Acupuncture Myths

No one is quite sure how acupuncture works, but there are at least two theories:

The closeness of traditional acupuncture points on the skin to nerves, and acupuncture's facility in curing many kinds of pain, have led to the 'gate theory' explanation of how the theory works. According to theory, pain is slow neural signal traveling from a problem area to the spinal column and on to the brain. The point at which the pain impulse enters the spinal column is a kind of nerve gate. But the sense of touch, which acupuncture stimulates, travels four times as fast as pain impulses. When these faster impulses reach the nerve gate first, they effectively block the entrance of pain signals, preventing the brain from registering them, according to the gate theory.

Another theory is that acupuncture directly causes the body to release certain natural painkillers called endorphins and enkephalins, substance that act like morphine to deaden pain. Exactly how they do that has not yet been established. Supporting this theory is the finding that when a chemical called maloxone, which blocks the action of these natural painkillers, is injected before acupuncture treatment, pain relief also appears to be blocked.

Different Acupuncture Techniques

Basically, very slender needles are used and are inserted in numbers varying from two or three to a dozen or more. A good many doctors now use a technique in which a very small amount of electrical current is fed into the needle to achieve greater stimulating effect. Some specialize in what is called auriculotherapy, in which needles are usually inserted only into various points in the outer ear. Still other doctors dispense with needles altogether and apply ultrasonic energy along the chosen acupuncture points, while at least one Oriental doctor practicing in the United States - he is also a surgeon - prefers to use a very slender hypodermic needle and inject mild solution, usually vitamin, into  acupuncture points. Then there are "needles of light" - laser beams directed at acupuncture points, a new technique that works for many of the same condition needles have treated.

In addition to being a healing art, acupuncture is now being used as a diagnostic tool to help uncover medical and dental problems that are hidden or are in their early stages. Or it can confirm pathology that is obvious. The method came about through a techniques called EAV, or Electroacupuncture According to Voll, which employs electrical stimulation along pressure points to treat various conditions. German physician Reinhold Voll felt that measuring the electrical properties of organs and tissue cells would give an indication of how the body was functioning, so he helped develop a machine - called the dermatron - which did just that. By monitoring energy disturbances in the body, the machine can help pinpoint physical problems. according to Peter Madill, M.D., Voll's representative in the United States and an examiner, reports from Germany indicate that the dermatron can detect such potentially life-threatening disease as multiple sclerosis, heart disease, arteriosclerosis and hypoglycemia in their earliest stages.

The therapeutic potentials of the art are staggering. In modern use, acupuncture is treating a host of health problems, including asthma, alcohol and drug withdrawal, arthritis, sexual problem (such as frigidity and impotence), migraine, ulcers, and even color blindness.

Doctors in Shanghai report that acupuncture is even effective in treating coronary heart disease, especially angina, and may also improve cardiac functions, high blood pressure and blood lipid metabolism.

Western Medicine Teams with Acupuncture

Physician Haig Ignatius is one of hundreds of American M.D.'s who are expanding their medical expertise by learning the art of acupuncture.

"What studying acupuncture did was unspecialize me," says Dr. Ignatius, who spent 15 years in California as an otolaryngologist, an ear, nose and throat specialist, before turning to acupuncture. He had already begun to "recognize the there was a gap in my own specialty" when he was introduced to a Chinese doctor who claimed to have cured nerve deafness by using acupuncture.

"Nerve deafness," Dr., Ignatius points out, " is one thing in my field that Western medicine could do nothing about. There was supposed to be no cure."

Highly skeptical that the acupuncturist could have "done the impossible," Dr., Ignatius set out to find what it was all about. And his research convinced him that "acupuncture really works." Now he is on the staff of the Traditional Acupuncture Foundation in Columbia, Maryland.

Like other physician-acupuncturist, Dr. Ignatius hopes to offer the best of both worlds in a balance of East and West, old and new, traditional and modern.

"Acupuncture can't build an ear after an accident or correct a deformity," says Dr. Ignatius. "You still can't beat Western medicine for that. But acupuncture can deal with chronic complaints: asthma, migraine, arthritis, bursitis, bronchitis and so on."

And since acupuncture is successfully used to relieves symptoms of stress, Dr. Ignatius believes it may actually help prevent heart attacks and help in treating chronic heart conditions.

Related Acupuncture Sites:

Acupuncture.com-- traditional oriental terapies includes acupuncture, herbology, Qi Gong, Chinese, Nutrition, Tui Na and Chinese Massage

Traditional Chinese Medicine Correspondence Program Website

Acupuncture Clinic of Milwaukee is a Chinese traditional Medical clinic specializing in in Acupuncture, Herbology, and Chi-Kung (Qi-Gong)