What is Acupuncture?

By now, most Americans have heard of acupuncture.  You probably know that acupuncture is a kind of therapeutic treatment from China that is done by inserting small “Acupuncture Needles” into certain points on your body, called “Acupuncture Points”, and that somehow that is supposed to help with medical problems.

To a lot of people, that seems mysterious, possibly scary, and kind of weird.  How could that work?  It might seem unbelievable, but you might have heard from friends or the media that a lot of people have been helped by acupuncture.  What is going on here?

Here is a brief overview.

Acupuncture did begin in China, somewhere over two thousand years ago.  By 200 BC, there were Chinese medical texts that describe the use of acupuncture in great detail, indicating that it had already been widely practiced by that time.  Acupuncture as a therapeutic practice spread through much of Asia, and was adopted into many cultures, in many places being taken into the culture of an area and being practiced in a particular way in that culture.

In that way, China, Korea, Japan, Vietnam, and other places became cultures where acupuncture was accepted as a very useful medical treatment.  Because of the length of time it has been practiced, and the variety of cultures and schools that have evolved over the years, The practice of acupuncture has become very diverse, and is used in a lot of ways for a lot of things.

This is possible because acupuncture is a manifestation of a very comprehensive medical paradigm, and acupuncture needles are very versatile tools.

In general, Asian medicine looks at each person as a unique presence, and in terms of their  physical bodies, as existing and functioning as an intertwining complex of circulatory systems that circulate both energies and substances both inside and in relation with their environment.

Optimal health is present when all of the circulatory systems are unobstructed, flowing freely, and have enough of what they need.

Traditional evaluation methods are used to determine where and in what body systems circulation might be obstructed or deficient, and where to apply stimulation with an acupuncture needle to correct such an imbalance.

Acupuncture needles are used to affect the flow of energies and substances in the circulatory systems.  They can be used to influence blood flow, the movement of heat or body fluids, local areas of muscle tightness or weakness, nervous system function, hormonal balance, etc.

The acupuncture that I practice is primarily rooted in the Japanese tradition that I learned at the Kototama Institute, but has been influenced by Chinese acupuncture methods and other traditions.

For more information, please give me a call at (206) 632-5640, or email me at ed@hibikimedia.com (Click the envelope icon at the top right of this page)

Ed Antkowiak, L.Ac. - Seattle Acupuncture and Professional Education

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