Is Acupuncture For You?

by Brandy Cordova

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When you hear the word acupuncture, what comes to mind? Usually tons of needles stuck all over the body! Well, that image is one that many practitioners would like to squash. As a Five-Elemental Acupuncture clinical intern at the Institute of Taoist Education and Acupuncture (ITEA), it is one that I would personally love to see squashed! Our style is different than TCM, Japanese and Korean, in the aspect that we treat the root cause of imbalances, and we treat the person as a whole; body, mind and spirit.

There are so many styles and techniques of acupuncture performed that it’s confusing for the lay person to know which style they should try. Some styles of acupuncture may be more preferable to a person for one reason or another, or one may even be more appropriate for the types of issues that they are dealing with. The most common style practiced is Traditional Chinese Medicine, or TCM. This is the style where you do get a lot of needles placed in various parts of your body and they are left in for a certain amount of time. They use a three-point combination, distal, local, and remote, when placing the needles into the skin.

There is Japanese style, and within this there are about 30 different styles! The Japanese were introduced to Chinese Medicine in the 6^th century. Since then, the Japanese have developed many unique theories and techniques. Japanese style is similar to TCM, but uses fewer and thinner needles with less stimulation of the needle.

Korean acupuncture is another broad practice, which includes some unique techniques and applications as well as some from both TCM and Japanese acupuncture. This style also makes use of the Five Element Theory and an emphasis on your body type or constitution when developing treatments. Korean hand acupuncture uses points on the hands, which correspond to certain areas of the body and to certain disharmonies.

Auricular acupuncture uses points in the ears that correspond to certain areas of the body and to certain disharmonies. It is commonly used for pain control and drug, alcohol, and nicotine addictions. One area where Auricular acupuncture is used extensively is in drug and alcohol detox centers where the NADA Protocol is used to help people deal with addictions. The NADA protocol has been proven to be extremely powerful in alleviating symptoms of stress and trauma, as well.

Another style of acupuncture is Classical Five-Elemental Acupuncture. Five element theory is one of the major systems of thought within Chinese medicine. From an historical perspective, it is an important underpinning of medical theory and serves as one of the major diagnostic and treatment protocols. The style is based upon nature. Professor J.R. Worsley adapted Classical Five-Elemental Acupuncture to fit our modern world. This style treats the person as a whole; body, mind and spirit. The needles are inserted into points, stimulated, then pulled out, not left in.

Regardless of the style, if you are interested in receiving acupuncture, do your research! Read books, check websites, and ask around. Just make sure the practitioner is a licensed practitioner!

Category: The Future