A complete Japanese acupuncture treatment involves thinner or smaller needles and employs shallower insertions than Chinese acupuncture. Consequently, most patients find that treatments are relaxing and revitalising. Often, they are not even aware that needles have been inserted.
Compliments and Alternatives to Needles
In an acupuncture treatment, needles, Moxibustion (heat therapy), Cupping and Tuina(Chinese massage) are used to stimulate points. However, for patients too sensitive (or too young) for needling, there are numerous non-invasive techniques that are highly effective. The use of diodes, magnets, and the above techniques give many options and approaches to each patient.
Cupping
Cupping has its roots in nearly every culture around the globe. Evidence of the use of cupping has been found in various periods of time in most parts of the world, including ancient Egypt, Rome and Greece, South America, Africa and Russia. Cupping is typically used as part of an acupuncture or body work treatment. It’s been part of Chinese medicine for over 2,500 years. Originally, animal horn was used, but has since been replaced with brass, ceramic, glass and bamboo cups.
The purpose of cupping is to move stagnant Qi blood and fluids in the tissues and acupuncture channels. In practice, cupping involves suction of cup on skin – enabling the skin to lift from the subcutaneous layers and increasing local flow of blood and fluids. A simple and effective therapeutic technique, cupping can be used alone or in combination with acupuncture and massage. Cupping is most often used for conditions such as back pain, arthritis, abdominal pain, shoulder pain, hypertension, common cold, painful menstruation, fatigue, etc.
Magnets
Magnets can be used as the primary method of treatment, instead of needles, with children or people who are apprehensive of needles. They can also play an adjunct role, to prolong treatment. As an adjunct, small magnets of 800 gauss may be placed at relevant points after the treatment. Tapping the magnet periodically will propagate a vibration that will stimulate thepoint in the same way as a needle would.
As part of a primary treatment, we use strong magnets, usually 3,000 gauss, which are placed on the points and then stimulated with a small hammer and dowel. This is accomplished by placing the wooden dowel against the magnet and striking it softly and rhythmically, creating a vibration that enters into and stimulates the channel point.
TuiNa
Tui Na (pinch and pull) is a therapeutic type of deep massage that has been a pillar of Chinese medicine for many centuries. On the surface it may resemble Swedish massage because some of the techniques include gliding (effleurage), kneading, percussion, friction, pulling, rotation, rocking, vibration, and shaking. There are similarities to shiatsu, as both utilize the channel energy system and apply acupressure to specific acupuncture points. Tuina is a deep system of massage that not only can affect the joints, bones, and muscle system but also the energy level, smoothing and liberating the flow of Qi and blood throughout the body. Tui Na is used as an adjunct to the acupuncture treatment, primarily for structural and muscular injuries and conditions such as sciatica type pain, most lower, middle and upper back pain, and neck pain.
Moxibustion
Moxibustion has been used throughout Asia for thousands of years, is one of the oldest therapies in Chinese medicine, and many scholars believe it predates acupuncture. Acupuncture and moxibustion evolved together, and are often used together in a treatment, both In Chinese and Japanese medicine. Its therapeutic effects are wide ranging and well documented. In fact, one of the two Chinese characters that form the word for “acupuncture” is actually the character for moxibustion. The purpose of moxibustion, as with most forms of traditional Chinese medicine, is to strengthen the blood and qi, stimulate the flow of qi, and maintain general health.
How Moxibustion works? Does it hurt? There are two types of moxibustion : direct and indirect. In direct moxibustion, a small, cone-shaped piece of moxa is placed on top of an acupuncture point and burned. The moxa is placed on the point and lit, but is extinguished or removed before it burns the skin. Indirect moxibustion involves the use of a rolled moxa “stick” over a point, or burning cones of moxa on top of acupuncture needles which have been inserted into the skin. In both cases, the patient will experience a pleasant heating sensation that penetrates into the body.
What is moxibustion used for? In traditional Chinese medicine, moxibustion is used on people who have a deficient, cold or stagnant condition. The burning of moxa is believed to expel cold and warm the meridians, which promotes smoother flow of blood and qi. In Western medicine, moxibustion has been shown to increase immunity and has successfully been used to turn breech babies into a normal head-down position prior to childbirth. A landmark study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 1998 found that up to 75% of women suffering from breech presentations before childbirth had fetuses that rotated to the normal position after receiving moxibustion at an acupuncture point on the Bladder meridian. Other studies have shown that moxibustion may reduce the symptoms of menstrual cramps when used in conjunction with traditional acupuncture.
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