What is Acupuncture?

Acupuncture as its name implies involves the piercing of the skin with fine needles in order to treat disease. Traditionally the Chinese believed that a person only became ill if his vital energy (qi) became depleted or imbalanced. Qi pervades the universe and our own bodies flowing in a system of meridians beneath the skin (see diagram). To restore health it is important to keep the flow of qi even within these meridians – this can be done by inserting acupuncture needles into points of relative excess or deficiency on the meridian lines.

A traditionally trained acupuncturist is able to assess the state of your meridians in a number of ways before actually inserting the needles. In most cases we will use one or more of the following forms of diagnosis during a course of treatment:

Tongue diagnosis: The colour, coating, shape of the tongue are checked along with any markings such as cracks and spots to give an indication of general health and the health of bodily organs.
Pulse diagnosis: Chinese pulse diagnosis is a complex art and science. The radial pulse is palpated near the wrist – there are several different qualities that we look for when feeling this pulse (not just the rate), and each can tell us something about your state of health. In addition different positions on the pulse correspond to different organs and meridians. Both the left and right wrists are checked at three different positions and 2 or 3 depths giving a total of up to 18 positions, each relating to particular organs and meridians.
Abdominal diagnosis: The abdomen is palpated to check the state of various reflex zones which correspond to particular meridians, organs or structural imbalance.

After diagnosis we will have some idea as to your imbalance and part of the acupuncture treatment will be aimed at restoring you to a healthier balance. This improved state of equilibrium, will be felt by you, in a variety of ways. Your general sense of well-being will improve, you may start to sleep better, feel calmer and notice increased energy levels. Your main symptoms should start to clear up and furthermore you may find other long standing problems begin to improve. This overall improvement is the aim of all traditional acupuncturists and the general approach is what is meant by holism.
Often some symptomatic acupuncture treatment is required as well, so for instance with shoulder pain we may treat the shoulder directly, but this treatment is boosted, lasts longer and is much more likely to be successful after the re-balancing part of treatment has been given.