PARADOX WELLNESS

THE PRACTICE OF INSERTING THIN, PAINLESS NEEDLES INTO A PERSON'S BODY WITH THE AIM OF BALANCING THEIR ENERGY TO HELP BOOST WELLBEING, ALLEVIATE PAIN, AND TO TREAT VARIOUS HEALTH CONDITIONS.

A Brief History of Acupuncture

For thousands of years, well before Europe and Western civilization had developed sophisticated medical practice, people in China have relied upon their unique medicine as a primary healing system. Within the last 30 years, just a blink of an eye considering its extensive history, this ancient healing art has gained wide acceptance all over the world as a powerful therapy that exists on its own merits and is a very effective complement to conventional modern medicine. Acupuncture, in particular, has become a popular choice for millions of Americans seeking a safe, holistic, and natural alternative to conventional drug therapy and surgery.

In recent years the National Institutes of Health, the World Health Organization, and other national and international health and medical bodies have come to integrate and promote Acupuncture as a safe, effective and low-cost method of treatment for a wide variety of disorders. Many hospitals, medical schools, private clinics, and other conventional medical facilities have integrated Acupuncture to stand alongside other medical specialties in the treatment and care of hundreds of thousands of patients with a vast variety of health complaints.

How Does Acupuncture Work?

There is vital life energy that courses through our body. The ancient Chinese called it “Qi” (pronounced “chee”). Qi can be stimulated on the surface of the body by dozens of channels or meridians that connect hundreds of acupuncture points. These points have specific and powerful effects on the organs and glands, the nervous, circulatory and lymphatic systems, the bones, joints, muscles and ligaments, the skin, immune and digestive systems and the emotions and cognitive functions.

By the gentle insertion of ultra-fine, sterilized needles, a skilled acupuncturist can direct the flow of qi to strengthen all the functions and structure of the body, bringing balance and healing. Modern research has confirmed that Acupuncture has a strong effect that naturally stimulates endorphins, serotonin, cortisol, ACTH, anti-inflammatory and immune modulating responses and other powerful reactions and endogenous chemicals that our body produces in order to heal disease and maintain a healthy state. Acupuncture is usually painless and can stimulate profound feelings of relaxation and well-being.

Traditional Chinese herbal medicine comprises a canon of thousands of substances from nature, including: plants, barks, roots, fruits (and their skins), twigs, flowers, leaves, honey, bones, grains, and more. Chinese herbal medicine prescriptions are based upon the pattern being treated in the individual patient, which will be determined after your intake and/or appointment. Once I have defined the pattern of disharmony that your body presents with and consider your medical history and current medications, I formulate a treatment plan.

In Chinese medicine we rarely use single herbs to treat illness in its many manifestations. The art of herbal medicine is largely understanding how different substances work with or against each other, understanding the patients’ constitution, arriving at the correct diagnosis, and applying all that knowledge to the correct formula.

I hope you are willing to try this approach to your health; this medicine has literally saved my life, and I have watched it bring relief to thousands of people first hand!

The suction and negative pressure provided by cupping can loosen muscles, encourage blood flow, and sedate the nervous system (which makes it an excellent treatment for high blood pressure). Cupping is used to relieve back and neck pains, stiff muscles, anxiety, fatigue, migraines, rheumatism, and even cellulite. For weight loss and cellulite treatments, oil is first applied to the skin, and then the cups are moved up and down the surrounding area.

Cupping is the term applied to a technique that uses small (glass, porcelain, plastic, or bamboo) cups as suction devices that are placed on the skin. There are several ways that a practitioner can create the suction in the cups. One method involves swabbing rubbing alcohol onto the bottom of the cup, then lighting it and putting the cup immediately against the skin. Suction can also be created by placing an inverted cup over a small flame, or by using an alcohol-soaked cotton pad over an insulating material (like leather) to protect the skin, then lighting the pad and placing an empty cup over the flame to extinguish it. Flames are never used near the skin and are not lit throughout the process of cupping, but rather are a means to create the heat that causes the suction within the small cups. Cups may also be made out of plastic and suction can be achieved by manually sucking the air out of the cup after it is applied to the skin with a suction pump.

Like acupuncture, cupping follows the lines of the meridians. There are five meridian lines on the back, and these are where the cups are usually placed. Using these points, cupping can help to align and relax qi, as well as target more specific maladies. By targeting the meridian channels, cupping strives to ‘open' these channels - the paths through which life energy flows freely throughout the body, through all tissues and organs, thus providing a smoother and more free-flowing qi (life force).

Cupping is one of the best deep-tissue therapies available. It is thought to affect tissues up to four inches deep from the external skin. Toxins can be released, blockages can be cleared, and veins and arteries can be refreshed within these four inches of affected materials.

This treatment is also valuable for the lungs, and can clear congestion from a common cold or help to control a person's asthma. In fact, respiratory conditions are one of the most common maladies that cupping is used to relieve. Three thousand years ago, in the earliest Chinese documentation of cupping, it was recommended for the treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis!