How does acupuncture work?

How does acupuncture work?

Acupuncture’s claim to fame comes from its ability to influence blood flow in the body. When a needle is inserted into an acupuncture point, a unique effect occurs within the network system of tissues, organs, nerves, and the brain. The needle has the effect of promoting blood flow to a specific region, and this fresh healthy blood is what brings about the effect of healing. If you’ve ever benefited from acupuncture, you might remember that areas where acupuncture points were used feel warm, heavy, or full. These sensations illustrate the miraculous ability of needles to govern blood flow in the body.

Why is blood so important?

Blood contains all of the vital nutrients and oxygen needed to nourish tissues. You are only as healthy as the quality of blood that flows through your body. It’s safe to say that almost all disease and aging processes can be traced back to deficits of blood quality, quantity, and flow. That is why aging can be seen beginning at the hands and feet and moving towards the torso. The best thing you can do to slow aging and prolong and improve your quality of life is to ensure fantastic production and movement of blood in your body.

What is disease?

At the beginning stages of illness, a body tissue experiences a compromised supply of qi and blood. Qi can be thought of as oxygen or the means of cellular energy needed to help a cell perform its job. Once a tissue is deprived of qi and blood it begins to express a state of malfunction, in this state there might not be any symptoms present. If that condition persists and malfunctioning tissue does not receive blood and qi, the malfunction will develop into a disease process. At this point symptoms will become evident and the condition will continue to worsen if the originating cause of blood and qi obstruction does not resolve.

Why am I achy and stiff?

When a tissue is in pain, the brain will actively reduce blood flow and nerve impulses to that area in hopes of improving the success of healing. After all, if there are torn tissues you don’t want to move them excessively before they heal and if infection happens to set in, reduced blood flow to the area will lower the likelihood of spreading infection to the rest of the body. That’s why injured tissues become cold, stiff, heavy, and weak. They simply do not have the same amount of blood, energy, and nerve impulses compared to the rest of the body.

If the underlying condition is not treated, then healing will not set in. Pain is the means by which tissues communicate important information to the brain. If you are stuck in a loop of chronic pain, the system which relays this pain information is broken and needs a jump start. Needles serve this purpose and help relay a clear message to the brain to indicate that the injury has been resolved and the pain signal can be cleaned up. Numbing the pain is not the best answer!

The function of acupuncture, medicinal herbs, and oriental medicine as a whole is to remove the cause of qi and blood obstruction, and in turn reverse the symptoms caused by the disease process and prior malfunctions. By restoring healthy blood and qi flow, the healing can begin and the communication between the body and brain can improve to break free from the pain cycle.

Diego Garcia LAc
MAcOM, CSCS