When Is Acupuncture the Right choice? When is Acupuncture NOT the right choice?
Modern Medicine isn’t good or bad, it's the situation that decides that. Same with acupuncture, same with holistic medicine.
Most people know that acupuncture is the science of poking needles into the body to promote healing. It can be great for physical and mental pain, arthritis, sports injuries, internal disorders, weight loss facials and more.
It’s probably NOT a great first choice for a happening right now heart attack or liver failure, among other emergency room conditions.
WHEN you decide to use a particular medicine (ER, massage, acupuncture etc.) is a strong factor that determines if it’s a helpful choice or not. We will go more into this, but it’s very important to know and could save a lot of time, money, frustration, even a loved one’s life.
You could think of it like this:
WHICH MODALITY YOU CHOOSE + WHEN YOU DO IT x HOW MANY TIMES YOU DO IT = MEDICINE
In order to have the best possible outcome, we want the most potent and accurate medicine, at the right time.
Some things are like - The more times you do a thing that needs to be done with regularity, like going to the gym, the better chance you have of success.
The more times you wind up in an office that can help you with a particular thing (like going to the ER over and over again for something they can’t find), the more frustrating it can get, the longer it hurts, and the more long term damage can be incurred from not getting “the thing” fixed.
Let’s talk about where to go and why.
Please note: this is not medical advice, this is for education and entertainment only. I cannot possibly cover every situation and variable, these lists are by no means exhaustive, because that would be impossible or impossibly long and boring.
Definition of Terms:
Acupuncture - inserting needles into the body close or far from the site of injury, to provoke the body to change
Chinese Medicine, Traditional Chinese medicine, or TCM - medical system from china including Acupuncture, cupping, gua sha, tui na massage, qi gong, bonesetting/physical manipulation, custom diet therapy, internal herbal medicine, and much more.
Holistic medicine - Medicine that looks at the body as a set of interconnected systems, and how they play off of eachother.
When should you NOT try acupuncture (and/or chinese medicine):
Heart attack, sepsis, liver failure, and other potentially threatening emergencies.
When SHOULD you try acupuncture?
If you’re not sick in the hospital or actively dying, that’s a great time to start to try, start to look around.
How can Acupuncturists help?
Many “acupuncturists” are also Chinese medicine practitioners, meaning they practice more than just acupuncture.
Many acupuncturists also practice Acupuncture, cupping, gua sha, tui na massage, qi gong, bone setting/physical manipulation, custom diet therapy, internal herbal medicine, and much more. THERE IS A LOT TO UNPACK HERE so here’s a short breakdown of what those are and do.
Cupping - a sort of massage like technique for pain relief, range of motion and increasing circulation
Gua sha - for pain relief and range of motion, using a specialized tool to break stagnation and increase circulation
Tui na massage - incredibly advanced and specialized medical massage for pain releif and internal medicine (medicine for the organs)
Qi Gong - Yogalike exercises, breathwork and meditation.
Bone Setting/Physical Manipulation/Partner assisted stretching - Addressing the alignment and range of motion of the body.
Diet therapy - Customized food and diet programs (hospitals need to take note)
Internal Herbal medicine - Instead of taking pharmaceuticals for headaches, pains,
In the US today and many other places, you have absolutely healthy on one side of the discussion, dying in the hospital on the other, and a massive gulf in the middle, where many of us live - Not actively dying in the hospital, but also lots of room for improvement.
The best time to treat disease is before it ever starts!!! So, if you’re healthy, and nothing is wrong, that’s great, go get acupuncture. If you’re not well, I’m sorry to hear that, go try acupuncture (again this is not direct advice), if you’re on your way to the hospital, I’m really sorry to hear that, I hope it works out, call an acupuncturist when you get out.