Acupuncture is a medical system focused on balance, the balance of cellular and nervous system function. It optimizes, regulates, and balances the circulation of blood, oxygen, and hormones, as well as the functions of the body.
Through the insertion of sterile, hair-sized needles in precise points on the body, an acupuncturist can guide the body back into balance and restore optimal health. When the body has returned to the natural state of homeostasis, symptoms of pain and dysfunction diminish and the body resolves the root cause of the disease.
Acupuncture is not a magic bullet; it requires a treatment strategy and a plan for optimal effect. There are over 2000 acupuncture points mapped out on the human body and it requires great skill to choose, locate, needle correctly the correct points to restore health and balance to each individual case presented.
Symptom relief acupuncture only manages the dysfunction, and never fully treats the condition. Much like blood pressure medication, it manages the symptoms, but never corrects the root cause. By contrast, there is corrective care acupuncture. Corrective care acupuncture is based on finding the roots cause of disease and dysfunction, and guiding the body back into normal function, homeostasis.
As a dedicated practitioner of Chinese medicine, my purpose is finding the root cause and restoring optimal health; my focus is corrective care.
Is Acupuncture Safe?
Unlike the well-known, and in many cases, frightening side effects of pharmaceutical medications, and also the risks of surgery, acupuncture is a relatively safe medical modality. The treatments are, in most cases, from the elbow to the fingers, and from the knees to the toes. This style of acupuncture reduces the patient’s chance of serious injury to almost zero. The needles used are sterile, and Bruce is certified in Clean Needle Technique. Pinchy feeling upon insertion or a slight bruise are the most common adverse side effects of acupuncture.
How Does Acupuncture Work?
Acupuncture has been proven to promote blood flow, and improve circulation. This is important, for everything the body needs to heal and repair with, is in the blood. This includes oxygen, nutrients, hormones, endorphins (natural, body produced, painkillers), anti-inflammatories, and immune system substances. How important is circulation and blood flow? Well, it has been shown that breast cancer may develop when blood flow is diminished by as little as 3%!
Acupuncture also stimulates the body’s built in healing mechanism by stimulating and activating the nervous system, immune system, and endocrine systems. It brings the body back into homeostasis (balance), and reduces the stress response by stimulating the parasympathetic (rest and digest) nervous system. In other words, it calms the body instead of keeping it revved up in “Fight or Flight” mode. When the body is in a state of “Fight or Flight,” the immune system is naturally suppressed, circulation diminishes, organ systems functions are in some cases put to a halt and become compromised, and the body cannot absorb nutrients. This leads to illness.
Acupuncture reduces inflammation, relieves pain, improves circulation, calms the nervous system, and restores homeostasis.
Restoring Optimal Health Through Acupuncture
Your body has a nervous system, circulatory system, and endocrine (hormone) system, that is constant communication with every cell in the body. From the skin to blood vessels, to the organs, down to the bone, there is constant communication. Your body is constantly checking in, and making sure that it is functioning optimally. This is called homeostasis, the body’s ability to regulate and maintain a balanced function.
The human body can and will heal itself; we are not animal that is dependent on drugs. If it is not healing, then there is an obstruction to the body’s healing mechanism.
When your body doesn’t function optimally, we start to notice symptoms, which can be considered as our check engine lights.
Acupuncture works by regulating the body’s major systems of communication, reducing inflammation, improving immune system function, and by promoting homeostasis, naturally. It stimulated our innate ability to heal.
It helps calm down the nervous system, bringing it back into a state of rest. In this state, the body naturally starts wound healing, allows the proper digestion and absorption of essential nutrients, and allows the production of regulatory hormones. Acupuncture has also been proven to release endorphins, which are natural pain killers.
Acupuncture improves the circulation of nutrient and oxygen rich blood to all of the cells in the body, which improves overall cellular health and function. This done by stimulating the body to increase Nitric Oxide production, which causes the blood vessels to dilate.
Acupuncture also helps regulate hormonal imbalances, which improves you sleep, mood, and body’s energy. By inserting whisker, thin needles into precise and specific points, an acupuncturist will restore optimal function and balance to the body (homeostasis).
Being in a state of optimal function and balance allows the body to remember what it feels like to be healthy, and it will naturally try to restore the body to this state.
For more information about acupuncture, visit the Acupuncture Now Foundation website.
