oriental medicine • acupuncture • ayurveda

james bailey, lac, matcm, mph, dipl ayu

"The Tao is me, it is the Supreme Lord of the Central Summit, the Pole Star which shines on my forehead, between my eyebrows, like the Sun. It is the Great August Emperor of Heaven. It is my energy, I was born of that breath."

Lao Tzu,

The Book of the Center 

Introduction

What does Acupuncture Feel Like?

What is Acupuncture?  An Art and a Medicine

Medicine in China has its origins in its philosophical and spiritual traditions, particularly the yogic practice of Taoism. The philosophy and practice of Taoism was first synthesized by Lao Tzu in 500 BC. According to Taoism, man is a product of Nature, or the Tao, and therefore must live within Nature's Laws. Disharmony with the Laws of Nature is regarded as the ultimate cause of disharmony within the body, and thus, disease.

Changes in Nature are cyclical, or rhythmic, and thus everything can be seen as being cyclical by nature. This is refered to as the balance of Yin and Yang, the two opposing and balancing forces of the cyclical extremes of everything in Nature, ie day and night, winter and summer, hot and cold, male and female, sleep and activity, etc. These two basic forces are constantly moving or transforming in order to ratain the balance of the whole. In addition to the forces of Yin and Yang, the Chinese recognize the presence of the elements of Nature as being a part of any product of Nature, animate or inanimate. Thus, the human body also contains the 5 Elements of Earth, Fire, Wood, Water and Metal.

In the past two decades, acupuncture has grown in popularity in the United States. The report from a Consensus Development Conference on Acupuncture held at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in 1997 stated that acupuncture is being "widely" practiced--by thousands of physicians, dentists, acupuncturists, and other practitioners--for relief or prevention of pain and for various other health conditions.1 According to the 2002 National Health Interview Survey--the largest and most comprehensive survey of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use by American adults to date--an estimated 8.2 million U.S. adults had ever used acupuncture, and an estimated 2.1 million U.S. adults had used acupuncture in the previous year.

How Widely is Acupuncture used in the United States?

Acupuncture is part of a larger paradym of medicine found throughout Asia known as Oriental Medicine. While China has contributed much to the recognition of Oriental Medicine, all countries in Asia have their own traditional healing systems which include dietary medicine, herbal medicine, massage therapies, and movement therapies. Acupuncture is one such modality and is practiced traditionally in China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Tibet and as far west and south as South India and Sri Lanka. Oriental Medicine in the US is taught in 4 year medical schools more commonly referred to as acupuncture scholls, though acupuncture is only one part of the curriculum. Oriental Medicine is also known as Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) by its Chinese practitioners, and generally as Oriental Medicine by non-Chinese practitioners.

What is Oriental Medicine?

Acupuncture is one of the oldest, most commonly used medical procedures in the world. Originating in China more than 2,000 years ago, acupuncture began to become better known in the United States in 1971, when New York Times reporter James Reston wrote about how doctors in China used needles to ease his pain after surgery.

The term acupuncture describes a family of procedures involving stimulation of anatomical points on the body by a variety of techniques. American practices of acupuncture incorporate medical traditions from China, Japan, Korea, and other countries. The acupuncture technique that has been most studied scientifically involves penetrating the skin with thin, solid, metallic needles that are manipulated by the hands or by electrical stimulation.

Acupuncture needles are metallic, solid, and hair-thin. People experience acupuncture differently, but most feel no or minimal pain as the needles are inserted. Some people are energized by treatment, while others feel relaxed. Improper needle placement, movement of the patient, or a defect in the needle can cause soreness and pain during treatment. This is why it is important to seek treatment from a qualified acupuncture practitioner.

According to the NIH Consensus Statement on Acupuncture, there have been many studies on acupuncture's potential usefulness, but results have been mixed because of complexities with study design and size, as well as difficulties with choosing and using placebos or sham acupuncture. However, promising results have emerged, showing efficacy of acupuncture, for example, in adult postoperative and chemotherapy nausea and vomiting and in postoperative dental pain. There are other situations--such as addiction, stroke rehabilitation, headache, menstrual cramps, tennis elbow, fibromyalgia, myofascial pain, osteoarthritis, low-back pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, and asthma--in which acupuncture may be useful as an adjunct treatment or an acceptable alternative or be included in a comprehensive management program. An NCCAM-funded study recently showed that acupuncture provides pain relief, improves function for people with osteoarthritis of the knee, and serves as an effective complement to standard care. Further research is likely to uncover additional areas where acupuncture interventions will be useful.

NIH has funded a variety of research projects on acupuncture. These grants have been funded by NCCAM, its predecessor the Office of Alternative Medicine, and other NIH institutes and centers.

*  Visit the NCCAM Web site, or call the NCCAM Clearinghouse for more information on scientific findings about acupuncture.

* Read the NIH Consensus Statement on Acupuncture, to learn what scientific experts have said about the use and effectiveness of acupuncture for a variety of conditions.

Does Acupuncture Work?

Acupuncture is one of the key components of the system of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). In the TCM system of medicine, the body is seen as a delicate balance of two opposing and inseparable forces: yin and yang. Yin represents the cold, slow, or passive principle, while yang represents the hot, excited, or active principle. Among the major assumptions in TCM are that health is achieved by maintaining the body in a "balanced state" and that disease is due to an internal imbalance of yin and yang. This imbalance leads to blockage in the flow of qi (vital energy) along pathways known as meridians. It is believed that there are 12 main meridians and 8 secondary meridians and that there are more than 2,000 acupuncture points on the human body that connect with them.

Preclinical studies have documented acupuncture's effects, but they have not been able to fully explain how acupuncture works within the framework of the Western system of medicine that is commonly practiced in the United States. It is proposed that acupuncture produces its effects through regulating the nervous system, thus aiding the activity of pain-killing biochemicals such as endorphins and immune system cells at specific sites in the body. In addition, studies have shown that acupuncture may alter brain chemistry by changing the release of neurotransmitters and neurohormones and, thus, affecting the parts of the central nervous system related to sensation and involuntary body functions, such as immune reactions and processes that regulate a person's blood pressure, blood flow, and body temperature.

How does Acupuncture Work?

How will it be Covered by my Insurance?

Acupuncture is one of the CAM therapies that are more commonly covered by insurance. However, you should check with your insurer before you start treatment to see whether acupuncture will be covered for your condition and, if so, to what extent. Some insurance plans require preauthorization for acupuncture.

Chinese Medicine and Pancha Karma

School of Attack and Purgation

Chinese Medicine and Agni

The Earth School

Chinese medicine originally had a tradition of Pancha Karma (purgation therapies) that was used to drive recognized pathogenic factor from the body. The famous Chinese physician Zhang Cong Zhen studied the classic Chinese medical text, the Nei Jing, and gathered that if the pathogen is chased away from the body, the body will restore itself to perfect health. His writings indicate that if the pathogen is in the Upper Jiao (head region), he found that it was best to relieve the pathogen immediately by sweating it out. If the pathogen was found in the Middle Jiao (chest region), vomiting with emetics were most effective. Conditions included emotional problems due to phlegm in the Middle Jiao misting the heart. If the pathogen was found in the Lower Jiao (abdominal region), purgation was the treatment of choice - ie, flush it out via urine and the bowels. Such methodologies are very similar to the Pancha Karma practices of Ayurveda and reveal historical exchanges of information between these two traditions. Ayurveda has retained the purgative practices of Pancha Karma to this day as one of the hallmark techniques, while intensive purgation in Oriental Medicine is currently limited to herbal laxatives and mild purgatives. The practice of TCM in the US has lost the practice entirely.

Zhu Dan Xi began studying medicine after the age of 40. He stood outside his teachers door for 10 days in the snow to be accepted. He observed that the body is made up of Yin and Yang, the Yang being the active component, movement and produces fire, or metabolism. Since life is characterized by movement, fire or Yang is always in excess and Yin is usually deficient. If you move too much you produce fire and can burn the Yin out. Resore the Yin by resting and sleeping at night, slowing down. “Burning the midnight oil” or “burning the candle from both ends” are two western means of saying that the Yin is being depleted due to excessive yang activity. The Yin is like the candle or oil. Too much sex or excess activities will deplete or wear out the Yin. Over-straining the body, excesseive emotionalism, anxiousness, worrying, all deplete the Yin. Symptoms of Yin deficiancy include night sweats, excessive energy in the head in late afternoon, dryness, burning soles of feet, rapid pulse, irritability, and if serious enough, lower back pain, frequent urination, or scanty urination.

Chinese Medicine and Ojas

The School of Yin

Li Tung Yuan studied the previous two schools and developed his own school. Historical background: The Sung Dynasty actually had two major sub-dynasties because of an interuption by Mongolian invasion. His lifetime was defined by wars, famine, stress, under-nourished, febrile disease, and extremely high mortality rates. Li Tung Yuan noticed the impact of malnourishment, due to lack of food and years of worry, upon the digestive processes. He proposed that the source of life comes from food intake. The Spleen and Stomach was therefore of utmost importance in the health of an individual. If one strengthens this source of energy, then one will have a basis to fight disease. Stress weakens the Spleen and Stomach and thus effects the immune system and chronic fatigue, etc. He worked with patients with these conditions and most got well simply by strengthening the digestive processes of the Spleen and Stomach, thus restoring the source of life, the post-natal source of vitality.

Ming Men School -  Gate of Life School

Zhang Jing Yue and Sun Yi Kui discuss the overindulging behaviours which lead to depletion of Ming Men fire (Agni), thus we age more rapidly than necessary, there develops impotence, infertility, premature menopause, weight gain, edema, lack of movement.

Each school helped to break out of the "Patentization" of Chinese herbalism, in which one formula was used for a specific condition. There is no magic formula, only what is appropriate for each condition in each person at any given stage of pathology.

The practice of Oriental Medicice, known here in the US as Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), is generally taught as a general practice. Licensed practitioners spend 5 years and more than 4000 hours of training in Chinese internal medicine and a broad range of treatment modalities to support patients with diverse health conditions. The pond is broad, but could be deeper. In the last few years, specialty training programs in Pain Management, Orthapedics, Gynecology, and Fertility have appeared in newly emerging doctoral programs. Chinese Medical Oncology is one such focus appearing on the horizon of TCM specialty practices. With more than 500,000 deaths annually from cancer, this specialty field aims to support cancer patients during the course of western treatments, minimizing the negative side effects of radiation and chemotherapy, detoxifying and cleansing the healthy tissues of the body, supporting the immune system, and in some cases even weakening the cancer itself.  Chinese Medical Oncology also aims to support the “healthy 95%” of any cancer sufferer. “Fu Zheng”, or “Support the Righteous” is a traditional Chinese medical term expressing the essential need to support the healthy 95%. Chinese Medical Oncology utilizes acupuncture and Chinese herbs to strengthen the body’s life force as well as clean out what is impure. Diet, yoga, qi gong, and tai chi amplify the efficacy of clinical treatments to vitalize the rigtheous qi and prana.

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Is Acupuncture Safe?

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved acupuncture needles for use by licensed practitioners in 1996. The FDA requires that sterile, nontoxic needles be used and that they be labeled for single use by qualified practitioners only. Relatively few complications from the use of acupuncture have been reported to the FDA in light of the millions of people treated each year and the number of acupuncture needles used. Still, complications have resulted from inadequate sterilization of needles and from improper delivery of treatments. Practitioners should use a new set of disposable needles taken from a sealed package for each patient and should swab treatment sites with alcohol or another disinfectant before inserting needles. When not delivered properly, acupuncture can cause serious adverse effects, including infections and punctured organs.

Definitions

Meridian: A traditional Chinese medicine term for each of the 20 pathways throughout the body for the flow of qi, or vital energy, accessed through acupuncture points.

Qi: A Chinese term for vital energy or life force. In traditional Chinese medicine, qi (pronounced "chee") is believed to regulate a person's spiritual, emotional, mental, and physical balance, and to be influenced by the opposing forces of yin and yang. Qi is equivalent to the Ayurveda term Prana.

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM): A whole medical system that was documented in China by the 3rd century B.C. TCM is based on a concept of vital energy, or qi, that is believed to flow throughout the body. It is proposed to regulate a person's spiritual, emotional, mental, and physical balance and to be influenced by the opposing forces of yin (negative energy) and yang (positive energy). Disease is proposed to result from the flow of qi being disrupted and yin and yang becoming unbalanced. Among the components of TCM are herbal and nutritional therapy, restorative physical exercises, meditation, acupuncture, and remedial massage.