Alternative Medicine Resources

Acupuncture St Helens is a uniquely Chinese way of treating ailments and diseases.  This ancient medical art is practiced in the Orient, in Europe and in the United States.

Acupuncture is a great way to remove the desire to smoke.  For most holistic health specialists, it is their preferred treatment method of helping their patients to permanently stop smoking.  The success rate of acupuncture for smoking cessation is an incredible 90%.  Acupuncture can help the patient control the withdrawal symptoms that come with quitting using an addictive substance.  It induces a feeling of tranquility and calmness which helps neutralize the nicotine craving.  This is all done without the need for medications that cause side effects and other harm to the body.  In fact, acupuncture even enhances body functions and helps revitalize the body with renewed energy.

The outer ear is often the site where the needles are applied for nicotine addiction.  The treatment is not painful and in fact somewhat soothing.  Ion pellets may be used and attached on the ear.  When the patient feels the craving to smoke, all he/she needs to do is touch and rub the pellet to remove the craving.  The touching and rubbing of the pellet on the ear stimulates the production and release of endorphins (the same effect as the needles) coming the central nervous system. Endorphins are the body’s own natural “painkillers and “feel-good” chemicals.  Science has measured their potency as thousands of times stronger than morphine in removing pain or stress. Typically, it takes around 4 or 5 visits to an acupuncturist to permanently stop smoking.

Acupuncture is recognized by the World Health organization (WHO) as an effective treatment for 47 kinds of health ailments one of which is nicotine addiction.

Obviously people in the United States will try conventional methods in trying to quit smoking since acupuncture for smoking cessation is virtually unknown in that country.  Therapies such as nicotine patches do not really cure, in fact they just continue with the addiction albeit in a different way.  Acupuncture, on the hand, completely rids the body of the toxins that cause the cravings and health problems and enables the body to heal itself in a natural and safe way.

Once the toxins that harm the body are removed, the body experiences renewed energy and at the same time a feeling of calmness and relaxation.  Acupuncture improves blood circulation, relaxes tight muscles and regulates body functions helping the body get adequate sleep and boosting the immune system as well.  It removes tension and stress in the nervous system caused by poor lifestyle choices and poor diet.  When the individual is cured of his/her smoking, changes in lifestyle and diet should be considered to make the body stronger, healthier and much more resilient to diseases.

In the United States, infertility treatments normally mean therapies involving conventional medical procedures.  Acupuncture St Helens will seem odd as an option for treating fertility problems.  However, acupuncture has been treating infertility cases in China and parts of East Asia for thousands of years.  In fact, the emperors of China relied on acupuncture to keep them sexually healthy and virile.  Today because of so many negative factors in modern living such as pollution and chemicals that cause sterility and impotency, infertility is a very serious issue for many couples around the world.  Many conventional procedures are offered but in specific infertility cases, nothing trumps acupuncture treatment as a very effective way of overcoming these problems.  Furthermore, these conventional treatments would not be as successful as they claim to be without acupuncture helping them to make their procedures truly effective.

Acupuncture is the practice of utilizing very fine needles and inserting them in the skin to induce the body to heal and treat itself.  The points selected for needle insertion are called acupuncture points and depending on the type of ailment a person suffers from, a specific part in the body will be selected for treatment.  One can view acupuncture as a form of physical therapy that regulates blood flow and hormone levels.  One of the principal causes for infertility is hormonal imbalance.

Today conventional reproductive assisted programs such as in vitro fertilization (IVF), egg-donor transplant or artificial insemination require acupuncture treatment for the patient before the treatment itself is performed.  This is to greatly increase the rate of success of these procedures.   The ability of acupuncture to heal the patient of mental, emotional and physical issues facilitates the effectiveness of these other procedures.

Infertility complications that are non-structural in nature such as polycystic ovarian syndrome or PCOS, hyperprolactinemia, luteal phase defect, unexplained infertility, frequent miscarriages, elevated follicle stimulating hormone and spasmed tubes can all be ably treated with acupuncture.  Infertility problems in men such as low sperm count, sperm-DNA-fragmentation, poor sperm motility and erectile dysfunction can be cured with acupuncture.

Like most natural health procedures, acupuncture does not work immediately.  The body needs to adjust to the processes of healing.  The same is true for patients who will undergo reproductive assisted programs.  They will be given acupuncture treatment months prior to the program itself.  Acupuncture is not expensive and truly safe.  The cost for acupuncture treatment is merely a fraction of what one spends for one cycle of IVF treatment.  To avoid complications, it is advisable to go to an acupuncturist who specializes in infertility cases and who is licensed, well-trained and has extensive experience with many types of fertility problems.

One type of acupuncture called electro-acupuncture is a very good analgesic/anesthetic for pregnancy labor. It also helps in healing the woman quickly, shortening hospital stay and thus helping cut down on expenses.

Acupuncture St Helens is an ancient Chinese way of healing using hair thin needles for the treatment of disorders, ailments or pain.  It has the ability to treat a vast array of disorders in a natural, effective and safe way making it one of the most popular traditional forms of healthcare in the United States, Europe and Asia.

Acupuncture is widely practiced in the United States and Europe. Many mainstream physicians now recommend acupuncture for patients with longstanding or even for some non-longstanding ailments and pain.  Many physicians, in fact are trained medical acupuncturists and they understand the concept and fundamentals of acupuncture as well as its therapeutic benefits in the light of Western medical science.

Traditional Chinese medicine theorizes that the body has energy vessels where life-giving energy flows all over the body.  When the body is infiltrated with negative factors like disease, stress, etc., the energy flow is disrupted in the body.  The life-giving energy flowing in the body is called by its Chinese name qi or chi, which means vital force.  The imbalance (energy deficiency or energy excess) causes illness in the body and acupuncture is needed to address this imbalance and remove illness and pain in the body.

When pain causes energy blockage, acupuncture will find a way to restore energy flow  in the body.  Acupuncturists bear a slogan saying “when there is no blockage, there will be no pains.”

The first recorded practice of this beneficial healing tradition was on the reign of the Huang Di Dynasty.  It was said that during this dynasty, the ruler was suffering from a disorder.  Upon consultation with his physician, it was decreed that medical writings be done and compiled by all the physicians in China, this led to the Nei Jing, Asia’s first collection of medical writings. The Nei Jing comprises two parts. The first section dealt with diagnosis, disease and anatomy and the second section, called cosmos, were studies regarding traditional acupuncture treatment.

Acupuncture’s golden age came during the Tang and Sui dynasties.  These eras were a time when education and writings regarding acupuncture became part of the medical curriculum taught in schools.  The techniques and methods of acupuncture were steadily developed during the Ming Dynasty.  New discoveries of techniques and applications of acupuncture were made during that time, which now is still practiced by both medical and traditional acupuncturists alike.

With acupuncture updated to adapt to 21st medical technology, its potentials will only lead to greater uses for illnesses that traditionally were thought to be outside the capacity of acupuncture to treat.  The key to understanding how acupuncture really works will be the goal of Western science.  Once acupuncture is fully understood, this wonderful treatment can then be appreciated and utilized optimally as a treatment for many more human maladies.

Many people are still in the dark of the many uses and benefits acupuncture has on people’s health.  Compared to acupuncture, a 5000-year-old healing art, Western medicine, over 200 years in existence, is merely a baby.  Here are some fallacies regarding acupuncture St Helens.

1.    Acupuncture will work only if one believes it does – Acupuncture has an unmistakable physiological, mental and emotional effect on the person regardless of what he/she thinks about acupuncture.  The endorphins that acupuncture stimulate and release help balance and normalize the functions of the central, autonomic, parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous system creating homeostasis, meaning the body is in perfect health and equilibrium.  Acupuncture enables improvement in the blood circulation of the body helping nourish other parts of the body that were under nourished with blood and vital nutrients.

2.    The needles hurt – Needles used for acupuncture are as thin as the hairs in the human head.  They may elicit a sudden sensation upon insertion in the skin but not pain.  These needles are not needles used for injections or drawing of blood, they are non-hollow needles whose only use is for acupuncture treatment.  Once the needles are in the skin, the initial sensation is immediately replaced with a feeling of comfort and relaxation.

3.    Not all herbs are safe for human use – Herbs that are available in Chinese drug stores are all safe provided they are used for their specific purpose.  These herbs carry no side effects making them safer to use than western pharmaceuticals.  The herbalist makes sure you get the herbal medicine for your specific health need.  Western pharmaceuticals corporations thrive on a person’s sickness giving patients mere palliatives that treat symptoms temporarily.  These companies will never make medicines that totally cure sicknesses for the simple fact that there is no business to be gained with a healthy person.  Herbals are designed to treat the symptoms and the disease as well.

4.    Acupuncture costs a lot – Insurance companies now offer coverage for acupuncture therapy.  Acupuncture treatment costs pale in comparison to long-term medication, which when taken for years is far more costly than acupuncture.

5.    Acupuncture treatment needs to be a permanent treatment to be successful – If one recovers after suffering from acute disorders or injuries such as motor or sports injuries, digestive problems, stress, fatigue, flu or cold, then one does not need further acupuncture treatment to remain healthy.  For chronic health problems, the number of sessions depends on the magnitude of the problem and the overall health of the person.  Another factor to consider is that patient’s reactions to acupuncture differ from person to person and some may recover quickly while it may take others a longer while for resolution of their health problems.  If acupuncture is combined with herbal medicine, then the whole treatment may entail a shorter time than with acupuncture treatment alone.

Acupuncture St Helens is one of the most popular forms of alternative treatments around the world.  It is about the insertion of sterile needles into the skin to elicit a desired medical response. Acupuncture is part of traditional Chinese medicine or TCM, which believes that the underlying cause of all pain and illness is blocked or stagnant energy (chi).  A blocked chi can be likened to heavy rainfall where the water from it is obstructed by a canal system filled with debris, preventing the water to drain out to other drainage systems.  Acupuncture treatment removes this blockage by inserting needles placed in certain parts of the body. The acupuncturist’s goal is to release blocked chi and restore the body then to optimal health.

Acupuncture is an ancient medical art practice for over 5,000 years in China and other parts of the Orient.  Acupuncture is an effective treatment for fibromyalgia.  Various tests and studies have been done citing the beneficial use of acupuncture for treatment of a wide range of pain and fatigue disorders.  However, the fundamental viewpoints of traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine are very different which makes a cogent and empirical conclusion from Western medicine regarding the efficacy of acupuncture in treating a wide range of disorders extremely difficult to reconcile.  For Western medicine, a cure for one specific disease will apply for all individuals with this type of disease.  With acupuncture, each individual in a group with the same disease may be given different customized treatment plans.

There are over 6 million Americans suffering from fibromyalgia with really no substantive remedy for its symptoms offered by Western medicine and that is why more people are beginning to realize the power of alternative medicine.  The March/April 2006 edition of Alternative Therapies reported that acupuncture has been proven to have a therapeutic effect in treating fibromyalgia. Besides showing proof of reversing arthritic conditions and other chronic pain issues, acupuncture has also shown to relieve the painful symptoms of fibromyalgia.

When people envision acupuncture, they always associate it with needles, which prevent some of them from benefiting from it.  However, the needles used in acupuncture are very thin and not the type of instruments one uses to draw blood or inject substances inside the body.  The sensation one gets from an acupuncture needle is light, negligible and ignorable.

The importance of staying calm and relaxed in acupuncture therapy can be understood when the efficacy of the treatment depends on the muscles being relaxed so as to allow the effect of the needles to work properly.  When the muscles tighten up because of the fear of needle pain, the treatment will never work because the tightening will hinder chi flow, which is the aim of the treatment in the first place.   Therefore, if the patient is not relaxed during treatment, the therapy itself will be useless.