acupuncture - Michael Prabhu

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NEW WEBSITE: www.ephesians-511.net JUNE 2004, AUGUST 2009, APRIL/OCT.
2012/APRIL/JULY 2013



ACUPUNCTURE, SU-JOK , ACUPRESSURE, JIN SHIN DO, ACU-YOGA,


SHIATSU [MASSAGE] and REFLEXOLOGY [ZONE THERAPY]


[A summary of this article was carried in "Streams of Living Water",
Calcutta Catholic Charismatic Renewal, issues of August-September and
October-November 2006]





ACUPUNCTURE - A RESURGENCE

News about acupuncture [Latin acus, needle; punctum, prick] hit the
headlines when in 1971 a group of Americans witnessed surgery on the chest
of a patient at the Peking Medical College in China. Apart from a dose of
morphine injected at an acupuncture site near his jaw to act as a
tranquillizer, the only anaesthetic used seemed to be a needle inserted
into the man's forearm and manipulated [moved up and down, to and fro] by
an acupuncturist.
The patient was able to communicate with the surgeons and even eat some
fruit! This incident prompted several American medical institutions into
initiating acupuncture research programmes. Between 1976 and 1977 alone,
more than 100 articles were written in medical journals to explain how the
system worked.
Acupuncture had come to the West to stay.
Acupuncture is not only about pain alleviation. It is also used to heal a
variety of ailments using different methods.
A laser beam is used in laser acupuncture, while the needles are connected
to an electrical supply which produces vibrations in electro-acupuncture*.
Ear acupuncturists claim that all the needle sticking points have their
equivalents in the ears, thus making whole-body acupuncture unnecessary.
Animals are also treated with acupuncture nowadays.
In acupressure, the pressure of the fingers substitutes for the needles.
*see pages 1, 5, 6, 14, 17


ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT

The earliest textbook on acupuncture, dating from around 400 BC was the Nei
Ching Su Wen or The Yellow Emperor's Classic of Internal Medicine.
"Acupuncture is a holistic system of healing, in that it treats the whole
man, not just his present condition. It is a system in tune with Universe,
and to understand it, we must understand something of Chinese philosophy,"
says E.G. Bartlett, writing in favour of Alternative Therapies in his book
Healing Without Harm, Pathways to Alternative Medicine.
In ancient China, since dissection of the human body was prohibited for
religious reasons, the Chinese had only a vague idea of anatomy. So, early
Chinese medicine was more influenced by the astrological and spiritual
concepts of the time. The qualities of five known 'elements' [water, fire,
wood, earth and metal] were correlated to five solid organs of the body
[like the heart] which corresponded with five hollow organs [e.g. the
stomach], and were later allocated a planet and a season of the year.
According to the theory of acupuncture, there are two more organs in the
body unknown to Western man: the 'Triple Warmer' and the 'Gate of Life',
both of them being Yang.
They believed that diseases were sent by gods and demons. The earliest
doctors were shamans who performed rituals with incantations and spells,
while sticking needles into the patient in an effort to expel the demons.
Later the demon model was exchanged for an astrological one. The Emperor
Huang Ti observed from a study of the stars that harmony and balance reign
in the universe. He concluded that man is the microcosm and must correspond
to the macrocosm. In other words, man's physical and mental processes must
be maintained in tune with each other. Further developments took place with
the emergence of a philosophical school called Taoism. Taoism comes from
Tao [meaning 'the way'] which was believed to be the first principle, the
universal cosmic energy behind the order of nature, preceding even God. It
dates back to the philosopher Lao Tse. The Tao's two faces are the Yin and
the Yang. Each has several attributes that are in opposition to the other,
yet they are still one. Everything in the universe is either Yin or Yang.
For example, good is Yang and evil is Yin. They do not oppose each other,
but are simply two sides of the same coin. Similarly, Chinese medicine
understands man as one in body and spirit, a complete unit that finds its
ultimate harmony only in Tao. This is the doctrine of monism or 'all is
one'. Fundamental was the chi or life energy which permeated all things,
and was all things, with its polar components of Yin and Yang, which
constantly strive or interplay to achieve a harmonising balance. Disease in
the human body was manifested due to imbalance in the chi or energy body of
a person. Man can function properly only when his chi is in harmony with
the cosmic energy of the universe. Acupuncture was performed to restore the
balance of chi in the patient, arriving at a harmony between Yin and Yang,
thus ensuring good health. 1.



Along with the use of meditative techniques, Taoists sought for the
ultimate wholeness, a surpassing of the human condition, in the prize of
immortality. Some modern Western acupuncturists downplay or ignore its
Taoist underpinnings, while others adopt the use of the pendulum and other
practices that Christians consider occult.


APPLICATION - MOVING THE CHIS

The seat of the chi is said to be the stomach. The body receives its chi
from the air through the respiratory system which is connected to the large
intestine. The stomach filters out the chi, passes it to the spleen and
through a complex system of major [traditionally there are 14] and minor
meridians, to the entire body.
Some acupressurists use their fingers to manipulate the abdomen in order to
release congested chi in the stomach.
The number of acupuncture points in the body, located along the extremities
of the meridians near its surface, may be a few hundred [traditionally
there were 365] or a few thousand depending on the acupuncturist you
select, and the chart he uses. The needles are made of gold, silver or
steel and vary in length between 1.5 and 7 inches.
They are used in different combinations, for different periods of time,
heated or cold, to solve different health problems.
If the Yin is too strong, a gold needle is inserted in the appropriate
place to strengthen the Yang.
Twisting the needle clockwise will stimulate Yang, and vice versa. If the
Yang is too strong, a silver needle is used.
But there are no fixed procedures. Methods of diagnosis also vary among
practitioners.
Needles are not the only form of treatment used in acupuncture. Moxabustion
uses burning of moxa leaves close to the body, Cupping employs bamboo cups
to remove negative chi, and Cutaneous Acupuncture uses 'plum blossom' or
'seven-star' needles that are tapped on the skin surface and do not
penetrate deep.
Also, through listening to the body's energy vibrations and smelling to
detect the body's subtle aromas, acupuncturists may locate the centre of
the Yin/Yang imbalance.
One tool is the pulse diagnosis, which is not simply the rate of the
heartbeat, but an indication of the vibrations of the patient's cosmic
energy, giving insight into his condition. The left and right hand pulses
[each wrist is said to have six], and either superficial or stronger
pressures provided details of the different individual body organs. The
procedure is said to bring the subconscious of the patient and healer in
touch with each other.
Since acupuncture is a holistic treatment, during diagnosis one may be
questioned regarding one's lifestyle, fears and phobias etc., to determine
the exact procedure.


WORKING AND EFFECTS

Acupuncture treatment is on offer for every conceivable illness including
depression and alcohol or narcotic addiction, as well as to augment
anaesthesia during surgery. But there is no documentation to show that
acupuncture was, at any time, the sole agent of anaesthesia. Surgery is
always started with a short period of general anaesthesia.
After a period of time, the patient regains partial consciousness, but
continues to be pain-free. Should he indicate pain, more analgesics are
added to the intravenous infusion. Neurophysiologists say that what is
actually taking place is an unconscious distraction from pain through
acupuncture. This is why we rub our shin after we collide with something:
we follow a natural instinct to exert pressure on the location to alleviate
the pain-reaction in our brain.
But this did not explain all the effects of acupuncture.
Tests with needle-stimulation on mice revealed the secretion of pain-
reducing substances in their brains.
These endorphins, which act like morphine, a pain-killer, are produced in
the human brain as a reaction to pain.
Further research showed that when a patient swallows a placebo, a fake
medication which is administered as a medicine, the brain releases
endorphins into the body. It just required that the patient believed that
he had taken a pain-killer.
The sensation of pain returned after the injection of a drug that blocks
the effect of the endorphins.
Pain conditions are also greatly influenced by psychological factors.
There might well be some truth in the conclusion of some researchers who
trace acupuncture back to hypnosis and the power of suggestion. Patients of
acupuncture display a rock-like faith in the method, and are exposed to
intensive psychic disciplining before the actual sessions begin.
An exhaustive research concluded that acupuncture was, at best, a powerful
placebo: The Clinical Journal of Pain, June 1991, as referred by John
Ankerberg and John Weldon in The Facts on Holistic Health and the New
Medicine".
They add: "Further, psychic healing may be deliberately or inadvertently or
deliberately engaged through the practice of attempting to regulate or
channel psychic energies. Needle stimulation has produced physical
complications such as infection and nerve damage."


PRICKING PROBLEMS

In 1822, after Western concepts of healing reached China, the Great
Imperial Medical Board issued a ba