People ask me all the time whether acupuncture is “good for”
this specific condition or “good for” that specific condition. Is it “good for” headache, back ache, stomach
upset, hot flashes, etc? And my answer
is always, “yes”.
In the United States, we have learned to look upon healing
as a jumble of options of treatments for various health conditions. We often hear statements that this
pharmaceutical is effective for such and such a condition. Our style of medical research focuses on
specific health conditions that are treated by specific treatments. While this approach is very effective in
determining if a drug is effective for a specific condition, it can lead us
astray in our approach to healing our illnesses and diseases. We become caught up in symptom management and
not in the long term goal of health and wellness.
When we experience illness, whether that illness is as
simple as a headache, or as complex as cancer, we must remember that our whole
system is experiencing this illness. As
human beings, we are more than just our physical bodies. We are also our mental capabilities and our
emotions. When we become ill or contract
a disease, we need to remember that our whole system is suffering. This means that our cognition, emotions, and
our physical bodies are dealing also with this illness. We must remember that diseases are holistic,
too! They affect the whole person. This is why chronic, long term illnesses can
lead to depression and stress as well as the reverse: depression and stress can lead to physical
illness and disease. The whole person
becomes sick.
Chinese Medicine (which includes acupuncture, herbs, and
cupping), always approaches illness and disease as a holistic condition. In China they learned long ago that every
cell and organ in your body is affected when you suffer from a disease or
illness. In addition, they understood
that the mind and body are intrinsically bound together as one. It is not only our lung that is suffering when
we get the flu. Our whole system of
mind, body, and emotions are struggling, too. It is necessary to treat more than the lung
during a bout of the flu. It is
important to treat the whole disease and the damage that it can do to the mind
and emotions as it runs its course through the whole body.
Any illness is an imbalance of our internal ability to
maintain health and wellness. When I
tell people “yes”, that acupuncture is good for various conditions, what I am
saying is that acupuncture addresses the imbalance across the whole person that
is present during any illness. Acupuncture
is a unique medicine that works on the life energy of the body. By regulating and balancing the vital energy
of the body, acupuncture assists in healing the illness. And by returning the proper balance of the
vital energy throughout the whole system then overall health can be
maintained. In that way, regular acupuncture
treatments can even keep you from becoming sick. Acupuncture promotes wellness from disease.
When we understand that illnesses such as headaches, and
diseases like cancer are all levels of imbalance in the vital energy of our
bodies, then it is easy to understand how acupuncture is ‘good for’ any illness
or disease.
