Acupuncture :: essays research papers fc

Acupuncture is considered to be a new alternative medicine in western society, and has recently become very popular in the United States (â€Å"All About Acupuncture†). Acupuncture is the insertion of hair-fine needles into the body’s surface, which is supposed to cause psychological effects on the body to cure the patient of an illness. These illnesses may be emotional mental or physical (Singer). But some doctors question the validity of this practice, and believe that acupuncture may be unsafe (Barrett).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The first basis of acupuncture was probably first theorized by Shen Nung about 5000 years ago in a document called â€Å"Huang Di Nei Jing† (Singer). Shen Nung believed that there is an energy force running through the entire body called â€Å"Qi† (pronounced chee). Qi travels through the body in â€Å"meridians† or channels. These meridians run vertically up and down the body’s surface (Singer). The Qi is supposed to be the mental, spiritual, emotional, and physical aspects of life. The Qi reacting with the forces of the â€Å"Yin† and â€Å"Yang† influence a person’s health (Singer). The Yin and Yang represent the positive and negative forces in the universe (â€Å"All About Acupuncture†). â€Å"Yin is signified by female attributes, passive, dark, cold, moist, that which moves medially†¦ Yang is signified by male attributes, light, active, warm, dry, that which moves laterally†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Singer). If the Qi in a person’s body is not in balance with the Yin and Yang then an illness will befall the person, and he or she should be treated with acupuncture, which corrects this imbalance (Singer).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The process of acupuncture requires the placement of needles at acupuncture points so the Qi can be balanced. There are about nine different kinds of acupuncture needles, although six needles are commonly used today (Singer). The needles vary in size, length, and shape of the head. These needles can be placed between 15 ° and 90 ° angles depending on the treatment that is required. Also the needles may be raised, pushed, twirled or plucked (vibration of the needle) to cause sensations called â€Å"deqi† to correct the Qi imbalance in the body. Electrical currents may also be applied to the needles to allow stimulation at the acupuncture points. Acupuncture is often accompanied by acupressure and burning of herbs near the skin to help correct Qi imbalances (Singer).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There are several different theories as to how acupuncture possibly works. First acupuncture might possibly cut pain off from reaching the spinal cord or the brain since many acupuncture points are located on neural structures.