 Acupuncture has been
practiced in China for several thousand years, although this traditional
healing art didn't catch Americans' interest until the early 1970's.
At that time,
American newspaper reporters covering President Richard Nixon's visit to
China wrote about a "miraculous" healing art virtually unknown in the United
States.
According to news reports, instead of using anesthetics, Chinese
acupuncturists were able to block the pain of surgery by deftly inserting
needles into the patient at specific points. Even more astonishing, it
was said that acupuncture relieved a wide variety of human ills.
How does it work?
According to ancient Chinese medical theory, the life force (called Chi and pronounced "chee") flows through the body via 14 invisible channels
(called meridians), regulating all physical and mental processes. Opposing
forces within the body, called yin and yang, must be balanced to keep Chi
flowing properly.
The meridians supposedly run deep within the body's
tissues and organs, surfacing at some 360 places identified as acupuncture
points, sometimes called acupoints. Certain meridians are identified with
organs such as the bladder or liver, and the points all along such
meridians--even in the hands or feet--are believed capable of affecting the
associated internal organ. Stimulating these points is said to balance and
restore the flow of Chi.
An explanation proposed by Western scientists is that acupuncture may
trigger the release of natural pain-killing substances within the body
called endorphins, thus blunting the perception of pain. It may also alter
the body's output of neurotransmitters such as serotonin and nor epinephrine,
and of inflammation-causing substances such as prostaglandins.
Conditions treatable by Acupuncture |
Oriental medicine is the most rapidly growing health care in the United States. There are over sixty schools of acupuncture and Oriental medicine in the
United States, over forty of which are accredited or in candidacy status
with the Accreditation Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (ACAOM).
ACAOM accredits two types of masters level programs, one in acupuncture and
one in Oriental medicine, which includes acupuncture and Chinese herbology.
 The National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental
Medicine (NCCAOM) has separate certification programs in acupuncture,
Chinese herbology and Oriental bodywork therapy.
There are practitioners of Oriental medicine in virtually every state and
they are rapidly being included in HMOs, third-party payer systems,
hospitals and integrated health care clinics.
Read about Deleon Best's certifications
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