 There has been growing popularity in recent years in the use of acupuncture in western society. Even Oprah Winfrey tried acupuncture out of curiostity live on Oprah and admitted it's not all that bad!
For over 23 centuries, the method of insertion of slender needles into pressure points in the body to unblock energy, blood, and moisture flow has been used to treat and prevent illnesses. Acupuncture goes unnoticed by some and to others feels like a small pinch followed by a sensation of tingling, traveling warmth, or heaviness. Sometimes people feel Qi (vital energy) moving at a distance from that point of insertion.
From a Western point of view, acupuncture is becoming less mysterious due to the positive results it has been known to produce. According to the National Institute of Health, a number of studies have demonstrated that acupuncture can cause multiple biological responses in both humans and animals. Because acupuncture has been used with dramaticsuccess in place of anesthesia and to treat conditions associated with pain, it is thought to stimulate the release of pain-relieving compounds such as endorphins and opioids.
Acupuncture is known to treat everything from the common cold to infertility, and according to some, even better than the ways of Western medicine. Let’s explore the benefits of acupuncture and just how it works.
Benefits of Chinese Acupuncture
Acupuncture Benefit #1: Helps with Thinning Hair and Hair Loss
Acupuncture Benefit #2: Helps Prevent Flu and Allergies
Acupuncture Benefit #3: Helps Treat the Common Cold and Flu
Acupuncture Benefit #4: Helps Alleviate Pain From Chemotherapy
Cancer seems to be ever-present in today’s world. With October being Breast Cancer Awareness month, most everyone has cancer on the brain. According to Elena Rozenfeld, Director of the Elite Wellness Center in New Jersey, acupuncture can help relieve a patient of the pain and discomfort felt from treatments like chemotherapy. Cancer is a systemic disease, so a whole body is involved. Elena states, “I believe that any illness starts by blocked energy and/or blood and moisture. Acupuncture helps coordinate the work of the organs and keep the body balanced by regulating its energy functions. From my patients I’ve learned that quality of life is dramatically improved when chemotherapy is done in conjunction with acupuncture. The side effect of chemotherapy is feeling sick with flu-like symptoms and nausea; these symptoms are often relieved via acupuncture.”
“The process of treating cancer is first to find out in great detail the patient's lifestyle - what they eat, what they breathe, what activities they participate in daily, what kind of stress they have, how they sleep, and much more.” Next, Elena performs more tests including a “meridian stress assessment test,” a survey questionnaire and a hair analysis. “From all this information, I am able to design a protocol for each patient individually.”
Elena says that any types of cancer can be treated using this method. Generally the treatment for this takes between 30 min to 1 hour, and most often, cancer patients report relief of the discomforts associated with chemotherapy the same day or next day after the acupuncture treatment. Results last for several days.
Chinese Acupuncture and Women’s Health
Lauren Mathews from Front Range Acupuncture says that the discussion of how acupuncture and herbal medicine can work to treat the above gynecological conditions is a big subject. In general terms, it balances the body naturally, increasing energy to organ and meridian systems that are depleted and moving energy through stuck or stagnant systems. There are many examples of how it can work, here are just a few:
Chinese acupuncture allows for a number of benefits. Learning more about this Eastern practice can give you more options in times of illness, and with so many people professing great results these days, why not at least give it a try?
Article Written By: Amy Jarvis; Amy is a graduate of FIDM in Los Angeles, CA and enjoys writing and creating pages for Divavillage.com.
Contributing Experts: Aradhna Behl, L.Ac., is a national board certified acupuncturist and founder of Hoboken Acupuncture & Herbs. Ms. Behl has special protocols and treatments for a range of ailments such as infertility, digestive disorders, psoriasis, urogenital disorders, respiratory disorders, fibromyalgia and several more.
Lauren Mathews is fully Licensed and Credentialed to practice acupuncture in the state of Colorado. She has both a Colorado State License and a U.S. National Certification in Acupuncture. www.frontrangeacupuncture.com)
As Director of The Elite Wellness Center, Emerson, NJ, Licensed Acupuncturist Elena Rozenfeld is a strong believer in the healing powers of acupuncture and other natural therapies.
Dr. Laurie Steelsmith: licensed acupuncturist, naturopathic physician, and author of Natural Choices for Women's Health; How the Secrets of Natural and Chinese Medicine Can Create a Lifetime of Wellness (Three Rivers/2005). | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
If you are unlucky enough to catch the cold or flu, acupuncture offers a quicker recovery. What we commonly call catching a cold or flu is basically a viral or bacterial infection. In Chinese medical theory, this illness is attributed to an invasion of evil energy often referred to as evil wind. However you view it, you gets sick when your immunity is low and the body is unable to ward off the infection or "evil winds." Fever and flu-like symptoms are nature’s way of fighting the infection.
Acupuncture can also be used to treat many gynecological health issues in woman. Many acupuncture practices specialize in women’s health, including Front Range Acupuncture, LLC which provides natural treatment for issues like ovarian cysts, hormonal imbalances, infertility, perimenopausal symptoms, and much more. 
