The Science of Acupuncture
Acupuncture points are located in all areas of the body. Sometimes the appropriate points are far removed from the area of your pain. Your acupuncture practitioner will tell you the general location of the planned treatment and if articles of clothing need to be removed. If appropriate, a gown, towel or sheet will be provided to preserve your modesty. After you lie down on a padded table, the treatment begins.
Needle insertion: Acupuncture needles are very thin, so insertion usually causes very little discomfort. Between five and 20 needles are used in a typical treatment. You may feel a deep, momentary pressure sensation when a needle reaches the correct depth.
Needle manipulation: Your practitioner may gently move or twirl the needles after they've been placed. Another option is to apply heat or mild electrical pulses to the needles.
Needle removal: In most cases, the needles will remain in place for 10 to 20 minutes while you lie still and relax. There is usually no sensation of discomfort when the needles are removed.
Needle insertion: Acupuncture needles are very thin, so insertion usually causes very little discomfort. Between five and 20 needles are used in a typical treatment. You may feel a deep, momentary pressure sensation when a needle reaches the correct depth.
Needle manipulation: Your practitioner may gently move or twirl the needles after they've been placed. Another option is to apply heat or mild electrical pulses to the needles.
Needle removal: In most cases, the needles will remain in place for 10 to 20 minutes while you lie still and relax. There is usually no sensation of discomfort when the needles are removed.
Electro-Acupuncture
In 1958 news came from China that they had done major surgeries with patients being awake and having been made pain free only with the use of electro-acupuncture. In other words no chemical anesthesia was used or else very little was needed to make patients comfortable. Professor Ji-Sheng Han from the Beijing Medical University observed that only electrical stimulation was powerful enough to produce the pain relief that was necessary to allow general surgery. Dr. Han conducted systematic experiments to study the phenomenon of electro-acupuncture. One of the experiments involved two rabbits where the donor rabbit was anesthetized with electro-acupuncture. Spinal fluid was taken and transferred into a recipient rabbit that had not been further treated. This second rabbit was now rendered pain free to the point where surgery could be performed without pain. Other researchers such as Dr. Pomeranz found that the brain released endorphins in response to electro-acupuncture, powerful morphine-like substances. It was the endorphins that were responsible for making the recipient rabbit of Dr. Han’s experiment pain free.
He was able to explain that traditional Chinese acupuncture points were merely spots on the body where electric currents are picked up easier and transmitted up to the spinal cord and into the brain. They are then switched over in the brain and spinal cord to nerves that go to other areas of the body. This explains how electrical impulses can travel from conducting wires applied over acupuncture points, release neuropeptides in the brain and help the body to heal. Functional MRI studies have confirmed that the brain is stimulated by certain frequencies through or traditional Chinese acupuncture to give pain relief. These types of studies have also shown that electro-acupuncture produces stronger signals in the brain than traditional Chinese acupuncture.
Beside pain relief many other applications exist for electro-acupuncture. Addiction medicine makes use of electro-acupuncture in weaning people from morphine, heroin, and other addictive opioids .
He was able to explain that traditional Chinese acupuncture points were merely spots on the body where electric currents are picked up easier and transmitted up to the spinal cord and into the brain. They are then switched over in the brain and spinal cord to nerves that go to other areas of the body. This explains how electrical impulses can travel from conducting wires applied over acupuncture points, release neuropeptides in the brain and help the body to heal. Functional MRI studies have confirmed that the brain is stimulated by certain frequencies through or traditional Chinese acupuncture to give pain relief. These types of studies have also shown that electro-acupuncture produces stronger signals in the brain than traditional Chinese acupuncture.
Beside pain relief many other applications exist for electro-acupuncture. Addiction medicine makes use of electro-acupuncture in weaning people from morphine, heroin, and other addictive opioids .
Benefits of Using Electrical Stimulation
1. It substitutes for prolonged manipulation by hand. This helps in the provision of adequate stimulation, because the practitioner may otherwise need to pause due to fatigue. Electro-acupuncture may also help reduce total stimulation time by providing a continued stimulus. During electro-acupuncture, the practitioner can attend to more than one subject. (This keeps costs down!)
2. It can produce a stronger stimulation, if desired, without causing tissue damage associated with twirling, lifting and thrusting the needle.
3. It is easier to control the frequency of the stimulus and the amount of stimulus than with manual manipulation of the needles.
4. Electrical Stimulation to the needles eliminates the unnecessary repeated perforation of muscle tissue associated with the practice of so called "Dry Needling" , which is just a crude form of ancient acupuncture.
2. It can produce a stronger stimulation, if desired, without causing tissue damage associated with twirling, lifting and thrusting the needle.
3. It is easier to control the frequency of the stimulus and the amount of stimulus than with manual manipulation of the needles.
4. Electrical Stimulation to the needles eliminates the unnecessary repeated perforation of muscle tissue associated with the practice of so called "Dry Needling" , which is just a crude form of ancient acupuncture.