Acupuncture is a technique intended to promote health and well-being, that entails the insertion, into the body of its subject, of very thin needles. These needles are applied by trained practitioners into areas described as "acupuncture points". Acupuncture in China is traced as far back as the 1st millenium BCE, and archeological evidence has been identified with the period of 202 BCE - 220 CE. Its practice spread centuries ago into many parts of Asia; in modern times it is a component of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), and forms of it are also described in the literature of the traditional medicine of India.
Traditional Chinese medical theory holds that acupuncture works by redirecting qi "vital energy" in the body. Pain or illnesses are treated by attempting to remedy local or systemic accumulations or deficiencies of qi. Pain is considered to indicate blockage or stagnation of the flow of qi, and an axiom of the medical literature of acupuncture is "no pain, no blockage; no blockage, no pain".
While it is claimed by some that there is no physical evidence for the existence of qi or for its claimed effects, and that acupuncture is therefore a pseudoscience or metaphysical belief, many patients experience the sensations of stimulus known in Chinese as "deqi" ("obtaining the qi") This was historically considered to be evidence of effective treatment. Often deqi takes the form of a propagation of sensation along the trajectory of the so-called acupuncture "channels" or meridians. Research into the phenomena of "deqi" has mostly been conducted in China and Japan.
Treatment of acupoints may be performed along the 12 main or 8 extra meridians located throughout the body. 10 of the main meridians are named after organs of the body (Heart, Liver etc.) two after so called body functions (Heart Protector or Pericardium, and San Jiao, "triple heater"). The two most important of the eight "extra" meridians are situated on the midline of the anterior and posterior of the trunk and head.
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