Acupuncture
Chinese Medicine
Therapeutic Herbs
Deep Tissue Massage
Chinese Cupping
Chi Gung
Asian Arts of Balance
Providing Services
at Two Locations:
Broward Location:
White Crane Healing Arts
7071 West Commercial Blvd. Suite 2C
Tamarac, FL 33319
Palm Beach Location:
The Maui Spa
2100 NW Boca Raton Blvd.
Boca Raton, Florida 33431
Call (954) 873-0363 to
schedule your appointment
Chinese Acupuncture
Does Acupuncture Work?
This is usually the most frequently asked question. Most people have only heard of Acupuncture as some type of quackery. This is because it appears to have some type of "magic" or "voodoo" with it, since the Qi or the channels it flows through in the body are not visible.
As matter of fact, many with more visual or tangible thinking have a hard time understanding the idea of placing a needle in the hand to make a headache go away. Therefore, many times the results are credited to the "placebo effect." (The theory that the patient wanted it to work, so it did.)
However, this has been proven over an over again not to be the case—even at great institutes like NIH, perhaps the best research institute of the USA. Only in recent years Acupuncture has gained acceptance as a "real" medical modality. The research at these great institutes has provided proof that this "abstract" medicine can produce tangible results. So, the idea of Acupuncture being quackery is the complete opposite of the truth—in other words, of course it works!
How Does Chinese Acupuncture Work?For 5,000 years, Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has been a method of healing the body originating in the ancient Chinese culture. TCM includes the use of Acupuncture, Herbs, and Massage. It is based upon Yin and Yang and their balance in the body. The two represent poles of energy that flow opposite of each other in a complementary manner, allowing a balance of this energy.
Everything has its own natural level of balance. Some people may be more yang than yin, others may be more yin than yang. It is when these natural balances become abnormal that illness and problems occur.
In the body, there are non-visible channels flowing full of Qi. Qi is energy, some call it the life force energy. Along these channels exist points where the Qi collects. Each point on each channel possesses the potential to alter the flow of the Qi, thereby rebalancing the Yin and Yang.
They may do this because there are sub-channels which serve as interconnections between the Acupoints on the Channels. For example, Acupoint A on channel A may connect to Acupoint B on channel B. Therefore, stimulating Acupoint A may affect Acupoint B and channel B. There are numerous relationships such as this among the 12 regular and 8 extra channels flowing throughout the body containing hundreds of acupuncture points.
The imbalance of Yin and Yang may cause a deficiency or excess of Qi at these acupoints. The imbalances show up as symptoms. Evaluation of the combinations of symptoms may allow a skilled practitioner of TCM to find the root of the imbalance and formulate a combination of acupoints that will help work to restore the imbalance that is present.
Does Acupuncture Hurt?A patient can feel a number of a few types of sensations. Soreness, distention (or fullness), numbness, warmth, cold, heaviness, electric shock, or even pain, are different sensations a patient may experience depending on the stimulation used by the Acupuncturist.
Generally, pain is induced by strong stimulation of an acupoint. Most patients, at most, experience a light pin prick feeling like a mosquito bite followed by one of the sensations listed above.
The needles used are solid, not hollow as in a needle used to deliver a shot. They are also much thinner than hollow needles.