Frequently Asked Questions

How does Acupuncture work?

Western science is as yet unable to fully explain the effect of acupuncture. In lay terms, acupuncture releases blockages along the meridians that connect the different organ systems of the body. Each point yields a different result when stimulated, creating many effects including cooling, warming, pain relief.

Most points create increased circulation in the area, and many have distant effects on specific organ systems or parts of the body, for example, Li 4, a point between the thumb and index finger, has a dramatic effect of reducing all headaches, it “controls” the face area, so it also has effect on other pains and issues on the face.

Through thousands of years of experience, the Chinese have learned that there are many places on the body that act as a “holographic” representation of all the body, and it is possible to treat specific conditions by stimulating points on these areas.

Acupuncture is an amazing and simple form of treatment that can be used for most conditions.

What is Acupuncture good for?

Acupuncture is exceptionally useful in relieving acute short term pain. Chronic long term pain is often better treated with traditional Chinese herbal remedies.

In TCM terms, acupuncture works great for Qi stagnation, a state in which the energy (Qi) that enervate and moves the body, is not flowing smoothly and freely through the body, when Qi is not moving, one of the symptoms we get is pain!!,

Acupuncture works great to increase circulation of blood to different parts of the body.

Acupuncture can restore normal function of nerves.

Acupuncture is used to regulate hormonal systems in the body, often applied to treatment of menstruation irregularities for women, it is used for the treatments of cysts and fibroid in the ovaries and uterus. Acupuncture can improve fertility.

Acupuncture is used very successfully for the treatment of menopause-related symptoms.

See the many Treatments that acupuncture can help>>

What makes Traditional Chinese Medicine effective?

Traditional Chinese medicine is a medical healing approach based on thousands of years of natural observation. In Western allopathic medicine today, is a system of drug-oriented medicine that is based primarily on theory. Physicians and scientist try to understand the physiological functioning of the human body, and then assume that specific synthetic compounds will react in a prescribed manner when administered.

This is an assumption that often proves to be incorrect, leading to the wide ranging side effects that are often encountered by users of pharmaceutical medicines.

Traditional Chinese medicine begins with natural facts. For example, when a person is “Yin deficient”, they will have some dehydration symptoms, red and dry tongue, also possibly have night sweats. Why would such a person have night sweats and not day sweats? Because symptoms of yin deficiency occur during either the afternoon or the night. Why? Because this is how the human body works. It’s not a theory, it’s a fact, a natural phenomena!

Western medicine does not acknowledge yin deficiency or many other natural phenomena. Why is this? Possibly because science is as yet unable to explain it!

The reason Traditional Chinese Medicine works so well is because it works with the body, accepting and supporting the way the body works in order to correct conditions to maintain the body’s natural balance.

How is Traditional Chinese Medicine diagnosis done? How do you know what herb or acupuncture point to choose?

Chinese medicine diagnosis is the central and the most important part of traditional Chinese medicine and the reason for its effectiveness.

Traditional Chinese medicine diagnosis is done through the asking of many questions that have been honed and perfected through millennia to give us, the practitioners, a picture of the state of health the patient is in. It is through the asking of simple questions that relate to the subjective feeling of a patient (ie. How thirsty? How hot or cold? Sweating? How Painful etc.) that we deduce a complete picture of a patient.

Another important part of this diagnosis is the inspection of the tongue and the testing of a patient’s pulse at the radial arteries in both hands.

The inspection of the tongue gives us an indication of the state of fluids in person’s body (wet or dry) which is an indication of how much heat that person’s condition has. Other indications come from the color and shape of a person’s tongue. A patient’s pulse pulse gives us an indication of the hot and cold or the ‘Qi’ state of the body. ‘Qi’ is the natural energy that is said to enervate, regulate and activate the body).

The pulse also gives us other indications regarding weaknesses, or deficiencies in different systems throughout the body.