acuforwell

"I have a much more balanced life," says she. Redding firmly believes in this form of medicine, receiving the needle treatment herself once a week.

It wasn't until Redding was playing basketball and studying kinesiology at Simon Fraser University that she began to learn more about her body and ways of caring for it. "I was playing basketball and dealing with injury so it was nice knowing what was going on with my body," she said.

Redding discovered she preferred a more natural approach to treatment than pharmaceuticals. "What I really like about it is the holistic approach, how it looks at the mind and body," Redding said.

Working six days a week offering acupuncture treatment and manning the herbal dispensary, Redding treated physical ailments like colds and flu, back injuries, heart problems, and diabetes, as well as with emotional trauma, alongside Beijing doctors. And her services were welcomed by both patients and doctors, she said. "I think they were impressed we were interested in a medicine that was rooted in their culture," she said.

Redding was also impressed by how the Chinese have merged their traditional form of treatment with Western medicine, and she hopes to bring that fusion to the North Shore by showing people that acupuncture in particular can be an alternative treatment for many conditions - from aches and pains to allergies, common colds, depression, and addiction.

"I definitely feel like I'm playing a large educational role," said Redding of her duties as an Acupuncturist. And that secret Redding knows but is more than willing to share? "The needles don't hurt."

Posted by Nancy_lbn

In general, pain relief is one of the great success stories of acupuncture treatment. Particularly, acupuncture can help greatly minimize or alleviate altogether common pain experienced during menstruation. Treatment time for acupuncture can vary between 45 minutes to an hour with several follow-up treatments. Chinese herbal medicine also can be used in conjunction with acupuncture, to assist in promoting and maintaining smooth circulation of the body's Qi (vital force). Regulating Qi circulation will aid in prevention of cramps in future menstrual cycles. Herbal formulas are specially customized to fit the needs of each individual.

As with any medical concern, it is always important to be thoroughly evaluated by your medical doctor to rule out serious potential causes of painful menses such as inflammation of the pelvic region, endometriosis, etc. When looking for an acupuncture provider, find someone who is a licensed acupuncturist. Many insurance providers cover acupuncture treatments for various conditions.

It is estimated that in UK alone, around 15% of the population suffers from migraine, out of which two thirds are women. Jane Elliot, a medical reporter at the BBC talks about migraine and acupuncture, to mark Migraine Awareness Week.

According to Jane, in ones childhood, migraine can give rise to a number of reactions such as vomiting and headaches, which might be triggered with the smallest of actions such as drinking too much juice, red wine, eating chocolates, exhaustion, or even getting too very excited.

Jane Elliot says “First comes hours of excruciating pain and feelings of depressing nausea, then a welcome relief as I eventually vomit and as the pain recedes and I can fall into sleep. “

Migraines normally last from few hours to few days continuously too. Jane relates that her migraines normally last for about eight hours on an average. Though she tried a number of drugs to prevent migraine, none of them were totally successful. Some of them worked on her attacks, but left her nauseated.

Jane was recommended Imigran Recovery, Sumaptriptan, the counter drug. Although it worked for her, she wanted to explore other alternatives as she did not want to be reliant on too many drugs. Jane was recommended and sponsored for acupuncture treatments by her mother, who heard about the relation between migraine and acupuncture in a TV show. Jane decided to give it a shot, without any initial hopes.

Christina, Jane’s acupuncturist advised her to change her diet habits. She was asked to cut down on caffeine and increase her water consumption instead. Acupuncture sessions involved gentle head massages and needles placed on specific points on her body.

The first week after the treatment was accompanied with two attacks and the week after that, one. During the third week, Jane was completely migraine free. After that, she was attacked by migraine about 3 months later only, which was also looked after by acupuncture.

The above is one of the many cases where acupuncture has proved to be successful in places where other drugs and medications have failed.

Nowadays, acupuncture is being recommended against almost all types of pains in various parts of the world. The success rate of acupuncture has assured most of the people about its advantages. Tara Nolan, a real estate agent, who was suffering from back and neck pains complained about not being able to drive without undergoing pain until a masseuse sent her to acupuncturist Paula Lord. Tara has now been taking acupuncture treatments since November.

Dr. Lord had a masters degree and a national license to practice this form of holistic medicine. "It is basically known for getting to the source of the problem”, says Dr. Lord. Tara stated that the treatment has helped with the after effects of chemotherapy too.

Acupuncture basically involves piercing tiny, sterile needles into specific points on the body, depending upon the pain or disorder suffered from. It works by maintaining the balance of the flow of energy through pathways called meridians inside the body.

"You could do all sorts of things for headaches. We decided to try a little experiment of our own. I've always had some knee problems dealing with ligaments, tendons and even arthritis. So we decided to give Dr. Lord a try. Now the question in all this is does it hurt? and the answer is not really!", says Tara.

Acupuncture can be a major source of pain relief for patients like Tara who suffer from continuous pain. 

After trying a number of various unsuccessful infertility treatment techniques, women all over are now going in for the most successful of recent treatments, the technique which combines the age-old acupuncture methods and the high-tech in vitro fertilization, which is finding a huge rise on the scales of popularity charts. Doctors state that the combination treatment has a success rate of about 75 percent. This treatment has proved to yield results even for couples who have not been able to conceive for years together through any other technique. One of them, Kristen Robinson, a former sales representative says "Combining Eastern and Western medicine just kind of helped everything work better,"

Acupuncture is an old Chinese method which was originated about 2000 years back, in which thin needles are inserted into specific points on the body. It is based on the belief that energy or “qi” flows through the body along various paths or meridians and this energy can be transferred from the paths which carry excess energy to the paths that are deficient by stimulating it by piercing needles at certain points. Doctors also believe that fertility drugs work better after acupuncture treatments.

In a study conducted on 160 women, it was found that 43% of the women who went through acupuncture treatments got pregnant compared to the 26% who were not treated with acupuncture.

Dr. Richard Wing of Reproductive Endocrinology Associates of Charlotte says "We don't really know how it works, but to the best of our knowledge, it's not harmful." He believes that adding acupuncture might improve ones chances for conception.

Dr. Russell Greenfield, medical director of Carolinas Integrative Health in Charlotte, said that acupuncture by itself can improve fertility by stimulating blood flow to reproductive organs and increasing the chances of normal ovulation. “What's beautiful about acupuncture is that it's a noninvasive method that trusts the wisdom of the body to operate properly” he includes.

Even though there are a number of success stories in which acupuncture has been proved to eliminate infertility, doctors are unsure of the treatment as it has not been proved scientifically. That is, the precise reason as to how acupuncture works is unknown.

The cost of acupuncture in Charlotte ranges from $40 to $100 for an hour long treatment and the average cost of in vitro fertilization in the United States is about $12,400 for one cycle.

Dr. Brad Kerr, a veterinarian, treats animals with acupuncture and traditional Chinese remedies. He has had success with dogs whose nerves were damaged in the hind legs. He is also using the therapy to treat diabetes in the dog.

Interest in acupuncture- the stimulation of specific points on the body by inserting and manipulating needles -- has been growing in the United States since President Nixon's groundbreaking trip to China in the 1970s. Only recently, however, has the treatment become an option in this area for animals as well as people.

It’s a tricky issue to convince owners to let needles pierce their pets’ flesh. Actually, some animals are very tolerant of acupuncture. It depends on your pet's disposition. The idea is to stimulate qi a kind of life force that pulses through the body. When qi is blocked, disease can result. By inserting needles in selected acupuncture points, the acupuncturist tries to clear up "qi stagnation" and get the qi flowing again. How deep the needles are inserted may vary, depending on the treatment. How many needles he uses will also vary, according to the ailment and the animal's strength; the frailer the animal, the fewer the needles.

Western science has trouble explaining how acupuncture can work. In the U.S., the veterinary school at Colorado State University began teaching acupuncture in 1974. Veterinary acupuncture has found some of its widest acceptance in treating orthopedic problems, such as arthritis, hip dysplasia, degenerative joint disease and age-related conditions that often don't respond well to conventional medical treatments.

Kerr said acupuncture is also effective for skin conditions, neurological problems, gastroinestinal, heart, kidney and liver problems and even some behavioral syndromes, such as aggressiveness, separation anxiety or fear of thunderstorms.

A self-styled "child of the counterculture, Kerr grew up in California and worked in the restaurant trade before earning his D.V.M. degree at Purdue University in 1987. After years of practice as a conventional vet, Kerr enrolled in 2000 at the Chi Institute of Gainesville, Fla., which offered training in traditional Chinese medicine. After a year's study, he was certified as a veterinary acupuncturist. Both Kerr and Wirsing - whose practice does not include acupuncture - prefer to define their practices as "complementary" rather than alternative medicine. They see their therapies not as substitutes for conventional veterinary medicine but as supplements.

For both Kerr and Wirsing, the appeal of their therapies lies in their holistic aspect - the effort to consider the entire animal rather than attacking disparate symptoms.Veterinary care doesn't have to be an either-or choice.

Tucson Sector Horse Patrol had a horse with back pain. He missed several days of work, reducing productivity for the Willcox Substation of the U.S. Border Patrol. The horse was taken to a chiropractor. The results were immediate. ‘E’ the best horse in the patrol, was back to work after a day’s rest.

Dr. Loren Weaver specializes in animal manipulation and acupuncture. He grew up on a dairy farm in Indiana. Then, spent 12 years in Kenya, in East Africa, ranching 14,000 head of beef cattle. He wanted to get control of my life, so started vet school at age 25 with the intention of going back to live in Africa, but stayed three years and left for good in 1986. While working the racetracks in Chicago, he said he had a lot of horses with problems that weren't getting results with conventional medicine.

He started with acupuncture and since there were no chiropractor schools at the time, he just talked to a lot of chiropractors. Using his knowledge of anatomy from vet school and studying skeletons, he developed his method.  During the treatment of the Border Patrol's horse, Weaver demonstrated with a horse's skeleton how the spine moves and connects to other bones and muscles. When he worked on the animal, the treatment made sense and the horse seemed to shed its tenderness immediately.

He also used acupuncture on the horse, which helps get the body's energy flowing and breaks up blockages that cause pain. Weaver has become very well known in his field.

During the past 25 years, he has blended both Western and Eastern medicine into his practice. Clients receive a holistic perspective including comprehensive assessment, chiropractic, acupuncture, Chinese herbs, as well as Western medical management. .

Acupuncture has gained tremendous amount of popularity today, but a lot of people still hesitate to undergo an acupuncture treatment as they are unsure as to how safe an acupuncture treatment really is. If certain proper protocols are followed by the practitioners, then acupuncture can be as safe as it can get. A treatment carried out by a certified and licensed acupuncturist is totally acceptable, but acupuncture in the hands of an uncertified practitioner is not recommended as they might not be aware of the human body well and may not place the needles in the right fashion or insert them to the right depth. Most acupuncturists confirm that the needles inserted are sterilized and disposable before inserting them into the patient. 

It is a common belief that acupuncture does not have any side effects. But like most of the other treatments, acupuncture also brings in certain side effects, but this amount is almost negligible compared to the side effects accompanying drugs and the other treatments. Few of the side effects that might be experienced are the following:

• Brief discomfort where the needles are inserted
• A drowsy feeling
• Formation of bruises at the places where the needles had been inserted
• Swooning or fainting
• Feeling of tiredness

Bleeding also occurs rarely, but it is normally not a serious effect and normalcy is obtained back within a few minutes. But in spite of all this, most people report only a feeling of complete peace and relaxation.

Apart from the side effects, few other more serious problems might be faced, which are very rare, and have a very low probability of occurrence, but if they do occur, they put the body under a very high risk. Given below are a few problems that fall under this category.

• While a needle is being inserted, it might damage or wound an internal organ
• The area where the needle is inserted might get infected
• Needles that are not sterilized properly may lead to various diseases such as HIV and other deadly infection

A survey was conducted in the year 2001-2002 where the study involved 573 practitioners and it was found that as far as local reactions at the site of needling was concerned, there were reports of mild bruising (1.7 percent), pain (1.2 percent) and bleeding (0.4 percent). It was noted that patients experienced an aggravation of existing symptoms after 2.8 percent of treatments, most of which (85 percent) were followed by an improvement. 

In short, acupuncture treatments are as safe as they can possibly be if they are implemented by a well known certified acupuncturist.

Dr. Brad Kerr, a veterinarian, treats animals with acupuncture and traditional Chinese remedies. He has had success with dogs whose nerves were damaged in the hind legs. He is also using the therapy to treat diabetes in the dog.

Interest in acupuncture- the stimulation of specific points on the body by inserting and manipulating needles -- has been growing in the United States since President Nixon's groundbreaking trip to China in the 1970s. Only recently, however, has the treatment become an option in this area for animals as well as people.

It’s a tricky issue to convince owners to let needles pierce their pets’ flesh. Actually, some animals are very tolerant of acupuncture. It depends on your pet's disposition. The idea is to stimulate qi a kind of life force that pulses through the body. When qi is blocked, disease can result. By inserting needles in selected acupuncture points, the acupuncturist tries to clear up "qi stagnation" and get the qi flowing again. How deep the needles are inserted may vary, depending on the treatment. How many needles he uses will also vary, according to the ailment and the animal's strength; the frailer the animal, the fewer the needles.

Western science has trouble explaining how acupuncture can work. In the U.S., the veterinary school at Colorado State University began teaching acupuncture in 1974.

Veterinary acupuncture has found some of its widest acceptance in treating orthopedic problems, such as arthritis, hip dysplasia, degenerative joint disease and age-related conditions that often don't respond well to conventional medical treatments.

Kerr said acupuncture is also effective for skin conditions, neurological problems, gastroinestinal, heart, kidney and liver problems and even some behavioral syndromes, such as aggressiveness, separation anxiety or fear of thunderstorms.

A self-styled "child of the counterculture, Kerr grew up in California and worked in the restaurant trade before earning his D.V.M. degree at Purdue University in 1987. After years of practice as a conventional vet, Kerr enrolled in 2000 at the Chi Institute of Gainesville, Fla., which offered training in traditional Chinese medicine. After a year's study, he was certified as a veterinary acupuncturist. Both Kerr and Wirsing - whose practice does not include acupuncture - prefer to define their practices as "complementary" rather than alternative medicine. They see their therapies not as substitutes for conventional veterinary medicine but as supplements.

For both Kerr and Wirsing, the appeal of their therapies lies in their holistic aspect - the effort to consider the entire animal rather than attacking disparate symptoms.Veterinary care doesn't have to be an either-or choice.

Glucosamine is not a drug. It’s a mere dietary supplement. But increasingly, doctors are approving and even recommending it for arthritis. It is now part of the huge complementary and alternative medicine, or CAM. The use of vitamins, herbs and other supplements has been steadily increasing, as the number of products in the market indicate. Shelf after shelf is loaded with items once found only in health food stores.

Accelerating research into CAM practices at conventional medical institutions has led to the inclusion of other supplements into conventional medical practice. Folic acid is commonly recommended during pregnancy to prevent certain birth defects, and vitamins and zinc are used to slow macular degeneration, an age-related eye disease. This explosion is also in the fields of acupuncture and other alternate medical fields. There are now 70 percent more naturopathic physicians in the state than there were six years ago. 

State laws that changed 10 years ago, requiring health insurers to include in their provider network complementary and alternative practitioners who are licensed by the state. The law finally survived court challenges in 1999, state-regulated health insurance plans had to cover visits to acupuncturists, naturopathic physicians, chiropractors and massage therapists. This resulted in dramatic utilization of these benefits since the first year it was implemented.

The productions levels have tripled since 1999 and still the demand is not fully met. In 1998, the federal government added a new agency to the National Institutes of Health to investigate complementary and alternative healing practices, subject them to scientific research and put out authoritative information about the growing list of practices and substances.

Naturophatic doctors build relationships with their patients, which proves to be a good long-term strategy. This valuing of the patient builds trust and results in an ever increasing number of patients. An integrated alternative health plan that works with the mainstream practice has proved to be an important industry additive. It will only grow in the future to an even bigger size.

Everyone likes to keep fit, and no one likes to have extra fat on their body. Maintaining an ideal weight or shedding off the extra pounds has always been desired by one and all, but it has never been easy. The San Angelo standard times now claims that the newest trend in the weight reduction process is inserting surgical staples in ears instead of exercising or taking in diet pills. Though this method of weight reduction has been proved neither medically nor scientifically, several residents from Concho Valley claim that they have lost weight after such treatments.

Dick Spurger, a Grape Creek resident, who has his ear stapled at Staple Magic in San Angelo in April, came down from weighing 310 to 260, hence losing 50 pounds after losing his appetite. Many patients reported having their ears stapled, a bit painful. Creel Goodman, who is 30, reported the procedure to be painful, though not unbearable. Though he hadn’t lost any weight, he felt a lot better after the treatment. His wife, Hannah Goodman of San Angelo, 27, who also had her ears stapled on the same day lost about 3 pounds, 3 days after going through the treatment.

This procedure had left many of the medical practitioners cynical as it is a form of acupuncture. Dr. Drew Wallace, chiropractor and acupuncturist, said that it helps suppress the eating appetite. He included that for it to be done effectively, there usually needs to be some form of a diet as if it is not done with some lifestyle changes, they results are going to be short termed only. Dr. Monty Wright, chiropractor and acupuncturist at Wright Chiropractic in San Angelo, does not perform ear stapling because he feels that it only reduces people's cravings and not weight.

Ear stapling is not recognized as a legitimate medical activity, according to the Department of State Health Services, Austin. Tom Brinck, the department's manager of Drugs and Medical Devices Group, said the equipment used - a surgical stapler and surgical staples - are prescription type devices that should be bought and owned by licensed medical practitioners.

Staple Magic, 2808 Sherwood Way, owned by Ronnie Carter and his wife, Mary Carter, specializes in performing this kind of a procedure. Ronnie Carter and Mary Carter were trained in Oklahoma. For $65 they will put staples in both ears. Ronnie Carter said they staple about 150 people a month, ranging in age from teens to senior citizens. According to Carter, results can be seen within a week and if they take care of the insertions properly, infections are unlikely. “It doesn't work for everybody, but it works for a lot of people”, Carter concluded.

Acupuncture is the popular traditional Chinese alternative medical technique that is believed to cure almost all kinds of diseases ranging from headaches, back pains, insomnia and allergies, to arthritis, fibromyalgia, infertility and even certain types of cancers. Apart from proving to be a great remedy for various diseases, it also helps curb addictions such as smoking and over-eating, and aids weight loss too.

How acupuncture cures is uncertain and still under study, but the general belief is that acupuncture unblocks blocked paths inside our body, through which energies called chi, flow. It is believed that there are about 14 different pathways called meridians through which energy flows and a block in even one of the pathways leads to some sort of an unrest within the body. When these energy paths are blocked, diseases and disorders are triggered. Acupuncture unblocks the clogged pathways by inserting sterile, stainless steel acupuncture needles at specific points on the body.

Most acupuncture practitioners recommend the use of Chinese herbs after acupuncture treatments as it has been proved to be effective in retaining the effects of the treatment and also in helping the body fight disorders, individually. They come in various forms and may be useful in fighting ailments and acts as a preventive medicine too. Herbs which were a part of the Traditional Chinese Medicines or TCM are still being used today. These herbs come in various forms such as infusion, tinctures or tonics, powders, tablets, syrups, decoction etc.

Infusion is mostly found in the form of liquid drinks such as herbal teas or herbal mixtures of leaves, roots, barks and flowers in hot water, which are steeped in a teapot made of ceramic or glass. By boiling herbs using roots, seeds or barks of plants, a decoction is prepared. It is a simple way of using valuable herbs, but due to the boiling process, many essential oils are lost. When herbs or herbal solutions are added to alcohols, they are termed as tinctures. They are easy for intake, but more difficult to prepare than the other forms of herbs. Herbal syrups are mainly for kids and help stop cold, cough, fever and other mild disorders. Herbs are also available in tablet or powder form.

Herbs are extremely helpful in preventing diseases and providing relief from many ailments, but it must be remembered that they must be taken only if they are prescribed by a certified medical practitioner.

Allergies have become invariably common among many people due to various factors. An allergy is a condition in which there is hypersensitivity and overreaction to various chemicals (allergens), which serves to protect the organism. It is found that about 30 to 50 percent of the people in the United States suffer from some form of allergy. According to the NIAID, Dec 2004, allergies are the 6th leading cause of chronic disease in the United States, costing the health care system $18 billion annually. Allergy can arise as a result of exposure to a number of substances such as dust, insects, drugs, vaccines, certain food items, perfumes, fabrics etc.

Acupuncture has always been regarded as an alternative treatment only for major diseases and illnesses such as arthritis, cancer etc. Recently, an acupuncturist in Denver has opened out that allergy can also be cured using acupuncture. This can be done using a special technique called NAET or Nambudripad’s Allergy Elimination Technique, named after Dr. Devi Nambudripad, who is an acupuncturist, a chiropractor, and a Ph. D. in nutrition. The NAET is a non-invasive, drug free allergy cure and is based on the supposition that blockages of energy in the body lead to allergies. It uses a combination of energy balancing, and procedures from acupuncture, allopathy, chiropractic, nutrition, and kinesiology.

During the treatment, the kinesiology muscle testing is carried out to detect what a person is allergic to, or affected by. After the root cause of the allergy is found out, the acupuncture treatment is carried out accordingly.

Linda Peri, a patient says “I had gone through everything else that was possible, and I was still very miserable. So, I said, 'What do I have to lose?' After about five to 10 treatments of Acupuncture, I felt like a completely different person."

Acupuncturists claim that after about 15 NAET treatments, mild to moderate allergies are cured completely.

Though acupuncture has gained tremendous popularity gradually all over the United States, most people are still under the impression that alternative medicines and therapies such as acupuncture are rare and are available only in very few, atypical places. But contrary to the above misconception, the fact is that acupuncture treatments are now carried out in almost all the mainstream hospitals ubiquitously in the United States.

According to the CBS news, more than 25 percent of the hospitals across the United States offer alternative treatments. A lot of surveys were conducted to learn about the extent to which conventional and traditional treatments were being followed up, in the United States.

A survey on about 1400 hospitals in the US showed that one out of every four hospitals facilitates alternative therapies and treatments. A survey conducted by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the year 2002 showed that more 50 percent of the Americans felt that combining complementary and alternative medicines with conventional methods would work better. The American Hospital Association conducts surveys every two years and has come out with the fact that hospitals offering one or more complementary and alternative medicine have increased from 8 percent in the year 1998 to 27 percent in 2005. Many hospitals in the United States, such as Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, have begun to offer alternative therapies alongside Western medicine. Researchers found with complementary and alternative medicines are more common in the mid-west, such as Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin and less common in the west coast and in the south, such as Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi and Tennessee.

It was seen that the top six complementary and alternative medicines offered on outpatients were massage (71%), tai chi or yoga (47%), relaxation training (43%), acupuncture (39%), guided imagery (32%) and therapeutic touch (30%) and the top six offered to inpatients were massage (37%), music therapy (26%), therapeutic touch (25%), guided imagery (22%), relaxation therapy (20%) and acupuncture (11%).

Researchers Sita Ananth of Health Forum, an affiliate of the American Hospital Association, and William Martin, PsyD, of the College of Commerce at DePaul University in Chicago, in a news release, state "More and more, patients are requesting care beyond what most consider traditional health services. And hospitals are responding to the needs of the communities they serve by offering these therapies."

Read this news article about how Acupuncture helped Pop star Janet Jackson lose 4 stones.

You can do it too! Contact your acupuncturist for more details today.

One of the most common questions about acupuncture is whether there is any transfer of energy associated with the acupuncture treatment. During an acupuncture treatment, thin, stainless steel acupuncture needles are inserted into specific points on the body known as acupoints, depending on the type and intensity of disorder. This is done to stimulate the acupoints so that the movement of energy, qi (pronounced as “chee”) is balanced and hence the pain is relieved and good health is restored, by correcting the flow of qi.

Restoring the balance of qi not only cures a person from the suffered disease, but also builds up the body’s resistance mechanism. Qi acts as the transferred energy and usually frees blockages, obstacles and stagnation in the path of the flowing energy, hence restoring the balance of the body as well as the mind.

Research proves that there indeed is a flow of energy through the body during a treatment of acupuncture. To confirm the involvement of bio-energy with acupuncture, according to the center for Integrative Medicine, Institute of Medical Science, Wonkwang University, Republic of Korea, a study was conducted on 20 healthy normal subjects. They underwent acupuncture treatment for the meridians and the changes in the direct current (DC) potential between the stomach meridian points ST-39 and ST-37 was measured, in response to invasive insertion of a needle at ST-36. The treatment on each subject was carried out twice, once with bare hands (ABH), without surgerical gloves, and once with the surgerical gloves (ASH), which acted as a shield to the electric energy transfer. ABH formed a response pattern for every stimulation, whereas AHS formed a response pattern to the first step alone. It was found that ABH reduced a much higher response potential than ASH (p<0.001), which confirms that bio-energy transfer along the meridians occur during the acupuncture treatment.

Women of all ages often face a lot of distress due to a large number of diseases, physical pains or abnormalities such as infertility, repeated miscarriage, menstrual pain, and irritation, musculoskeletal pain, headache, back pain and other such disorders, which not only lead to physical pain, but also lead to a tremendous amount of mental pressure. Most of the time, many of the above problems are left untreated with the misconception that it is totally unavoidable, which only increases the intensity of the problem.

We find that, for most women, pain relief from any of the above mentioned problems would mean popping a pill into the mouth and getting back to the usual routine. What one must realize here is that the temporary relief from pain is often accompanied with a lot of side effects and no permanent relief from pain. Acupuncture, the ancient art of healing, with the help of pins inserted at pressure points, which has now become common in the field of medicine and science, is found to be an excellent treatment for almost all the diseases that affect women of almost all ages.

Young women suffering from menstrual cramps and pains can now find immediate relief and can also regularize their menstrual cycle with the help of acupuncture. Acupuncture takes care of the infertility problem also and helps women attain pregnancy. Other problems such as neck pain, lower back pain, headache etc. can also find a permanent solution through acupuncture treatments. It has also been proved to be a cure for abdominal pain, where the patient normally receives about eight weekly treatments. It also helps in cutting down heavy bleeding and PMS, bringing in immediate results.

Menopause is said to be one of the toughest times in the life of a woman as the transition is often accompanied by poor sleep, fatigue, weariness etc. An acupuncture treatment not only decreases the weariness and fatigue felt, but also treats other disorders that tag along such as headache and stress. After the completion of the treatment, the patient starts feeling a kind of soothing and relaxing effect, calming the senses and bringing in good sleep. A study showed that about 70 percent of patients who were treated against depression during pregnancy showed good response.

Contact a certified acupuncturist now for more details.

Acupuncture has been gradually gaining popularity all over the world since the last few years and has become one of the most successful forms of treatments among the alternative medicines. Nowadays, due to its high success rate, many people have started demanding acupuncture treatments and advice from their local doctors and practitioners. A number of acupuncture schools have been set up all over the United States recently and are growing continuously at a high rate. The Accreditation Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (ACAOM) and the Council of Colleges of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (CCAOM), which were founded in 1982, accredit them. Till date, there are about 50 schools, which have received such accreditation. The first step in training to be an acupuncturist would be to learn a complete course on acupuncture and its methods from one of the reputed acupuncture institutes.

Information about the right techniques for an acupuncture treatment is one of the most important lessons to be learnt while training to be an acupuncturist. An acupuncturist must discuss the history of the problem with every patient and must analyze and verify its causes and plan the method of treatment accordingly, before every session, after complete and proper physical examination. The right acupuncture points must be selected and it must be ensured that the needles are well sterilized and inserted on that point at a proper depth. The duration for which the needles remain inserted inside the points must also be decided with care. Other acupuncture related treatments such as electrical stimulation, laser therapy and moxibustion must also be mastered.

It is important that experts in the field supervise the work of a trainee before he/she starts practicing acupuncture on patients. With the right knowledge and keen interest, one can train to be a good acupuncturist. 

Insomnia is an ailment where the affected person suffers from lack of proper rest or sleep. Normally, an individual affected with insomnia would show the symptoms of not being able to fall asleep easily, having troubled and uncomfortable sleep, incomplete sleep or a non-refreshing sleep. It may be initiated due to a lot of factors such as stress, anxiety, excessive alcohol consumption or irregular or improper time schedules. Insomnia may be short termed, where the disorder lasts only for a few days, intermittent, where the ailment comes and goes in differing intervals or chronic, which is generally long lasting and may last for as long as a month or more. Chronic insomnia can again be either primary or secondary. Secondary chronic insomnia is caused due to other health or external factors.

Insomnia, if left untreated can become the route cause of other health and psychological problems. Hence, care must be taken to treat it in an efficient manner as soon as it is diagnosed. The fast-spreading treatment of Acupuncture is now proved to fight against insomnia too, by bringing about a balance in the nervous system. On an average, the success rate of acupuncture against insomnia is found to be 90 percent.

The treatment is carried out by piercing acupuncture pins on specific points on the human body. The points may vary depending on the patient and in this case, according to the Traditional Chinese Medicine’s (TCM) theory, the points must communicate with the heart and kidney. The extrapoint and HT7 point, known as Anmien and Shenmen respectively are the usual acupuncture points for treatment of insomnia.

Acupuncture, is gradually becoming one of the most sought after treatments for a number of diseases and ailments, proving to be one of the most effective of healers and pain relievers.

Acupuncture is an ancient Chinese therapy where thin, sterile, stainless steel pins are pierced at specific points on the body, depending upon the type of disease and the extent of pain felt. Over the years, acupuncture has been extremely successful in curing a wide range of illness such as headache, neck pain, backache as well as major diseases like cancer, arthritis etc., to a great extent.