Understanding Acupuncture

By Tracy Soltesz, LAc, MAc

Kunlun Mountain Acupuncture, Inc.

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Understanding Acupuncture

For centuries, prior to the introduction of westernized medicine in Asia, Chinese Medicine and acupuncture was the sole form of health care. Today, the World Health Organization (WHO) states that acupuncture is the primary form of health care for one-third of the world population.

Your doctor uses certain words to describe the body's diseases, disorders, or groupings of symptoms that occur simultaneously. The same is true of Chinese Medicine, but acupuncturists use different labels or groupings than a doctor does. For example, the “Liver” system in acupuncture includes the liver, but also the eyes, the menstrual system, insomnia, and can be associated with high blood pressure.

Your acupuncturist understands these groupings and rather than focusing on one symptom, she creates a treatment plan that addresses multiple symptoms at once. While you may come to her office for migraines, you'll likely see improvement in your sleep quality, immune functioning, tension carried in the shoulders, ringing in the ears, and cold hands and feet.

People who say acupuncture works on superstition haven't kept up on their medical journal readings. Numerous verifiable research studies have shown acupuncture to be as or more successful in treating certain conditions than its conventional medicine counterpart. For example, one study showed that acupuncture was the most effective treatment method tested for smoking cessation, at least 25% more successful than commonly prescribed pharmaceuticals.

Brain imaging scans show measurable increases in the neural activity of pain-reducing centers throughout the brain when a real acupuncture point is stimulated with the correct needle as opposed to sham points or points that are improperly stimulated. For this reason, it's important that you find an acupuncturist who has had proper training. Did you know that licensed acupuncturists (L.Ac.) in Maryland are required to have completed at least a Master degree level graduate education including a minimum of 3,000 Chinese Medicine classroom and clinical training hours?

Understanding the holistic nature of acupuncture makes it easier to see why the National Institute of Health and WHO recommend it for over 55 symptoms, including migraines; fibromyalgia; low back pain; carpal tunnel syndrome; sleep disorders; gastrointestinal disorders such as ulcers, diarrhea, constipation, and indigestion; urinary difficulties; sexual dysfunctions, menstrual disorders and infertility; sinusitis; asthma; allergies; bronchitis; bone, muscle and joint disorders such as arthritis; hypertension; and psychological disorders including depression and anxiety.