Acupuncture
What is it?
History
Chinese Medicine is as old, and probably older, than Chinese written language. The first established text in China is dated to 1766B.C. That is 3,700 years old! In this text they found reference to "ancient" herbal prescriptions, surgical techniques and the use of Bronze "needles". It took another 500 years or so to produce the first text book on Chinese Medicine. The Huang Di Nei Jing (Yellow Emperor's Medicine Classics) was written in 1100 B.C. and continued to be added to until 220 B.C. It is still the leading, fundamental resource of everything Chinese medicine. It outlines classical herbal formulas, anatomy and physiology, and medical interventions.
Fast forward another 100-200 years and we get the ShangHan Lun. A book that clearly lays out signs and symptoms and matches them to diagnoses. It is the basis for modern TCM. In the next 2000 years the medicine continues to evolve and grow. There is an official pharmacopoeia naming over 1700 individual herbs and over 16,000 herbal prescriptions. We also see specialties forming in pediatrics, gynecology, epidemics, bone setting and massage.
In the early 1900's, China underwent a cultural revolution and become more Westernized. With the influx of western thought, medicine and culture, China’s traditional medicine was thought to be inferior, folk medicine. Through the 1920's the Chinese government tried very hard to abolish TCM. The practice of acupuncture, moxibustion and herbalism went into hiding, only being practiced in the secrecy of homes and in small villages. In the 1930's the government abandoned the movement to remove its traditional modalities and started the first school aimed at modernizing or "westernizing" the traditional medicine. In the 1950's, TCM was again recognized as being beneficial to the medical community, and the first National Conference was held to combine Western and Eastern medicine.
So how did acupuncture come to America?
That lies in the legacy of president Richard Nixon, and New York Times journalist James Reston. In 1971, Nixon embarked on a diplomatic mission to China. While covering the political hubbub, journalist, James Reston, came down with a bad case of appendicitis and was rushed to the Emergency Room. His appendix was removed without any complication. A couple days later, Reston, started experiencing abdominal pain and severe bloating. The acupuncturist on staff at the hospital used a few well placed needles and some moxa, within an hour his symptoms were gone and never came back. He wrote about his experience in an article published in July 1971. This was the first time Americans became aware of Acupuncture and Chinese medicine.
In 1975 the first acupuncture school in America was opened. And the rest they say is history!
In more recent years, it has been discovered that Chinese immigrants brought it to the States and there is even evidence of acupuncture being used during the Civil War!
In A Nutshell
Acupuncture, in combination with Traditional Chinese Medicine, is a comprehensive healthcare system. It can treat internal imbalances as well as treat physical discomforts.
By activating your bodies own innate desire to heal, it helps to strengthen and support all of the bodies many processes as well as help to prevent many diseases and illness from occurring.