8 Ways Acupuncture will Benefit your Health

Practised in China for more than three thousand years, acupuncture is a part of a complete system of medicine known as Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). Acupuncture is increasingly accepted throughout the Western World as an adjunct to or in place of western medicine. Other aspects of TCM include Herbal Medicine, manipulative therapy (Tuina/massage), diet, relaxation and special exercises (Qi Gong).

Acupuncture involves the insertion of very fine, sterile disposable needles at specific points on the body. In all treatments sterile, disposable needles are used.

1. Drug-free healthcare system. It works by restoring the body’s energetic balance by stimulating the body’s natural healing ability.
2. Acupuncture effectively relieves pain. Restores energy and improves individual health and wellbeing. Women can be treated for any complications of pregnancy without causing any harm to mother or baby, although certain acupuncture points need to be avoided if there is any likelihood of miscarriage.
3. Can be used to treat most diseases and illnesses as well as physical injuries such as sport injuries and joint mobility. It is dramatically effective in the alleviation of pain, whether acute or chronic.
4. Cosmetic acupuncture and facial acupuncture offer a natural alternative to invasive cosmetic surgery. Chinese doctors have been using points on the face for thousands of years to help combat signs of ageing in men and women and to help skin conditions.
5. Daily stresses, lifestyle choices and injury upset our natural balance and lead to physical and emotional symptoms. By identifying the root cause of your symptoms Acupuncture can activate specific energy points on your body to help bring both body and mind back to health. MRI scans show that acupuncture triggers the body’s healing process by calming the central nervous system, regulating hormones and releasing endorphins.
6. Treatment is aimed at the root of your condition as well as your main symptoms. This approach helps resolve your main problem but also enhances your general wellbeing. You may notice other niggling problems resolve.
7. Will help you sleep better and feel less stressed.
8. Now prescribed by most health insurance policies for certain conditions. There is much research into the effectiveness of acupuncture as a treatment.

Get in touch today to book your treatment.

 

David Hankey – Acupuncture Cork

Therapeutic Massage – A TCM Perspective

Therapeutic Massage is also part of the TCM repertoire – Anmo being a more general term and Tuina being used for more specialty techniques. Massage can also be part of the diagnostic process for acupuncturists.

Through various techniques, massage can dredge meridians and collaterals, regulate Yin and Yang, harmonize the Nutrient and Defense Systems, and tonify Qi and Blood. Massage is inseparable from the fundamental principles of TCM. Strong, forceful techniques, such as pulling, grasping, and nipping are fundamentally Yang in nature and produce purging and sedating effects, whereas soft, gentle techniques, such as stroking, rubbing, revolving, vibrating etc., are more Yin in nature and produce invigorating, tonifying effects.

In TCM Therapeutic  Massage works with meridians, collaterals, muscle groups, and tendons as well as individual points (for example, A Manual of Acupuncture by Peter Deadman shows the sinew channels for each meridian, as well as giving pathological symptoms).

Although I started out by studying various massage systems, including Shiatsu and Reflexology, I began the study of TCM because it led to a more in depth exploration of health matters. When I began to practice TCM, I relied more on acupuncture as a means to help people with health matters. However, because of expectations and competition with other disciplines, I began to include a few minutes of massage as part of certain treatments, especially those addressing physical difficulties and pain.

Treatments became more popular, and as an empirical observation, I thought more successful. As I thought about what I was doing, I came up with the following:
Learn More

Chinese Medicine and Women’s Health

Chinese Medicine and Women’s Health.  Chinese Medicine, which includes Acupuncture and Herbal Medicine, is especially good for women’s health. Women may experience health issues at all ages of life as the body changes. Acupuncture and TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) have a long history of treating Gynaecology, some texts go back to 200 B.C.

Acupuncture is very effective in treating menstrual irregularities, including:
Learn More