Acupuncture Basics
What is 'acupuncture'?
Acupuncture is a therapeutic modality that's used in traditional Chinese medicine. It's an ancient therapy that involves the insertion of needles into specific points in the body. And the theory is that by stimulating these points with a needle, we actually trigger the body's own healing mechanisms.
What is 'electro-acupuncture'?
Electro-acupuncture is short for electrical-acupuncture and essentially what that involves is something very similar to acupuncture. In fact we start-out with acupuncture where needles are inserted into these specific points in the body but after those needles are put in, we also attach little electrodes to these needles. Those electrodes are then stimulated by a battery device, very low voltage actually. The idea is to try to amp-up the effect of the simple needling. We often use electro-acupuncture or again electrical-acupuncture in neurological cases, for instance people have had stroke where whose nerve function are not quite perfect, or people who have muscle weakness or wasting, because the idea is to try stimulate that body part more aggressively.
What are the origins of acupuncture?
The origins of acupuncture go back to ancient China. And as far as we know, it probably goes back at least 2,000 years. We think that it might go back even further: about 5,000 years by some estimates. It probably developed by trial and error, really just empirically, where someone probably discovered that stimulating one point on the body actually had certain effects on the body's functioning and healing properties. And as a result, this knowledge was probably passed down from generation to generation, and throughout 1,000, 2,000, 5,000 years, this knowledge base grew to form Chinese medicine and acupuncture.
Why should I use acupuncture?
Acupuncture can be used for a variety of reasons. For instance, if you go to China and Asia, where they practiced it originally, it's really used to treat almost all conditions. Certainly it's more effective for some conditions than others. In order to know what condition that perhaps you're suffering from that you want to figure out whether acupuncture might be right for you, the best way is to first consult with an acupuncturist. Then they can give you an idea of whether your condition would respond better with acupuncture versus, say, other therapies, such as medications or herbal supplements.
Do I have to believe in acupuncture for it to work?
You do not have to believe in acupuncture for it to work. Acupuncture has many documented effects on the body whether you believe it or not. The insertion of the needle triggers different changes and various points trigger different things in the body and that is why an acupuncturist will select different points to achieve different body changes for your condition. But for the most part, whether you believe or not, those changes are taking place when the needle is inserted.
What is an acupuncture treatment used for?
Acupuncture can be used several ways. If someone has a specific medical condition such as a headache or abdominal pain or fatigue or insomnia or mood issues such as anxiety or depression, we can do specific points that have been shown to be beneficial for those particular symptoms. However, acupuncture is special, very different from what we are familiar with conventional medicine in the sense that we can also use acupuncture to stimulate broad healing mechanisms in our bodies. So an example of this is when we feel stressed, for instance, our bodies are affected on multiple levels and many changes in many systems of our bodies, including immunologically our hormones, cardiovascular systems, you name it, those things get tweaked and acupuncture is a nice therapy because it actually stimulates our whole body's healing mechanisms and doesn't target just one specific system.
Do all acupuncturists use the same treatments?
The challenge with any procedure or any therapy that is driven by a technician--either surgery, physical therapy, massage therapy, and acupuncture is no different--where there's actually someone performing that therapy, there will always be a variance depending on the technical skills and the style of needling and the point selection chosen by each individual acupuncturists. So yes, there can be some variety between various acupuncturists who are treating the same person or the same condition. However, across the board, I think there are general principles that guide an acupuncturist in terms of their point selection and their needling style that should achieve similar effects across the board.
Can anyone get an acupuncture treatment?
Most anyone can get an acupuncture treatment. There are very few people, actually, who wouldn't be candidates for acupuncture. The people who absolutely cannot get acupuncture would be people who have an inability to sit still, or lie still, if that's a very uncomfortable position for them. Even people who are pregnant, even people who are on blood thinners are actually candidates for acupuncture. These are relative cautions, that we want to be a little bit more careful with these folks, but there's no reason why they can't have a safe, and effective acupuncture treatment. So for the most part, most anyone is a candidate for acupuncture, as long as they can sit there with the needles.
Does acupuncture work on animals?
The question of whether acupuncture works on animals is actually very intriguing. There are actually, if you look back in ancient medical Chinese texts, there are maps of animal bodies outlining acupuncture points and acupuncture meridians, or channels, that we see in a very similar way that we see maps of human beings. And in fact that area, animal acupuncture, is a growing field now where a lot of high performance animals, for instance, thoroughbreds who race often have acupuncture therapy to help them perform better in also to treat any repetitive strain injuries or any other such problems.
What devices are used during an acupuncture treatment?
Acupuncture actually requires very little equipment for the most part. The major equipment is the needle, which is pretty minimal for the most part. You need some alcohol swabs to clean off the skin. That's really about it. There are other, fancier, types of acupuncture, such as electro-acupuncture, which would require an electrical stimulation device. But for the most part, all you need is a clean surface, alcohol swab, a couple of needles. You're good.
Is an acupuncture treatment safe?
Acupuncture is actually one of the safest interventions that you can do. The cautions that you want to be careful for are obviously tissue trauma meaning when we insert the needle, we want to make sure that we avoid critical organs such as the lung, such as blood vessels or such as the spinal cord even. These things are very easily avoidable when acupuncture is done in the hands of a skilled acupuncturist. In terms of other side effects, after an acupuncture session some people may feel a little bit lightheaded or sedated. But for the most part, that is also very minimal. So yeah, generally speaking acupuncture is very safe, very few side effects compared to medications that we take orally that generally affect the system if we have other unwanted side effects. For the most part, acupuncture does pretty well.
Can acupuncture needles cause infection?
There's a lot of concern over acupuncture because it uses needles being inserted into the body over infectious issues such as, getting HIV or hepatitis from the needles. That in the modern world is a very rare thing. The reason is because nowadays, we pretty much use sterile single use disposable needles. For instance in the state of California, the law requires that acupuncturist use only these types of needles. So, in the olden days when needles were I guess more difficult to manufacture, certain people would re-sterilize needles after use, but that simply doesn't take place very much. In the state of California, it does not. I think the standards are pretty uniform across the United States. And even in Asia, even in China, when that practice was more common. In modern times it's very rarely seen.
Should I worry about skin infection during acupuncture?
During an acupuncture session, because we are poking the skin with a needle, we are always concerned about a skin infection. To avoid this, there is a standard practice called the clean needle technique where we clean off the skin with an alcohol swab just to make sure that we have removed any germs or dirt that might cause a skin infection prior to insertion of the needle and this pretty ensures that we minimize the risk of skin infections from acupuncture.
Is an acupuncture treatment painful?
Most acupuncture treatments are not painful. This is one of the major myths that persists out there about acupuncture and I think this goes back to our being conditioned as young children against vaccinations and needles in general. The needles that are used in acupuncture are so hair-thin that it is very hard to see them against natural light. They are so hair-thin that upon insertion of the needle, most people may feel a little momentary static like sensation but once the needle is inserted, most people are surprised to find that they can hardly detect that the needle is present. So for the most part, acupuncture is not painful. There are ways. There are certain occasions when we do go for stronger stimulation of those needles and that stronger stimulation may elicit more sensation or more pain. Most people feel that sensation as more of a heaviness or pressure rather than a sharp pain. The most important thing to do if you feel any pain during an acupuncture session is to communicate this to your acupuncturist so they can ask you better questions to determine whether this is the right acupuncture sensation or whether this may be, say, an irritation of a skin nerve that is not going to be beneficial. For the most part again, most people are very happily surprised that acupuncture is not painful.
Will I bleed during an acupuncture treatment?
Many people are afraid of blood or the sight of blood when it comes to any sort of medical procedure, and acupuncture with the insertion of needles into the body is obviously one potential concern. Actually, again the needles used in acupuncture are so hair thin, that for most people after the insertion and removal of the needle there isn't even a drop of blood. In fact, acupuncture is so low in its likelihood to cause bleeding that people who are on blood thinners, such as Coumadin or Warfarin, people who are on aspirin or anti-inflammatories, all of these agents that generally we use to thin the blood, don't have problems with acupuncture. They're wonderful candidates for it, and acupuncture can be performed on such people very safely.
Who can administer acupuncture treatments?
The question of who can administer acupuncture treatments really varies depending on the state and the country. For instance, in the United States, generally speaking, the person who would administer acupuncture treatments would be a licensed acupuncturist. Now, licensing requirements vary from state to state, and in the broad United States for instance, there is a licensing standard determined nationally by a national accrediting association known as the 'NCCAOM.' After passing an exam, an acupuncturist is given a license to practice under that certification organization. In the state of California the requirements are much more strict. People must graduate with a masters level degree in oriental medicine, then they're candidates to sit for the state licensing exam, and upon passing that exam they are issued a license in acupuncture. In the United States, certain health professionals such as physicians and dentists may also practice acupuncture with some minimal training standards. In other countries, only physicians are allowed to practice acupuncture, and in certain other countries acupuncturists are 'stand-alone' practitioners.
Are acupuncture treatments covered by medical insurance?
More and more so acupuncture is being covered by plans. There has been an increased trend over the last two decades to incorporate coverage for non-conventional therapies such as acupuncture. And most private insurances nowadays do offer some coverage benefit for acupuncture. Certain plans pay very well, cover the vast majority of the costs. Other plans give you a certain allotment towards acupuncture benefits. As it stands, Medicare currently does not cover acupuncture benefits and that is a pretty large part in the United States
