BY Dr. John Difini

Uses include treating headaches, neck, back pain, joint disorders

Acupuncture is probably the best known of "alternative" medical treatments in the United States today, but it has been a mainstay of Eastern medical practice for thousands of years.

Its popularity in the United States largely arose from a front page New York Times article by James Reston in 1971. Reston suffered acute appendicitis while reporting on a table tennis tournament between the U.S. and China, and wrote how his postoperative pain was relieved after an emergency appendectomy with just a few acupuncture needles.

Since then, acupuncture has become widely available in the West to treat a variety of illnesses and pain conditions.

The classical Chinese teaching is that acupuncture works by contacting channels of energy flow (meridians) that run throughout the body and over its surface. These meridians are disturbed and obstructed in disease states and pain conditions, and can be repaired and restored by needling specific acupuncture points.

The goal of acupuncture treatments is to promote the body's natural healing mechanisms by unblocking these energy obstructions.

The modern scientific explanation is that the acupuncture needles stimulate the nervous system to release various chemicals in the body's tissues, which can lessen pain, and also trigger the release of other chemicals that may influence the body's natural healing and regulatory mechanisms.

Since acupuncture has been popularized for only about 30 years in the West, it has only recently been scrutinized by the scientific method typical of Western medicine, and evidence of its many benefits is rapidly accumulating.

Medical acupuncture is the discipline of acupuncture taught by physicians, for physicians. It is performed by a doctor trained and licensed first in Western medicine, but who also has had extensive training in acupuncture as an additional specialty. The medical acupuncturist, can then use conventional medicine, acupuncture, or typically both to treat a variety of illnesses.

Acupuncture is well-recognized to aid in treatment of a wide range of medical problems, and is especially helpful to treat the pain of various neurologic, muscular, and joint disorders, such as headaches, neck and back pain, arthritis, carpal tunnel syndrome and peripheral neuropathy.

The technique is usually associated with very minimal discomfort. Acupuncture needles are very thin, sterile, single-use steel needles that are inserted at various locations specific for the problem being treated. The needles are usually left in place for 10 to 30 minutes, and often, gentle heat or electrical stimulation is applied for added benefit.

It has been estimated that in the past 2,000 years, more people have been successfully treated with acupuncture than with all other medical treatments combined. Acupuncture is practiced all over the world, and medical acupuncture, practiced by physician-acupuncturists, is becoming more a part of "mainstream" medical practice throughout North America and Europe.

To find out more, contact the American Academy of Medical Acupuncture at 800-521-2262 or www.medicalacupuncture.org.

Health | Dr. John Difini