AcupunctureAcupuncture
is a way of encouraging the body to promote its own natural healing process and to improve
functioning. This is done by inserting needles and applying heat or electrical stimulation
at very precise points on the body.
The classic Chinese explanation for how acupuncture works
is that channels of energy run in regular patterns through the body and over its surface.
These channels, called "meridians," are like flowing rivers that irrigate and
nourish the tissues. Blood flow and nervous pulses are also said to follow meridians
through the body to various structures and organs. An obstruction in the movement of these
energy rivers acts like a dam to back up the flow in one part of the body and restrict it
in others. It was thought by the Chinese that any obstruction, blockage or deficiency of
energy, blood and nervous pulses would eventually lead to disease.
Needling the acupuncture points is thought to unblock the
obstruction at the dams, and reestablish the regular flow. Acupuncture treatments can
therefore help the body's internal organs to correct imbalances in their digestion,
absorption, and energy production activities, and in the circulation of their energy
through the meridians.
The modern Western explanation is that needling the
acupuncture points stimulates the nervous system to release natural opiates (endorphines)
in the muscles, spinal cord, and brain. These chemicals change the experience of pain, and
promote the release of other chemicals and hormones which influence the body's own
internal regulating system.
This balancing activity is explained by traditional
Chinese medicine in the balance of YIN and YANG. Yin represents "negative" and
Yang represents "positive." The main principle of Chinese medicine is to keep
the Yin and Yang balance or bring Yin and Yang back to balance--the healthy state of the
body.
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