Acupuncture Points
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It's the needles that everyone knows about acupuncture. And it's those needles that prevent most people from looking any further into using acupuncture. Acupuncture works by inserting these fine, metal needles into acupuncture points to manipulate the flow of "qi" or energy through the body. The acupuncture points are numbered from 1 to 41 for the large points, and 1 through 33 for the small points. These points are a major part of the course of study of licensed acupuncturists.
These acupuncture points create an energetic river or system in the body according to TCM, similar to lakes and rivers. Using this water analogy, TCM likens a healthy body to a healthy water system. When there is a free flow of energy, the system of which it is a part is considered healthy. When there is blockage or stagnation of that energy, the system is unhealthy or diseased. By unblocking or strengthening the flow of qi at key points, acupuncture allows the body to heal itself.
One of the biggest obstacles to an acupuncture treatment for most people is their fear of the needles being inserted into their body. Fortunately, however, the insertion of these needles is almost entirely painless. In the hands of skilled, licensed acupuncturists, the insertion of these needles is in most cases painless. When discomfort is experienced, the sensation is similar to a mild ant bite. It is nowhere near as strong as the sensation one often experiences when donating blood.
Western science is still attempting to identify meridians using Western tools. The difficulty for Western scientists in this task lies in the fact that the meridians don't directly correspond to nerve or blood pathways. Some researchers have hypothesized that the meridians are actually located throughout the body's connective tissue.
Western scientists are also attempting to put together the mechanism by which acupuncture points affect the body. New data is suggesting that acupuncture points are actually specialized conductors of the body's biological electromagnetic signals. For example, the flow of a pain signal from a body part to the spinal cord and eventually to the brain are controlled by what Western science posits are "gates" throughout the central nervous system. Like streets and alleys, the body's nerve pathways can handle a limited amount of information or flow through its pathways.
To continue with the streets and alleys metaphor, some signals are given a higher clearance than normal signals such as pain. These higher priority/clearance are like emergency vehicles - ambulances, police cars, fire trucks - which supersede the slower, lower priority signals in their quest to reach the brain. These super signals may even bump the slower signals off the road altogether, preventing them from ever reaching the brain. Acupuncture may generate these priority signals, which crowd out pain signals because of the limited throughput of the nerves. The acupuncture signals may not only diminish the speed and severity of the pain signals, they may actually prevent them from being received by the brain at all. Acupuncture may also trigger the release of chemicals and hormones which reduce pain, and they may also alert the immune system to pay special attention to certain part of the body's roads.
Studies have also found that the stimulation of acupuncture points not only attenuates pain but also affects directly the body's circulation, blood pressure, cell production in blood, and immune system function. The points also stimulate the brain and spinal cord to release chemicals into the rest of the body which alter brain chemistry in a beneficial way.
Does acupuncture work through the body's bio-electric field? Will the meridians one day be mapped by Western tools? Whatever the answer, and whenever Western medicine finally validates the medical knowledge of TCM, there is more than sufficient evidence to show that acupuncture is as effective as Western medicine in relieving many ills and diseases. Does acupuncture do this by actually harmonizing the balance of yin and yang in the body, as TCM suggests, or by some other means? Regardless of the final answer, acupuncture produces amazing results.
Article Source: Articlelogy.com
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