to acupuncture or not to acupuncture...
So, after my last trip to an acupuncture doctor turned into the nightmare I described in my last post, I checked in with my friend, mentor, and all-around rock star, Christina Pirello, to share my frustration and get the lowdown on just what does and doesn't work about acupuncture.
As usual, she brought some serious knowledge to the subject. Here's what she said:
Acupuncture is not massage. It's not recreational and it's not designed to relax you or serve in the same capacity as massage. It's a brilliant form of natural, non-invasive medicine that can relieve acute symptoms of illness, injury or disease. Chinese medicine's approach to illness differs greatly from our western view, hinging on the concept of energy balance, and the life force called chi or ki. In much the same way as western doctors look at blood vessels, the medicine of acupuncture looks at energy pathways that run through the body, called meridians.
The thinking behind acupuncture is that disease is caused by a blockage or a stagnation somewhere along a meridian. The concept of acupuncture holds that inserting fine needles into certain points along meridians will stimulate the flow of energy, unblocking the stagnation that is at the root of the problem.
Acupuncture is used generally for serious chronic or acute symptoms that are causing physical discomfort and, in my view, acupuncture is not to be used lightly. It is strong and while not invasive, quite powerful. What's great about acupuncture is that it can change a condition quickly if it's the right treatment for the right condition. The thing is that the body likes habits, even when those habits are not good for us. So, many times, an acupuncturist has to do several treatments to get the body's energy to stay shifted, so to speak, and prevent it from heading on back into the same imbalance that got you in trouble in the first place.
Acupuncture is great for people who eat animal food because they are more prone to energy blockage and stagnation than people who eat a plant-based diet. Our energy tends to move more freely within the body, although we can see weakened and depleted energy from sugar and then acupuncture can be helpful in strengthening that weak energy.
Often, acupuncture is used for pregnant women whose nausea is taking over their lives. It can really help with that in a few treatments. It is helpful with any kind of acute or chronic body pain in muscles or joints. It can relieve stress and tension, but usually is used in the time of disease. Moving energy can relieve pain, kick start organs to do their jobs and promote vitality. It can't stop muscle aches from working out, cure anemia, or cure cancer (and in fact can be too strong for some cancers). It's strong medicine.
Some people, for various reasons, need supplements, vitamins and things like acupuncture to move their energy and support health. But in most cases, food will do the heavy lifting for creating health. With the exception of B-12 and D, I am of the mind that we get what we need by eating well.
Many pregnant women are slightly anemic. That's no biggie after all there are 2 lives working here. Just eat more greens and other iron rich foods. As a vegan, you will always be what doctors call anemic because their standards are based on a meat eating population. And your blood work is perfect, so that speaks for itself.
In the end, acupuncture is to be used as medicine to treat acute or chronic symptoms. If people just want to feel relaxed and more vibrant, then shiatsu is the way to go. It's a deep enough massage-like technique that will move energy along meridians but will not be as strong and aggressive as acupuncture.
In the end, it's all about how we fuel our bodies. The food we choose creates the health we enjoy or don't.
Thank you Christina! How do all you kind lifers feel about acupuncture?
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43 comments
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While I completely feel like acupuncture is a Spa treatment for me, as I have never been able to relax fora massage, I disagree firmly with many of you. I have been going to an acupuncture doctor for almost 4 years now. And FL does require them to be licensed, and she is as well as trained at the top of her class. I used to have migraine headaches so severe that I missed work at least 2-3 days per month. I now know that those headaches were actually sinus headaches, not migraines. I was prescribed butalbital, which is a serious drug for neurological issues. I now maybe get a bad sinus headache 2-3 times per year that knocks me on my butt and I actually need to stay home/in bed for. Acupuncture treats my whole body, and I have been sick less, I am less stressed and I also take the Chinese herbs for my sinus'. I don't understand all the medicine and whatever behind it, but what I do know is that I can physically feel a major improvement in my health. My doc is a white American woman, and I had previously been treated by a Chinese acupuncturist. I was so overwhelmed physically by the treatment from the Chinese doc (heat lamps, estem and laying on my face for an hour) that I literally had a panic attack and spent the rest of the day on the sofa since I was exhausted. My current doc has an awesome bedside manner, has made me feel so comfortable and she is amazing. I don't know why it works, but I know that it DOES work. Sure, it may not be for everyone, but I like to keep it as natural as possible and this works with your body and is drug free and pain free. Two huge plus' to me! I was recommended btw to see my current doc by a western doc who couldn't treat my tmj with what he did...she resolved that within a year and I have no pain/issues anymore. It works!
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I agree with all that Steve has written and have gone thru most of the processes to get pain relief. Many surgeries, including knee and 2 hip replacements and the latest, stenosis in my lumbar affecting my legs. Acupuncture is not for everyone...everyone does not respond to the treatment. My first experience was awesome many years ago but unfortunately some practitiners can't live forever. Have gone to others and not saying they were bad experiences, but I was uncomfortable and got little results. Trust in any of my doctors and with acupuncture treatments is very important to me. Last year I had 3 epidurals, took antiinflamatories, therapy, medications etc, to relieve the chronic pain but the relief was not long lasting. Not to mention I had an allergic reaction to a medication which was the worse I have ever had. I do not do well with medications so acupuncture is my only alternative. I have at last found a practicioner and after my first appointment last Wed. I knew I would respond but was amazed that it worked so quickly (not 100%) but such relief. I felt too good and the next day cleaned out my closest, drawers and mounds of paper that I was suppose to file and shredded the rest. I would say I overdid it. Good thing I had another appointment the next day. Bottom line I am going to continue with the treatments, have physical therapy by a therapist I love and trust, and my chiropractor who has been a blessing in my life and then ride my bike again. I need my life back.
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I'm glad you got this information from your friend because it is definitely more objective. Acupuncture is not a spa treatment, it is to help treat medical conditions first and foremost, in my opinion. Your bad experience, well, it just didnt seem like the norm to me and there were quite a few things about it that just didnt seem right; it was a bummer that you had that xperience.
Acupuncture was a huge help to me in treating my chronic pain problems with two herniated disks in my lower back. I've always been an active person and the disk problems really caused me a lot of pain, including a couple of periods of disability from work. When I was having acute problems, I was seeing one spine specialist (for a couple of years), consulted with two others for 2nd and 3rd opinions, had a total of 9 epidural steroid injections for acute pain control, physical therapy three times and one stint of aquatic therapy, took prescription anti-inflammatories and pain killers, read at least 7 books on the subject, etc. I was not a candidate for surgery. After a couple of years and all the treatment, I was having a pretty decent daily quality of life again and the doctors said "this is all we can do for you", but there was some lingering pain and some minor nerve damage that remained. Modern medicine is great for acute conditions, but for lingering chronic conditions, not so much. So I turned to acupuncture, I figured, it cant hurt to try, right?
Anyone seeking acupuncture should do their research and find a practitioner that they trust and has the necessary experience. I fortunately found a very reputable and experienced practitioner and the treatments he gave me helped reduce the pain and discomfort further than any "modern" treatments for chronic conditions. I only had 5 treatments at first (twice/week) and the difference was significant. For the first time in a couple of years I was able to do certain activities with little or no pain. Just like finding the right doctor, finding the right practitioner is important, and it may take a few tries to find someone that works for you. Acupuncture works, but just like medicine it is not a miracle cure. For me, it was part of various treatments to help me get better. There is a reason that some medical plans now cover it, because western research is finally starting to prove that it works. I also practice "gentle yoga" and it has helped tremendously as well, along with massage therapy. These options are certainly much better than being faced with taking pills, which is the typical western medicine way to treat chronic conditions!
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Regarding acupuncture... Maybe it's a method who can possibly give some results, but there are other ways who are way more human and cause less troubles... Let's say that here acupuncture is the method who is the easiest to accomodate everybody, but someone who would only want to solve a disease the best way for me would be to create a favorable environment, like radically changing her location of residence, then let the person blossom by herself...
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Marta, you're in for a treat! Along the same lines as Bad Science, Trick or Treatment is another great one!
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Dave - Not yet, but I plan to asap. Another one I've read is Bad Science, but The Demon-Haunted World sounds even better.
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Further to Dave's points above:
Quoting from a recent article on the subject:
Except, there is no evidence that the meridians actually exist. At the risk of sounding redundant, they are as made up and fictional as the ether, flogistum, Bigfoot, and unicorns. The linking of qi and blood is reflective of the fact that the notion of qi is historically tied to blood, and techniques such as acupuncture and cupping were also closely related to bleeding techniques that we are more familiar with from Galenic medicine.
http://theness.com/neurologicablog/index.php/tcm-aplogetics/
One of the many great things about Alicia's book is that it is based on evidence. She did the research and looked into the works of Drs Barnard, MacDougall, Campbell and others, all of whom have published in peer reviewed scientific journals. The same cannot be said for acupuncture and other holistic therapies making similar claims.
Thanks Dave.... Demon Haunted World is my favorite non-fiction book of all time
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I tried acupuncture several times for several different health problems, but have deduced that it just doesn't work for me. I tried the chinese herbs. I tried it again a few months ago for morning sickness and it didn't help at all. I tried different acupuncturists. But I never felt any affect and the herbs made me feel sick.
However, I do think it works for some people. My father is a very western doctor, but is surprisingly open acupuncture. His interpretation is that it can disrupt neurotransmitters from sending certain signals (or something like that).
Shiatsu, on the other hand, I loved! I haven't tried it as a 'cure' for a specific ailment, but found that my body felt much better afterwards. It left me feeling relaxed, centred and balanced.
The point is that we are all different. Our bodies respond differently to medications, foods, outside stimuli-- so it makes sense to me that the same approach might not work for everyone.
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Acupuncture has been one of the only things that has helped my son's chronic migraines. It is much more powerful than many pharmaceuticals and will last for a week or two. I'm hoping that eventually his body will "unlearn" the migraine habit. It has helped me with anxiety, especially the kind I feel driving or riding in a car after a 1992 catastrophic accident. I no longer get the heart palpitations I used to. I think it depends on the practitioner how effective it can be.
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I have done it a few times and loved it! I had more energy, was able to go to the bathroom better, and slept better! -
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@Susan, that's great. I just feel like people need to know the risks involved, as well as the low success rates with acupuncture. I used to go to acupuncturists too. Never had any success with any of the treatments I received. I would spend XX amount of dollars to sit under a hot lamp with needles stuck in me, then be sent home with herbs that made me sick to my stomach. The last time I saw one, I felt just plain stupid. I just spent my hard earned money to be a human pin cushion. It was then that I started researching and found out that acupuncture is a placebo. Placebos do not work for me. If it works for you, thats great. But everyone should be aware that there are risks, and that there are few ailments acupuncture can truly help with. There is also the risk of being misdiagnosed, another common problem with acupuncture, especially since some states do not require a license to practice.
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@Thea, I would say that there is risk in ANY type of treatment. "Common" surgeries aren't without their risks, which is why Western doctors have us read and sign those forms about all the risks involved with just about anything. Additionally, I could get sick or contract illnesses just as easily from an unethical Western doctor as I could from an unethical acupuncturist. The acupuncturist I have been going to now probably spends more time talking to me about my general heath and issues than most Western doctors would, and yes, she has talked to me about herbs, but she hasn't pushed them on me. In fact, she was going to try some herbs on me for one of my perimenopause issues, but I ended up having surgery for the issue, so she told me the herbs would be a waste. She even followed up on a personal email with me after I had the surgery to see how I was doing. I am fortunate that I have had very good, ethical western and holistic doctors and have personally not suffered any physical harm from acupuncture.
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False beliefs may seem like they are at best not harmful but in fact that sorta of thinking can lead one to do real harm. Ideas like Traditional Chinese Medicine are based on old superstitions and promote horrible vile practices that poach and torture animals for parts that have no therapeutic value! Also if we don't think critically for ourselves we might be duped to believe we need to eat animals when we know that people can thrive just fine on vegan diets.
If I could go back and tell myself something I would tell myself to learn how to think critically. For many years I wasted time chasing false health ideals through raw-foodism or "food as medicine" practices, spending thousands of dollars and hours when I wished a friend would have pulled me aside and told me to keep my mind open and skeptical.
I'm sorry about your acupuncture experience. Instead of telling you what I think of acupuncture, I would implore you instead to be skeptical of all your commentators and apply some critical thinking (baloney detection) to what they are saying, including myself! The one book that I would recommend to get started is The Demon-Haunted World by Carl Sagan.
Thanks for advocating kindness, that's a position for which I whole-heartedly concur!
Cheers,
-DaveDandelion -
I run a group called Vegan Chicago. We are in fact, the oldest and largest vegan meetup group and I also ran the Vegan Represent message board which was the oldest vegan message board. My mission is to help people be vegan. During the past 10 years doing all of that (plus many other similar projects) I've had thousands of conversations with probably thousands of people about veganism and I've come to realize that the lack of critical thinking is rampant and it is hurting the movement. It's no real surprise because it was never really taught in schools. I thought the best thing I could do to empower the cause was to make a "Baloney Detection Guide". If there is one thing I would like every vegan to understand is how to think critically. This isn't telling people what to do but empowering them to learn what to do for themselves....
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Alicia, Alicia!! You are so close, so close! To what you may ask? To something it took me my whole life to discover and it's empowered me, as somebody who was an environmental, vegan and animal rights activist more than ever before. I'm reaching new heights of discovery that I never could dream of before. Remember how it was when you first went vegan and you just "got it" and you wished you could go back and tell yourself sooner? Well this is me, telling you, to listen, open up your mind because this is very very important, especially if you care about justice. I was sent by you, from the future, to tell you this! (ok, ok, kidding on that part
) Oh gosh, this is sounding hella corny but please, hear me out....
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shiatsu ----acupuncture---- meridians ------well, the first time like everthing else, accupunture was the most euphoric experience; in otherwords, i was totally in the clouds -----
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I do have to add... just like any doctor in your life, if you don't match well don't blame it on the whole medicine. Example... If you don't like your dentist, you don't stop getting your teeth cleaned. You switch dentists, right?
Unfortunately we will have moments that we don't see eye to eye with our doctor--recognize that the whole practice of acupuncture isn't bunk, but maybe that acupuncturist isn't a good fit for you. Try another acupuncturist.
Or maybe that form of medicine isn't good for you and you should see a chiropractor or try reiki or ayurveda... we have many useful options.
I saw the most profound results in my upbringing with an acupuncturist, so I can speak clearly on that topic. If only the western world would put some value in these methods, so the health insurance I pay for actually covers the doctors I go to see... But that's a whole other can of worms, right?
www.onlyintention.com
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I had high hopes for accupuncture. Unfortunatley It did not work for me. I didn't feel any different after weeks and weeks, lots of herbs, and a few diff doctors. I also found it to be painful. I was trying to relieve my chronic migrain headaches. The only thing that cured me of my headaches was having a baby. Who knew?! However, a lot of my friends have found great success with accupuncture. I think it probably works for some people, but not all.
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All I seem to hear from the previous posts is fear. Are we so wrapped up in Western medicine and popping pills that we cannot be open to a practice that is ages old? And they aren't really needles. They are called fillaments (sp?) and barely go under your skin. You need to seek out someone who has the propper training and credentials and takes the time to describe what is occuring during the process.
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If its working and $40 isn't that much for you, then it might be ok. But please don't assume there is no risk in acupuncture, or any other holistic medicines, please understand that there most certainly is. http://whatstheharm.net/acupuncture.html
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I have had positive experiences with acupuncture in the past. My husband is a bit of a skeptic but it is my personal opinion that, even if it is just a placebo and doesn't really "cure" anything, it certainly doesn't cause any actual physical harm, so why not do it. It can get expensive, so I am especially happy that I found a person that does a sliding scale, community acupuncture, so I am paying 40 per treatment. The first several times I did the treatments with her, I actually fell asleep, even with several other people in chairs next to me. I have done it for generalzed stress and tension, and I felt that was effective. Then I did it for morning sickness with my 2nd pregnancy. Unfortunately I felt so crappy and had a 1 year old to chase around that I had to go the conventional medicine route, which freaked me out since the medicine was actually anti nausea medicine given to cancer patients, but I really think that the acupuncture would have helped had I been able to endure the off days between treatment. Most recently I started up again with horrible perimenopause issues which included anxiety, panic attacks and wacked out hormones. Sure, I have also been seeing a therapist and my ob/gyn for these perimenopause issues, so I can't definitely say that it was the acupuncture alone that helped me out, but hey, even my 8 year old daughter remarked how she noticed that I seemed calmer and more relaxed after my treatments, so again I say why not.
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@Candace Craig. I would have to see studies of the effects of acupuncture on pets. To my knowledge there is nothing but testimonials. I appreciate your sharing your story, but a personal account is not scienctific fact that something works. I could tell you I have a gnome living on my right shoulder, that does not make it scientific proof. Actually Skeptical Vegan provided a website that mentioned just that. Interesting information. http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/index.php/animal-acupuncture/
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And to the skeptics... how do you explain why acupuncture works for animals?
My brother's 14 year old dog suffered from vertigo for a couple of months and was wasting away. He couldn't hold his head up straight and had stopped eating. My brother was skeptical about animal acupuncture when I suggested it, and he was willing to try anything. I witnessed his dog receive his first treatment. He had the needles in for 20 minutes. After they were inserted he sighed deeply and fell asleep. He woke up, and then she took the needles out, observing that he was done with the treatment. He stood up, walked with his head straight and went to straight to his food dish. His vertigo was gone and never came back. How do you explain that? (And this animal acupuncturist is a licensed vet).
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