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Acupuncture is not a new method for relieving pain, stress or even to stop smoking. Acupuncture is a Chinese medical practice that is ancient. It is thought that acupuncture has actually been around for 3000 plus years. It has only recently been used for quitting smoking though and the results are amazing. Acupuncture is the act of using needles that are very thin into specific spots on your body that relieves pain, stress, fatigue and helps people to stop smoking.

Acupuncture is a great way to stop smoking and to help you beat the addiction. You cannot administer acupuncture to yourself, you will need to see a qualified acupuncture administer and for this you will probably have to pay. You may be able to get a few sessions prescribed from your doctor, but the likelihood of having to pay for the sessions yourself are high.

Acupuncture will only work if you are committed to quitting smoking. It isn’t some magical voodoo that makes you quit smoking instantly, and you will probably have to have quite a few sessions to feel the full benefit.

The acupuncture doesn’t make you quit, you will have to do that yourself. The acupuncture for quitting smoking actually focuses on the after effects of quitting smoking. It helps to alleviate the symptoms, the cravings, and the desire to smoke again amongst other things.

The acupuncture will also help you to relax, it will help you to de-stress and many other things that are associated with smoking and quitting. You will be able to relax easily therefore not needing the cigarettes. Acupuncture can also help your body to Detox and release all the toxins within your body because of smoking.

Acupuncture is here for long time. Its authenticity is still a debatable issue. But the recent study that the acupuncture can dramatically lower blood pressure. According to this study, when low level of electrical stimulation was given at specific points on the front legs of rats lower the elevation in blood pressure. This study provides a setting stage for large-scale trails on humans and another option for healthcare practitioner treating high blood pressure patients. This study proves that acupuncture can be an excellent complements to other medical treatments, especially those treating high blood pressure problems.

This study cans convince the so far unconvinced Weston world that acupuncture can also lower blood pressure. This research will ultimately integrate acupuncture healing into medical treatments for lowering the blood pressure. Team of researchers performed both manual and electro acupuncture. All the activities in both manual and electro acupuncture were performed. They used all the methods available and also changed the variables. Results of both manual and electro acupuncture showed immediate and prolonged lowering of cardiovascular blood pressure. However blood pressure remains lower for 10 minutes longer with electro acupuncture. Results in electro acupuncture are achieved normally with lower frequency. Result ranges between 44 and 39 % respectively. Combined stimulation of both the sets has caused no extra additive effect on the lowering of blood pressure.

Acupuncture is available with many variable techniques; therefore this study provides a greater opportunity to understand the different type of acupuncture techniques.

Acupuncture treatment is found to successful on only patients with hypertension (high blood pressure) and has no effect on the healthy patient. Goal of this study is to establish a standard of acupuncture treatment that can benefit everyone, who has high blood pressure and other cardiac ailments.

Clinical Acupuncture Practice

Acupuncture needles used for clinical practice are special needles of fine diameter made of stainless steel and are not hollow. The needle has a thick bronze wire wound on its upper third and a handle for firm grip. Each acupuncture style has a unique insertion depth and type of needle used. The acupuncture point is heated with a process called moxicombustion.

Safety of Acupuncture

The acupuncture process is safe to perform if it’s done by a certified acupuncturist. Acupuncture therpists are now commonplace and you should be able to talk to him or her about your condition and any specific questions or queries you might have. The equipment is safe and clean. The needles used are pre sterilized and disposable. Thus they are safe to use and unlikely to transmit disease.

Complementary Therapy With Acupuncture

Acupuncture can be used as a complementary therapy for the following conditions:

Anxiety
Neuralgias
Migraines
Chronic pain
Arthritis
Bruxism
TMJ pain
Allergic rhinitis

A trained acupuncturist can also advise on other conditions where acupuncture may be of use and you should be able to discuss your particular case and concerns with him or her. Most, of not all, practitioners will be happy to discuss your requirements with them and they will not wish for you to part with any money until you are satisfied as to the process.

Acupuncture is one of the components of the health care system evolved in China at least 2,500 years ago. Acupuncture literally means “needle piercing” - the practice of inserting very fine needles into the skin to stimulate specific anatomic points in the body (known as acupoints or acupuncture points) for therapeutic purposes.

The general theory of acupuncture is based on the assumption that there are patterns of energy flow (Qi) through the body that are essential for health. The disturbances or disruptions in this flow are responsible for health diseases. Acupuncture, as theorized, is meant to correct the imbalances of flow at identifiable points close to the skin.

Acupuncture involves stimulating. Apart from the usual method of puncturing the skin with the fine needles, the practitioners of acupuncture also use heat, pressure, friction, suction, or impulses of electromagnetic energy to stimulate the points. The use of acupuncture to treat diseases in American medicine was quite rare until President Nixon visited China in 1972. This effectively opened the door from East to West, connecting America to the Orient. Acupuncture has since come out as a strong substitute or augmentation for contemporary medical treatment methods.

To really understand how acupuncture works, it is necessary to become familiar with the basics of Chinese philosophy that underlines the essence of the theory of acupuncture. The way it has gained popularity in the developing and developed countries in the past forty years, it may ultimately prove to be a very important vehicle for maintaining good health and well-being.

For over 5,000 years acupuncture has been practiced using many different methods to stimulate acupuncture points. The methods range from fish bones, bamboo slivers, needles, electrodes, laser, to magnets. Studies show that they are all equally effective and that it does not matter what method of treatment you receive, the results are equally the same.

One of the best and most convenient forms of acupuncture is magnetic acupuncture. Magnetic acupuncture can be done at anytime of the day and is painless. It takes no more than five minutes to apply the magnets and can be left on for several day straight for maximum effectiveness. Another great benefit of magnetic acupuncture is that it can be done at home and at a fairly cheep cost compared to an acupuncture visit. An average needle based acupuncture visit cost upwards of $120.00. With a treatment schedule of 12 sessions it can get quite pricey. While, 12 sessions of magnetic acupuncture only cost around $40.00. That is less than $4.00 a treatment.

The benefits of magnetic acupuncture definitely out weigh every other form of acupuncture. The neatest thing that I found is a website, Acuaids (below is a link) . This is the only company to offer magnetic acupuncture to the public. Go check it out, and make sure to click on their proven study link. The studies show how effective and safe acupuncture is. This is definitely one of the best products on the market today.

Acupuncture can be used on anything from weight loss to insomnia. It has all of the benefits with out the side effects. There are several good website for acupuncture for weight loss studies. The website/blog below has several acupuncture weight loss studies on it. Acupuncture is very effective and safe. It also works on everyone!

Two studies were conducted in the 90’s on whether acupuncture (one of the oldest medical procedures) could treat acne. The study took place in both China and Russia on patients who did not have success with other acne treatments. Within 9 sessions the patients all experienced some kind of improvement.

Acupuncture is a procedure using very thin needles to stimulate the meridians (certain points in the body that balance and restore the energy flow through the body). By contacting specific skin meridians acupuncture can treat the blockages in the skin that cause acne.

Another theory as to why acupuncture can help relieve acne is because acupuncture is also known to help with depression. Mood is one of the causes of acne. Therefore, if you are depressed or stressed it is very possible that your skin will break out. If acupuncture works to lift the mood, the acne will most likely subside as well.

Acupuncture is a positive remedy for acne because it has been shown to work. It can be costly, but is beneficial for those acne patients who do not want to take medications or have laser treatments. Topical creams along with medication can have negative side effects - which acupuncture does not. There is little to no pain associated with acupuncture for acne.

Acupuncture is like untying a muscular straightjacket that causes pain.

That’s how Cleveland Clinic acupuncturist Tim Rhudy, M.S., L.Ac., views the ancient Chinese form of medicine.

Recent research supports the pain-relieving benefits of acupuncture. A study in the November issue of the journal Arthritis & Rheumatism found that patients with knee and hip osteoarthritis showed significant improvements with acupuncture treatments. And, separate studies, published in September in the British Medical Journal and the American Journal of Epidemiology, found that acupuncture relieved chronic low-back pain.
But, while acupuncture may be effective for some people with certain kinds of pain, it may not work as well on pain associated with severe structural problems. More importantly, it should be used in conjunction with, not instead of, conventional medicine, and you should first consult your doctor to pinpoint the cause of your pain. And, you may get more relief if you also adopt healthful lifestyle practices, especially exercise.

“I tell people to use the improvement they get from acupuncture as a jump start into their own physical discipline. The best success is going to come with incorporating healthy lifestyle interventions, such as tai chi or sensible exercise,” said Rhudy.
According to ancient Chinese medicine, energy known as chi (pronounced “chee”) flows along channels in the body known as meridians, and pain and illness come with an imbalance or disruption of chi. Classic acupuncture works by inserting and maneuvering hair-thin needles at nearly 1,000 “acu-points” along the 12 major meridians to restore a balance of chi.

Practitioners of Western medicine believe that acupuncture triggers the release of endorphins (powerful chemicals our bodies produce to dull the perception of pain) and stimulates the spinal cord to release painsuppressing neurotransmitters.

Approaches to acupuncture vary. Some acupuncturists use only their along the 12 major meridians to hands to manipulate the needles, while others run a light electrical current through the needles to stimulate affected areas or use Chinese herbs in conjunction with traditional acupuncture.

Acupuncture is safe when practiced by licensed professionals using sterile needles, and it carries few, if any, complications. It’s most effective in treating chronic pain in the muscles and fascia (the connective tissue that envelops the body just underneath the skin), sports-related injuries and abdominal pain, including disorders such as irritable bowel syndrome, according to Rhudy. The treatment can lessen pain from arthritis, carpal-tunnel syndrome and some back pain, but it does not repair skeletal problems, he noted.

Rhudy said many people seek acupuncture only after other, conventional approaches have failed, but by that time it may be too late.

“If their condition is too far advanced, such as severe structural and degenerative changes, acupuncture may be too subtle of a weapon,” he said.

WHAT TO EXPECT

During your first session, the acupuncturist will ask you about your medical history and pain symptoms and then may feel for pain spots.

A typical back treatment will entail 30 to 35 needles inserted shallowly into the skin, fascia and muscle, while the usual frontal treatment requires 20 to 25 needles, Rhudy said. The needles remain in place for 15 to 20 minutes, and each session usually lasts about an hour. Most people feel extremely relaxed during and after the treatment.

Rhudy recommends that patients attend five weekly sessions to start and a treatment session a month later, and then return for maintenance treatments (if necessary) every four to six weeks afterward, or whenever they need relief. He advises patients to seek other treatment options if they don’t see any improvement in their symptoms after four or five sessions.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

* First, talk to your doctor and get a diagnosis of your condition to make sure a serious medical problem isn’t causing your pain.

* Tell your doctor if you’re undergoing acupuncture, and inform your acupuncturist about your medical condition and your medications.

* Seek out only a licensed, full-time acupuncturist or a doctor who features acupuncture significantly in his or her practice. Make sure they use only sterilized or disposable needles.

* Talk to your doctor about exercise and other healthful lifestyle habits that can help make the improvements you get from acupuncture long-lasting.

On September 23, Governor Gray Davis signed landmark legislation by Assemblywoman Judy Chu (D-Monterey Park) that will increase curriculum hours for students who enter acupuncture training programs beginning January 1, 2005.

Current law, established by the California State Acupuncture Board in 1984, requires that acupuncture and Oriental medicine training programs include a minimum curriculum of 2,348 hours
Assembly Bill 1943 was written to partially implement the recommendations of the California Acupuncture Board’s Task Force on Competencies and Outcomes, on which two dozen professional acupuncturists and representatives from major acupuncture schools participated. After meeting for nine months to review and discuss existing curricula, standards of practice, reports, and surveys, the Task Force voted in April to recommend a minimum 3,000 hour curriculum, which the California Acupuncture Board voted unanimously to adopt at their May 2002 meeting.

Assemblywoman Chu introduced AB 1943 on behalf of its sponsor, the Council of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine Associations, in ‘order to improve educational standards and quality of care for individuals practicing acupuncture and Oriental medicine in the state of California. The profession and Assemblywoman Chu, who has a doctorate degree in clinical psychology; felt that improved professional standards would result in increased quality of care for consumers and would produce a pool of more confident and experienced acupuncture practitioners who would be better prepared to meet the rising demand for the competent provision of acupuncture, herbal medicine, and other Oriental medicine services.
“I applaud Governor Davis for his approval on AB 1943 and his support for the Oriental medicine and acupuncture profession. This bill represents a major victory for the acupuncture profession and one step toward greater acceptance of the Asian healing arts in California’s healthcare system,” Assemblywoman Chu commented.

Dr. Ta Fang Chen, acupuncturist and president of the Council of Acupuncture Organizations, further added, “The acupuncturist profession, the Asian-American community, and the public owe a doubt of gratitude to Assemblywoman Judy Chu for her support of our traditional medicine. We believe that everyone must have access to Oriental medicine of a high standard.”

The next step in the process will be for the Acupuncture Board to implement the 3,000 hour standard into new regulatory codes, and to direct schools to update their curriculum for students entering school on January 1,2005. Since most schools already require over 3,000 hours for graduation, they will have few changes to make.

Additionally, the new law recommends that the Little Hoover Commission study future standards for education, specifically educational programs from 3,000 to 4,000 hours, and to provide recommendations as to whether currently licensed practitioners would need to meet any additional licensing standards when such a new standard is adopted.

According to historical documents, the profession has long endorsed the development of a 4,000-hour first professional doctorate degree as entry level for the Oriental medicine profession, with the potential for post-graduate specialty programs to follow, similar to physicians and chiropractors. Such programs do not yet exist.

Supporters of AB 1943 and the higher educational standards it represents included the multiple professional acupuncture organizations in California, the American Association of Oriental Medicine, the National Guild of Acupuncture of Oriental Medicine, various labor unions, a chamber of commerce, South Baylo University, Southern California University of Health Sciences, and many individual acupuncturists and students. Democratic and Republican legislators alike supported the bi-partisan bill.

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Dr. Rebecca Wilks isn’t totally sold on the effectiveness of acupuncture. But that hasn’t stopped the Phoenix ob.gyn. from offering it to her patients to treat pain, morning sickness, and even breech pregnancies.

“There is still a scientific part of my brain that has trouble with acupuncture. But the training was definitely worth it. It’s a totally different way of looking at patients and at disease,” she said.

Dr. Wilks is among a growing number of American physicians who are training in acupuncture techniques. Despite a dearth of data on the clinical virtues of the practice, the economic virtues are clear. Americans are spending nearly $30 billion out of pocket on alternative therapies every year.
Most of the 3-4 patients who come to Dr. Wilks’ private practice for acupuncture treatment each week come because they have low back pain, arthritis, or migraines.

Patients pay $100 for the initial 1-hour visit and $50 for each subsequent visit, Most pay out of pocket, although a few insurance companies are starting to reimburse for the service.

Dr. Wilks is one of approximately 4,000 medical doctors who have spent 7 weeks and more than $5,000 to complete formal acupuncture training at the University of California, Los Angeles. Another 1,000 physicians are estimated to be practicing acupuncture with other less comprehensive training or no additional training at all.

Only a handful of the physicians who’ve completed the program are ob.gyns. Most come from primary care and pain management specialties, according to the American Academy of Medical Acupuncture (AAMA), headquartered in Los Angeles.
Sign-ups at UCLA have been rising by 15% each year in recent years, and 600 physicians graduated from the program last year alone, said Dr. Joseph. Helms, a family physician who directs the acupuncture training. The trend is attributable not to proven efficacy, but to the public’s demand for acupuncture services.

“As it became clear that the population was willing to pay cash for acupuncture, it grabbed the attention of traditional medicine. The patients are driving the popularity of this,” said James Dowden, AAMA’s executive director.

And, while acupuncture is still largely a cash business, some health plans have begun covering the treatment.

“It is market driven. [Patients] are saying this is what they want,” said Karen Mueblberg, head of the alternative benefits program at Oxford Health Plans, Milford, Conn., which has been covering acupuncture as part of an alternative medicine benefits package since 1997.

While there is no national training standard for physicians who perform acupuncture, Oxford and many other health plans will send patients only to physicians who’ve had at least 300 hours of acupuncture schooling. That’s about what Dr. Wilks got when she took the course at UCLA.

Most states allow any doctor with a valid medical license to practice acupuncture, but seven states require physicians to take from 100 to 300 hours of additional training before they can practice acupuncture.

“They also have to have some time performing the service,” said Vickie Ina, senior vice president at Consensus Health, a San Francisco company that assembles networks of acupuncturists for managed care plans, including BlueShield of California.

Despite its growing popularity, data supporting acupuncture’s efficacy remain sketchy for most indications. In 1997, a National Institutes of Health panel concluded acupuncture can be useful in treating postoperative nausea, postoperative dental pain, and morning sickness.

Some quarters of organized medicine criticized the recommendations, saying that the panel had abandoned evidence-based standards and responded instead to the desires of acupuncture advocates. While most physicians use acupuncture primarily for treating pain, the modality is also used for many other disorders ranging from asthma to depression.

Most practitioners “are practicing placebo medicine. They are way out in front of the data,” said Dr. George A. Ulett of the department of psychiatry at the University of Missouri-Columbia, who practices and teaches a form of acupuncture using electrical stimulation that he says is proven to relieve pain by stimulating endorphin release. “People have been sold on it.”

But just because acupuncture’s appeal is being driven more by the market than by scientific data does not mean that patients aren’t seeing benefits, according to Dr. Helms, who is also founding president of AAMA.

“Most doctors are results-driven. These people see acupuncture as an extension of their capabilities as physicians, both diagnostically and therapeutically,” Dr. Helms said.

The lack of hard data troubles Dr. Wilks, although the relative safety of acupuncture eases her fears about the risks outweighing the benefits.

She has used acupuncture to treat breech presentations twice “and it has worked twice, but I remain skeptical,” she said.