Exploring Acupuncture

Feeling better and needles seem to go hand-in-hand, but that doesn't mean people look forward to getting shots... so why do so many look forward to acupuncture?

From the outside, acupuncture looks torturous. You lay still as someone else drives hair-thin needles into your flesh. It looks more like something out of Hellraiser than a day out on the spa.

Yet, acupuncture remains one of the most popular forms of holistic healing out there, either due to how the process rebalances a person's aura and chi... or because this ancient form of medicine addresses medical issues left unattended in modern medicine.

The History

Dating back to at least 100 BC, acupuncture is an ancient Chinese form of medical treatment. Although many still believe in the concept of chi – or universal energy contained within all bodies – the ancient Chinese believed that all problems with the body derived from an imbalance of chi in the system.

The Chinese believed that chi traveled down certain pathways across the body – known as meridians. When these meridians were disturbed, a person's body would grow ill. Acupuncture manually altered the flow of these energy pathways in order to restore balance to a person's energy field.

Once this rebalance occurred, the body would heal itself.

They believed this technique could cure any and all ailments. Or, at the very least, would compliment other healing treatments. Depending on the level of intensity of the acupuncturist's belief in the skill of his or her talent, the treatment would be used to address pain, nausea, or vicious injuries.

Modern Day

While many still believe in the presence of aura and chi, modern scientists realize that, in many cases, medicine and surgery works far better to cure people of serious and critical injuries. Surely, the modern day has no place for a pseudo-mystical form of healing like acupuncture.

Right?

Wrong.

At first, many scientists between the 18th and 20th centuries dismissed acupuncture altogether. If you have an emotional problem, get a lobotomy. If you are sick, put leeches on your body. Later scientists dismissed these "treatments," in favor of more advanced medicine. Many figured that acupuncture belonged with these other "treatments" in text books and back alleys.

But the story has changed now. Though doctors do not recommend going to your acupuncturist to cure cancer, they do advise seeing one while on cancer treatment. The reason?

Studies show that acupuncture treatments help patients deal with chronic pain and nausea, as well as depression and other emotional issues. The reason, oddly enough, has to do with, yes, imbalances in bodily energy fields.

So the concept of chi, to an extent, does exist, though not as the ancient Chinese believed.

Scientists agree that nerves transmit electro-magnetic energy from end to end. Acupuncturists, with their needles, manage to stimulate the body's nervous system to alter and affect the brain's perspective of bodily sensations. Pain can be reduced by stimulating the right nerves with a delicate, clean needle. Same with stomach pain, depression, etc.

Though scientists remain uncertain of acupuncture's full potential. Could acupuncture, by triggering the right nerves, increase the metabolic process? Spur on the healing of injuries? Cure cancer? Many scientists debate the exact extent of acupuncture's effectiveness treating disease and other medical issues, though, if you ask an acupuncturist, they'll assure you that all problems can be solved.

In good faith, however, most doctors advise you to try other treatments, but, in years past, doctors dismissed acupuncture altogether. Maybe there are more benefits modern scientists have yet to uncover about this ancient medical treatment.