With a history of more than 2000 years, acupuncture is one of the oldest and most popular complementary and alternative medicine in the world. Although acupuncture is often associated with pain relief in Western countries, it actually contributes to healthcare and is a form of treatment for a wide range of conditions.
Health and diseases in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) are related to the circulation of the body’s energy ( 气－Qi), and the unique idea to treat disease is improving holistic health rather than treating isolated symptoms.
Acupuncture, one of the external therapeutic methods in TCM, is based on the theory of meridians, where the energy (气－Qi) flows; and acupoints, where the energy (气 －Qi) stops by. It uses a group of procedures for the treatment. To begin with, very fine and solid needles penetrate the skin of the points on the body and these needles
can barely be felt if inserted properly. Then, the needles are stimulated with certain manipulating methods, leading to a dull aching, heavy, tingling or electric sensation.
Afterwards, other methods, such as, moxibustion, cupping, Guasha, or electric stimulation can be added according to assessments. Usually, the whole process takes about 30-40 minutes.
Due to the low incidence of side effect, people starts to seek acupuncture as the natural way of interventions. A series researches and reviews have done in the past 20 years. In 2002, the WHO (World Health Organization) has recognised acupuncture as being effective for a wide range of conditions after reviewing and analysis on controlled clinical trials. The Australian Acupuncture and Chinese medicine Association (AACMA) published an acupuncture review in 2017.
Base on the comprehensive acupuncture reviews published by the Australian in 2010 and US in 2013, they add data collected from randomised controlled trials between 2013-2016 and find evidence of acupuncture effect in 117 out of 122 conditions For more information or try to find out if acupuncture is suitable for you, please call Auckland eastMed Acupuncture. We would like to meet you and discuss the treatment option for your conditions.
