• What is Chinese Medicine?
•  Acupuncture
• Side Effects
• How Many Treatments Are Necessary?
• How Safe Is Acupuncture?
• Does Acupuncture Work Because of the Placebo Effect?
• So, How Does Acupuncture Work?
• Chinese Herbal Medicine
• Can herbs be taken with prescription drugs?
• What is Wholistic Medicine?

What is Chinese Medicine?

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is a completely integrated system of medicine used to diagnose, treat and prevent illness.  It is the world's oldest, continually practiced medicine with a documented clinical history of 2500 years.  The primary treatment of modalities include Acupuncture, Herbs, Diet, Exercise/Qi Gong and Massage (Tui Na).

TCM is based on an energetic perspective of the body rather than the biochemical model of Western medicine.  This energy model is grounded in the dynamics of the Vital Substances: Qi, Jing, Blood & Fluids.  Health is the quality and balance of these substances, while disease if the disturbance and disorder of them.  While at first glance this perspective seems incongruent to Western medical thinking, TCM is simply a different methodical way of organizing, understanding and approaching the body's metabolism, immunity, homeostasis and pathology.  The goal of TCM, like all medicine, is to promote and restore optimal functioning of the mind and body.

Acupuncture

Acupuncture therapy is the insertion of very fine needles, about the thickness of a hair, into selected 'points' of the body.  The points are determined by the health condition being treated and clinical data of the past 25 centuries.  A typical treatment uses 10 - 20 sterile disposable needles.  The depth of acupuncture is usually 1/4 to 1 inch and is relative to the point location on the body, one's size and constitution.  While acupuncture generally elicits local sensations of tingling, numbness, mild cramping or heaviness, acupuncture ought to be painless.  Needles are retained for 20 - 30 minutes.  During this time most patients experience welcomed relaxation and often fall asleep.

Side Effects

A feeling of deep relaxation is very common.  Negative side effects are very rare.  Some patients report feeling quite tired or slightly light-headed which passes after a few hours.  It's best to be able to relax or take a short nap after a treatment.  Ocassionally a small bruise may appear at the site of an acupuncture point that was needled. 

How Many Treatments Are Necessary?

Many acute conditions can be treated with acupuncture in 3-4 visits.  Chronic and long-standing conditions may require a series of 10-15 treatments.  Many chronic conditions, after an initial series of treatments, can be very effectively managed with 1-2 treatments a month, or during flare-ups.

Often, we will suggest and encourage some dietary or lifestyle changes.  These will enhance and support the beneficial effects of acupuncture and also improve your general health and stamina.

How Safe Is Acupuncture?

Acupuncture is very safe when performed by a comprehensively trained practitioner.  Licensed Acupuncturists (LAc.) have hundreds of classroom and clinical internship hours of point location.  LAc.'s are also trained in Clean Needle Technique (CNT) which includes maintaining a sterile fleld, prevention of blood-borne pathogens and disposal of contaminated waste.  LAc.'s must pass the national CNT exam as a pre-requisit to write the national Acupuncture Exams.  (www.nccaom.org).

Transition To Health uses only sterile and disposible needles.

Does Acupuncture Work Because of the Placebo Effect?

No.  Acupuncture directly impacts the various functions in the body (nervous, circulatory, hormonal, antibody production, digestive, respiratory, reproductive and urinary).  The most basic and clear evidence of this is the beneficial use of acupuncture with animals, who make no mental judgement what-so-ever about their treatment.  I recently witnessed a 5 foot python receiving acupuncture for partial paralysis.  Her keeper commented not only on the positive results of treatment, but also on how "relaxed and soothed" her pet was during and after the treatments. 

The effectiveness of acupuncture is well documented and extends far beyond the idea that it is only useful for the treatment of chronic pain.  Numerous government organizations have, and continue, to evaluate acupuncture.  In 1979 The World Health Organization (WHO) published a list of 200 physical, psychological and emotional conditions in which acupuncture is recommended as a valid form of treatment.  In late 1997 the National Institutes of Health (NIH) published their opinions and recommendations in the Consenses Statement on Acupuncture (www.nccam.nih.gov).   As recent as 2002 the White House Commission on Complementary & Alternative Medicine Policy released the promising and positive results of their two year investigation.  This study is available at ( www.whccamp.hhs.gov).

The following is a partial list of the WHO recommendations:

• Gastro-Intestinal:  food intolerances and allergies, peptic ulcer, diarrhea, constipation, indigestion, anorexia, gastritis, digestive weakness
• Urogenital:  stress incontinence, UT infection, sexual dysfunction
• Gynecological:  irregular, heavy or painful menstruation, male and female infertility, premenstrual syndrome (PMS), menopausal issues, Morning-sickness
• Respiratory:  emphysema, asthma, allergies, bronchitis
• Bones, Muscle, Joints, Nervous System:  arthritis, headaches including migraine, neuralgia, insomnia, dizziness, muscle and joint pain
• Circulatory:  hypertension, angina pectoris, arteriosclerosis, anemia
• Emotional & Psychological:  depression, anxiety
• Eye, Ear, Nose & Throat:  blurred vision, floaters, tinnitus, sinusitis
• Addictions:  alcohol, nicotine, drugs
• Supportive Therapy for side effects of chemotherapy, radiation, and other chronic, painful or debilitating disorders 

Chinese Herbal Medicine