Have you ever wondered if acupuncture works? For a very long time people have been using acupuncture to alleviate pain. Many in Phoenix use acupuncture for weight loss or utilize acupuncture for allergies. Finding the right acupuncture practitioner is easy with Acupuncture Phoenix: please browse the site for information and feel free to contact us if you need advice or to be connected to an acupuncture practitioner in Phoenix.

Through its origins, acupuncture has been embedded in the concepts of Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). Its general theory is based on the premise that bodily functions are regulated by the flow of an energy-like entity called qi. Acupuncture aims to correct imbalances in the flow of qi by stimulation of anatomical locations on or under the skin called acupuncture points, most of which are connected by channels known as meridians. Scientific research has not found any physical or biological correlate of qi, meridians and acupuncture points, and some contemporary practitioners needle the body without using a theoretical framework, instead selecting points based on their tenderness to pressure.

The earliest written record of acupuncture is found in the Huangdi Neijing (黄帝内经; translated as The Yellow Emperor’s Inner Canon), dated approximately 200 BCE. The practice of acupuncture expanded out of China into the areas now part of Japan, Korea and Taiwan, diverging from the narrower theory and practice of mainland TCM in the process. A large number of contemporary practitioners outside of China follow these non-TCM practices, particularly in Europe.

Proponents of acupuncture believe that it promotes general health, relieves pain, treats infertility, treats and prevents disease. Scientific research has not found iteffective for anything but the relief of some types of pain and nausea. Systemic reviews have found conflicting results regarding the prevention ofpostoperative nausea and vomiting though a 2009 Cochrane review concluded stimulation of the P6 acupuncture point was as effective as antiemeticmedications. Acupuncture also appears to have a small effect in the short-term management of some types of pain though a 2011 review of review articles concluded that acupuncture was of doubtful efficacy in treating pain other than neck pain. It has been suggested that the positive results reported for acupuncture can be explained by placebo effects and publication bias and researchers have pointed out the difficulty in designing an adequate scientific control for any placebo effect acupuncture might have due to its invasiveness. The development and inclusion of retracting needles as a form of placebo control has resulted in a much larger number of studies concluding acupuncture’s effects are due to placebo.

There is general agreement that acupuncture is safe when administered by well-trained practitioners using sterile needles but does carry small but serious risks and adverse effects including death. Accompanied by calls for more research, the use of acupuncture for certain conditions has been tentatively endorsed by the United States National Institutes of Health and National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, the National Health Service of the United Kingdom, and the World Health Organization, though most of these endorsements have been criticized and it has been questioned whether research on acupuncture is a good use of limited research funding.

The term herbology is misleading in so far as plant elements are by far the most commonly, but not solely used substances; animal, human, and mineral products are also utilized. Thus, the term “medicinal” (instead of herb) is usually preferred as a translation for 药 (pinyin: yào).

Chinese herbs have been used for centuries. Among the earliest literature are lists of prescriptions for specific ailments, exemplified by the manuscript “Recipes for 52 Ailments”, found in the Mawangdui tombs which were sealed in 168 BC.

The first traditionally recognized herbalist is Shénnóng (神农, lit. “Divine Farmer”), a mythical god-like figure, who is said to have lived around 2800 BC.^[2] He allegedly tasted hundreds of herbs and imparted his knowledge of medicinal and poisonous plants to farmers. His Shénnóng Běn Cǎo Jīng (神农本草经, Shennong’s Materia Medica) is considered as the oldest book on Chinese herbal medicine. It classifies 365 species of roots, grass, woods, furs, animals and stones into three categories of herbal medicine:

1. The “superior” category, which includes herbs effective for multiple diseases and are mostly responsible for maintaining and restoring the body balance. They have almost no unfavorable side-effects.
2. A category comprising tonics and boosters, whose consumption must not be prolonged.
3. A category of substances which must usually be taken in small doses, and for the treatment of specific diseases only.

The original text of Shennong’s Materia Medica has been lost; however, there are extant translations. The true date of origin is believed to fall into the late Western Han dynasty(i.e., the first century BC).

The Treatise on Cold Damage Disorders and Miscellaneous Illnesses was collated by Zhang Zhongjing, also sometime at the end of the Han dynasty, between 196 and 220 CE. Focusing on drug prescriptions, it was the first medical work to combine Yinyang and the Five Phases with drug therapy.^[5] This formulary was also the earliest Chinese medical text to group symptoms into clinically useful “patterns” (zheng 證) that could serve as targets for therapy. Having gone through numerous changes over time, it now circulates as two distinct books: the Treatise on Cold Damage Disorders and the Essential Prescriptions of the Golden Casket, which were edited separately in the eleventh century, under the Song dynasty.

Succeeding generations augmented these works, as in the Yaoxing Lun (simplified Chinese: 药性论; traditional Chinese: 藥性論; literally “Treatise on the Nature of Medicinal Herbs”), a 7th century Tang DynastyChinese treatise on herbal medicine.

Arguably the most important of these later works is the Compendium of Materia Medica (Bencao Gangmu) compiled during the Ming dynasty by Li Shizhen, which is still used today for consultation and reference.

Sometimes referred to as “spooning” or “coining” by English speakers, it has also been given the descriptive French name, “tribo-effleurage”.

The Vietnamese term for this practice is cạo gió. This term translates roughly “to scrape wind”, as in Vietnamese culture “catching a cold” or fever is often referred to as trúng gió, “to catch wind”. The origin of this term is the Shang Han Lun, a ~220 CE Chinese Medical text on cold induced disease – like most Asian countries China’s medical sciences were a profound influence in Vietnam, especially between the 5th and 7th Centuries CE. Cạo gió is an extremely common remedy in Vietnam and for overseas Vietnamese. There are many variants of Cạo gió. Some methods use oil balm and a coin to apply pressure to the skin. Others use a boiled egg with a coin inserted in the middle of the yolk. The egg is wrapped in a piece of cloth and rubbed over the forehead (in the case of a fever) and other areas of skin. After the rubbing, when the coin is removed from the egg, it will appear black.

It is also used in Indonesia. It is a traditional Javanese technique, known as kerikan (lit., “scraping technique”) or kerokan, and it is very widely used, as a form of “folk” medicine, upon members of individual households.

In describing the gua sha techniques as a form of “folk” medicine, the term “folk” is not being used in any pejorative sense. It is used to emphasize:

• the extremely widespread domestic use of the technique (thus, used by the “folk”) as a method of first-contact intervention,
• that complex medical diagnosis is not required (and, thus, any decision to use or not use gua sha can be reliably made by the “folk”), and
• the overall safety of the technique (meaning that it is safe for the “folk” to use).

Notwithstanding, the gua sha technique is just as important a part of the legitimate practice of the specialist practitioners of Traditional Chinese Medicine as is the use of fire cupping; among professional practitioners it is a highly reputable technique that is applied just as it is applied by the “folk” users.

gua sha involves repeated pressured strokes over lubricated skin with a smooth edge. Commonly a ceramic Chinese soup spoon was used, or a well worn coin, even honed animal bones, water buffalo horn, or jade. A simple metal cap with a rounded edge is commonly used.

In cases of fatigue from heavy work a piece of ginger root soaked in rice wine is sometimes used to rub down the spine from head to tail.

The smooth edge is placed against the pre-oiled skin surface, pressed down firmly, and then moved down the muscles—hence the term “tribo-effleurage” (i.e., friction-stroking) — or along the pathway of theacupuncture meridians, along the surface of the skin, with each stroke being about 4-6 inches long.

This causes extravasation of blood from the peripheral capillaries (petechiae) and may result in sub-cutaneous blemishing (ecchymosis), which usually takes 2–4 days to fade. Sha rash does not represent capillary rupture as in bruising, as is evidenced by the immediate fading of petechiae to echymosis, and the rapid resolution of sha as compared to bruising. The color of sha varies according to the severity of the patient’s blood stasis—which may correlate with the nature, severity and type of their disorder—appearing from a dark blue-black to a light pink, but is most often a shade of red. Although the marks on the skin look painful, they are not. Patients typically feel immediate sense of relief and change.

Practitioners tend to follow the tradition they were taught to obtain sha: typically using either gua sha or fire cupping. The techniques are not used together.