body can respond to. We’re using that needle as a conduit to create change in the body and create flow and balance in the body. Now to us, Western-minded individuals who grew up in the United States, that makes absolutely no sense. And that doesn’t answer any of our questions! So to answer our questions, we’ve created studies and used different techniques to actually see what’s happening at the needle site and what’s happening in the brain when he needles are in. And I think that is what’s so frustrating for the acceptance of acupuncture into Western medical society because there isn’t a lot of consistency in the data. You know, just when we think “Oh this is exactly what it’s doing!” it’ll change into something else in another person. Because it’s so individualized.

But they’ve shown, at a very basic level, that it does increase blood flow and circulation to the area, which would be good for many different things, and there is some sort of neurological and muscular response at the needle site where fibers of the muscle actually wrap around the needle, altering that area, so it depends on what they’re trying to do. Clearly the body is reacting in some visible way to that needle, and that’s somehow creating a change.

It’s hard to exactly say what it’s doing that satisfies our cultural mindset. We’re working on the explanation. I’m working on it every day!

A quick rundown of a recent study into how acupuncture works.

Dr. Maiken Nedergaard of the University of Rochester Medical University has published a study that provides the proof many skeptics need. Nedergaard and her team of researchers studied the effects of acupuncture in mice with paw discomfort. The researchers administered thirty minutes of acupuncture to those afflicted with the painful paws. Researchers noted the immediate area surrounding the needle puncture had 24 times the level of adenosine than the rest of the body and the mice experienced a reduction in paw pain. Adenosine is a natural chemical a body produces that acts as a numbing agent to nerves.

Using acupuncture to treat aches and pains and for general health is fairly common, but in Japan, it’s also used as a beauty treatment.

Forget cosmetic surgery. The ancient treatment of acupuncture is gaining new popularity as a beauty secret in Japan about 1,500 years after it first came from China.

As esthetic sessions increasingly go organic or employ traditional remedies, women at the “Beauty World Japan” exhibition this week lined up to try acupuncture, long known for its health advantages.

Inserting tiny needles into faces boosts natural facial healing powers, says therapist Takeshi Kitagawa.

“This is not a medical or surgical procedure,” said Kitagawa, acupuncture therapist and owner of Yojo spa.

“We use the healing powers that a person’s body naturally possesses, and within the general trend toward a more ‘natural beauty’ our acupuncture is very well accepted.”

Acupuncture can be an effective way of boosting your immune system.

This ancient Chinese therapy uses needles inserted at various locations on the body to relieve pain and restore well-being. And it works on flu symptoms, says Daniel Schwartz, a licensed acupuncturist and practitioner of Chinese herbal medicine in Dartmouth.

“Acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine can be helpful to build the immune system and assist the body to get rid of pathogens,” says Schwartz, who has been practicing for more than 25 years.

Schwartz says Chinese medicine has been “addressing these problems for a long, long time,” citing references that date back to 220 A.D. “Today’s practitioners have all those years of experience to help them make the right decisions.”

The location of the acupuncture needles he applies — called acupuncture points — are customized to “suit each individual’s needs,” he says. He might use a different point for treating a cough than he would for a high fever or even a runny nose.

Using acupuncture and Chinese herbs to strengthen a person’s immune system is “very individual and specific,” Schwartz says. Some people have stronger immune systems than others; these people would require less treatment, but “generally, to build one’s immune system, a course of four weekly treatments initially, followed by regular ‘tune-ups,’ could be quite helpful.”

Schwartz’s treatment for H1N1, as with other flus and colds, is highly individualized and would “depend on the symptoms that patient is experiencing at that time, and as the symptoms change, so does the treatment.”

He’s treated more people in the last few years, though not initially for cold and flu symptoms, he says. But once they’ve tried his treatments, people “do come back” when they’re suffering from flu and cold symptoms.

In the search for ways to cope with post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), some patients are finding relief with acupuncture:

When you think of post- traumatic stress, you probably don’t think of feet.

But it’s one of the first places Dr. Lori Jones looks. This English-born acupuncturist says it may look odd – but she nestles needles into specific points on the body. She says that promotes healing.

“We’re not only physical beings,” she explained, “We have our minds and we have our emotions, and when you put the needle in, you can affect those.”

Dr. Jones says she can treat mental and emotional issues — from attention deficit to autism, to post-traumatic stress disorder.

“The incredible thing with using acupuncture is that we have – and certainly my experience is – 97% of any client who comes to me with PTSD gets better within a few weeks. That’s a pretty phenomenal statement.”

She says ally is one of those clients.

“I was actually shot 8 times, in my back and in my arms,” the woman said, quite calmly. Her only physical sign of that robbery last summer is this sling on her arm. But she constantly worries about who is on the other side of her door.

“It’s basically a huge nightmare, is what it is,” she said. “And it’s just something you have to work through, and that’s what I’m doing right now.”

But she says the needles go deeper than her skin. “It just works,” she shrugged. “I can’t tell you how, I just know.”