What is acupuncture?
How can a tiny needle, no bigger than a cat’s whisker, change the way you feel?Below is a basic description of acupuncture for those who are unfamiliar with the medicine.
Acupuncture has been practiced in Asia for centuries. Before there were antibiotics and MRI’s there were acupuncturists, and the millions of people that thrived with this form of treatment through the centuries are a testimony to its efficacy.
Below are some scenarios to illustrate the range and potential of acupuncture as a beneficial healing tool for contemporary society:
- You emerge from a car accident shaken but intact, with frayed nerves and neck pain that won’t go away. Acupuncture can calm your emotions and assist your body in healing the neck strain.
- Strong emotions arise out of feelings of betrayal or the loss of a loved one. Many of us benefit from the use of antidepressants after such events, but eventually wish to live life without their aid. Acupuncture can help restore a sense of calm, strength, and well-being to your emotions, and allow you to work with your prescribing physician to eliminate or lower antidepressant use.
- You have been given a diagnosis of colitis, or arthritis, or some other “itis”; acupuncture can help your body eliminate symptoms while healing the causes of the underlying disharmony.
- Pruning the hedge you hop off the ladder and sprain your ankle. Acupuncture can reduce swelling and pain immediately, and also speed the ligament healing process.
- Life seems to stay on the level of high overdrive, and you find the stress level leaves you unreasonably angry, or drained of energy. Acupuncture can restore energy and reverse the patterns that lead to this feeling of an engine revved up with the brakes left on.
- After flying across the United States you have a case of jet lag. Acupuncture can help your body restore its natural rhythms and eliminate the effects of travel.
Used as preventative medicine acupuncture keeps you healthy. As life progresses the shifts and strains of living, working, and aging, and the changing of the seasons, can constrict the natural flow of the body’s energy. Maintenance helps keep your system from getting out of balance, which is the precursor to disease.
How does acupuncture work?
Studies show that acupuncture stimulates the immune system, triggers the release of endorphins (the body’s natural pain killers), boosts the production of red and white blood cells, and more. If I talk from the perspective of Chinese medicine I’d say it helps the body regulate the flow of energy to heal itself.
What does the acupuncturist do?
The first step is to observe the state of the Qi (pronounced “chee”). Qi is what we might call the vital force of life, the essence that moves the seasons through their course and also gives us the ability to live and breath—and aids the body in healing itself. This is done in a variety of ways beyond the simple gathering of information about past and present symptoms. I might ask how these things are perceived and managed in day-to-day living. I would also take the pulse, observe the colors in the face, listen to the tones of the voice, palpate the belly, and look at the tongue. All aspects—body, mind and spirit, are considered. Each of the pieces of information, when looked at together, yields a diagnosis deeper than the level of symptoms. This is what is meant by “holistic” medicine: the observation of the whole to find solutions to the ailing pieces. From all the information gathered a diagnosis is made of the health of the 5 Elements, the 5 component energy states that all living organisms are composed of: metal, water, wood, fire, and earth. Delicate needles are placed at points that allow the body to correct the disharmony that manifests as symptoms. The number of needles varies, from one to twenty. They may stay in for half a minute, or 45 minutes, depending on the situation.
Do I have to believe in it?
No. Although faith, hope, and belief are powerful tools that can aid healing, they aren’t necessary. In fact acupuncture is also used effectively on animals.
Is it safe?
Acupuncture is homeostatic—self-balancing—and so it doesn’t have the serious side effects associated with drugs or surgeries. The needles are purchased sterile, used once, and then disposed of.
What is a treatment like?
Each session begins with a short interview followed by taking the pulse. Then a few needles, delicate as a hair and equally as flexible, are inserted and withdrawn. Many people find their initial reaction is one of relaxation—far from what one might expect a needle to evoke. The sensations the needles create are described in a variety of ways such as a dull achyness, or energized, pulsing, or the sensation one gets from a pair of magnets that are pulled apart. Symptoms may abate immediately or within a few days, or if the problem is of a long-standing duration, slowly and over the course of time. Every person has a different level of health and response rate, and so the number of visits varies.
Does Insurance Cover Acupuncture?
Laura is a provider with several insurance companies, including ACN Group, Aetna, Alternare, American Wholehealth Networks, ASHN, Axia Wholehealth Networks, CIGNA, City of Portland employees (includes school teachers, etc.), CHP, Engage, Health Net, Healthways Whole Health, Innova, Kaiser, Lifewise of Oregon, Medicaid, ODS Healthplans, Optum Health, Pacificare, Primara Blue Cross, Providence Preferred, Regence Blue Cross Blue Shield, and Reliant. Auto Personal Injury Protection also covers acupuncture. Check your most current insurance provider list to see if I am listed as a provider on your plan, as contractors change occasionally.