What Is Acupuncture and How Does It Work?

Acupuncture is the gentle insertion of very fine needles specific points on the body. This process stimulates movement of energy within the body, allowing natural healing to take place. These points are selected based on years of training acupuncturists receive based on over 3,000 years of experience in China and all over the world.

Acupuncture helps to prevent illness by improving the overall functioning the body’s immune and organ systems.
Acupuncture is helpful for:

• Treating existing illnesses and injuries.
• Preventing both recurrence of illnesses and new illness.
• Improving overall health.

Acupuncture is part of the holistic system of healing known as Traditional Chinese Medicine (“TCM”).

Acupuncture and Modern Science

To the human body, acupuncture needles are a physical stimulus. In Western science, a stimulus is defined as a detectable change in either the external environment or within the body itself. When the body detects change, it produces a response. Although acupuncture is not yet fully understood by Western science, with modern technology scientists can now actually begin to “see” the body’s response to acupuncture. For example, using an MRI (a very sophisticated x-ray), researchers have shown that when a needle is inserted at specific acupuncture points on the body, corresponding changes occur in the brain.

In the West, acupuncture is most well-known for its ability to relieve pain so the majority of research thus far has been done in this area. Acupuncture points are now believed to stimulate the central nervous system (the brain and spinal cord) to release pain-relieving chemicals into the muscles, spinal cord and brain. Acupuncture may also stimulate other chemicals to be released by the brain, including hormones that influence the self-regulating system of the body.

How Does Auricular Therapy Work?

Auricular-therapy is a therapeutic intervention in which stimulation of the auricle of the external ear is utilized to alleviate heath conditions in other parts of the body. It is considered an integrative treatment of Chinese Medicine and Western medicine.