How Does The Traditional Chinese Acupuncture Work?
Acupuncture derives from the Latin
“acus” for
"needle" and
“pungere” for
"puncture." Acupuncture is a name given
to one branch of treatment in Chinese medicine by the
West and not the Chinese, who call it Zhejiu, and they
believed that it is based on the chinglo or meridian
theory of body physiology.
The Chinese believed that the energy (or life force, Chi) is circulating in a channel or chinglo (Meridian) which consists the balance between the two forces, the negative Yin and positive Yang. Along these invisible channels, on the skin, there are points called acupuncture points. To the ancients, the cornerstone of the theory of acupuncture or the concept whereby they explained its effects and action, was Qi (the energy of life). The Chinese thought of Qi as flowing along the meridians, much as water flows along a riverbed or a nervous impulse along a nerve. The meridians and their smaller and smallest branches irrigated like a river the whole country (the human body). If a disease arose in the body, it affected these rivers of life, so that either no water flowed at all (lack of Qi) or the river was blocked with excessive water and flooding above the block (swelling and congestion of Qi) and insufficient water below the block (atrophy, lack of Qi). It was thought that in some way the acupuncture needle removed the block, either directly or by increasing the force of the stream.
The most characteristic method of diagnosis used in acupuncture is the Chinese pulse diagnosis. In this, the radial artery is felt on both sides, in order to determine the variation in elasticity of the arterial wall in twelve different segments. These twelve segments correspond - in the context of acupuncture - to the twelve most important organs of the body, which in their turn control all bodily Functions. For example, one of these twelve organs is the liver, whose dysfunction may be the cause of an obvious liver disease like jaundice, but also of several less obvious, such as certain cases of migraine, asthma, hay fever, depression or indigestion .
Classic acupuncture is based on the theory of life energy (Qi or Ch’I- pronounced chee) flows through the body along channels known meridians. The flow of energy is believed to depend on the balance of two opposing forces: Yin and the Yang. There are 12 main meridians- 6 have a Yang polarity and are related to hollow organs (Stomach, small intestine, Large intestine, Gall bladder, Bladder and the three cavities in the body “chest, abdomen and pelvis”), and the other six are Yin relating mainly to solid organs (Pericardium, heart, kidney, liver, spleen and lungs).
Qi is concentrated and can enter or leave the body at a number of points along each meridian known as acupuncture points.
Traditionally, 365 acupoints were recognized on the meridians but many more have been now been discovered and around 2000 acupoints are illustrated on modern charts.
