Acupuncture in Gauteng Springs CBD

Acupuncture & Traditional Chinese Medicine

Dr Muhammed Patel

What is Acupuncture?

Acupuncture is an ancient Chinese therapy that involves inserting of fine needles (so fine that most people hardly feel them being inserted)into the skin at specific points of the body.

Legend has it that acupuncture was developed when it was realized that soldiers who recovered from arrow wounds were sometimes also healed of other diseases from which they were suffering.

The specific points of the body into which acupuncture needles are inserted are located along ‘meridians’. These are the pathways or energy channels & are believed to be related to the internal organs of the body. This energy is known as chi (also known as ki or qi), & the needles are used to decrease or increase the flow of energy, or to unblock it if it is impeded.

Nowadays the use of laser beams & electrical currents are found to give an increased simulative effect when using acupuncture needles.

There are many painful afflictions for which acupuncture can be used. In the West, it has been used primarily for rheumatism, back pain & arthritis, but it has also been used to alleviate other disorders such as stress, allergy, colitis, digestive troubles, insomnia, asthma, etc etc. It has been claimed that withdrawal symptoms (experienced by people stopping smoking & other forms of addiction) have been helped as well.

What to expect at a Consultation

At a consultation a number of questions will be asked concerning:

Diet
Lifestyle
Sleeping patterns
Fears & phobias
Exercise taken
Reactions to stress
Past & present medical history.

The texture & colouring of the skin, the tongue (diagnosis) and pulse (diagnosis) will all be examined as well as the patient’s voice. These different factors are all needed for the Chinese diagnosis.

Each consultation is custom made for an individual.

Thereafter a method of ancient rules is used to determine the acupuncture points.

OK, What next

Next comes the needles, they are disposable & made of a fine stainless steel & come already sealed in a sterile pack. Once the needle is inserted into the skin (most people hardly feel them being inserted) it is twisted between the acupuncturist’s thumb & forefinger to spread or draw the energy from a point. The depth to which the needle is inserted can vary from just below the skin to up to 12mm & different sensations may be felt, such as a tingling around the area of insertion or numbness at that point.

How many treatments will I require?

Patients can generally expect to feel an improvement after four to six sessions of therapy, the beneficial effects occurring gradually, particularly if the ailment has obvious & long-standing symptoms.

Other diseases such as asthma will probably take longer before any definite improvement is felt. It is possible that some patients may not feel any improvement at all or even feel worse after the first session, & this is probably because of the energies in the body being over-stimulated. To correct this, the acupuncturist will gradually use fewer needles & for a shorter period of time.

Did you know that acupuncture falls within the scope of Traditional Chinese Medicine

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is a healing system that includes Acupuncture,Herbal medicine, Dietary therapy, Massage (tuina), relaxation & special exercises such as tai chi & qigong.

Practitioners view the individual as an integrated whole, whose health or ill-health is determined by the flow of Qi (energy), & consider symptoms to be signs of a pattern of disharmony & not the result of a particular named disease.

TCM practitioners see the main external causes of disease (“pathogenic factors”) as the following environmental factors:

Wind,
Cold,
Summer Heat,
Damp,
Dryness &
Fire.

The main internal causes of disease are the “SevenEmotional Factors”:

Joy,
Anger,
Sadness,
Worry,
Grief,
Fear & Fright.

Each of these, if excessive, can cause disease, & tends to affect a particular organ. Other causes of disease include a weak constitution, incorrect diet, & lack of physical exercise, over-exertion, excessive sexual activity, pollution & trauma (accidents).

Herbal remedies

Herbal Medicine in TCM describes formulae which are made from the roots, stems, bark, leaves, seeds or flowers of many plants, as well as some mineral parts.

herbs

The herbs are usually decocted into a soup. Some come in ready-prepared pill or powder, called ‘patent’ herbal remedies. The herbal medicine are usually taken in the form of a ‘recipe’ called a prescription.

To make up a prescription, the TCM practitioner carefully blends together a number of herbs which have specific functions. For example, practitioner might decide to treat a case of infected allergic eczema, which he would diagnose as “damp-heat eczema with fire poison”with Gentian Drain the Gallbladder Decoction (Long Dan Xie Gan Tang).

Herbal remedies are used to restore the yin(cold)—yang balance within the body & to work in specific organs & channels to correct the relationship between the five elements. The herbs are classified under the five elements according to the remedial action of their taste — sweet, sour, bitter, pungent & salty — & their opposing yin—yang qualities of hot & cold. For example, skullcap is a bitter, cold herb that can be used to lower a fever.

Cupping therapy

Cupping uses small cups or jars, often made of glass, to stimulate & draw the body’s energy points.

Ajar is usedto create a vacuum. The jar clamps itself to the body & sucks on the point. For local inflammation & congestion, cupping is often combined with needles.

Auricular therapy (ear acupuncture)

During a first consultation a physical examination of the ears is carried out & any distinguishing features are recorded.

The therapist passes a probe over the surface of the ear to find any sensitive points that indicate the areas requiring treatment either with micro needles, minute electric currents or a laser beam.

There are over 200 points on the ear that are connected to a particular organ, tissue or part of the body. If a disorder is present, its corresponding point on the ear may be sensitive or tender to touch & pressure, or there may even become kind of physical sign such as a mark, spot or lump.

It is claimed that auricular therapy is helpful in the treatment of various chronic conditions such as rheumatism & arthritis & also problems of addiction.

Laser Acupuncture (painless….NEW…Multichannel

……. 1st of its kind in South Africa)

Laser Acupuncture

All light has an effect on the cells of the human body. What that effect is shall be determined by the wavelengths of light applied. The low level laser produces a beam of light that has a specific wavelength and frequency. When the light of the laser is applied around the tissue, the electromagnetic energy is converted to chemical energy within each cell which sets in motion a chain of chemical reactions allowing the healing process to begin. This chemical reaction in the cell allows several things to occur.

• Stimulates Healing and Repair of Tissue
• Increases Tissue Strength
• Reduces Pain: by stimulating cells to produce their own endorphins, a natural pain killer. Pain results from trauma, cellular disruption, malfunction, or less than optimal cellular function. Healing and pain relief come with cellular normalization. Photons enable cells to perform optimally by stimulating them to initiate bio-chemical reactions which produce enzymes and ATP (usable energy).
• Reduces Inflammation: by suppressing inflammatory enzymes and enhancing the release of anti-inflammatory enzymes as much as 75%.
• Decrease Swelling: by stimulating lymphatic drainage
• Promotes Faster Wound Healing: by stimulating cells to increase the production of two major healing enzymes by as much as 75%, enhances lymphatic drainage thereby increasing circulation and speeding healing.
• Increase Bone Repair Speed: by stimulating fibroblastic and osteoblastic proliferation
• Stimulates Nerve Function
• Promotes Cellular Oxygenation/Detoxification
• Release Tight Muscles and Muscle Spasms: (both smooth and striated) that help create chronic pain, joint problems and decreased mobility.
• Enhance the Immune System: by increasing the number of “killer” cells by 400-900%.
• Re-energize Cell Membranes: to allow transport of essential nutrients across cell walls (nutrients will not cross an injured or sick cell wall, thus slowing healing) allowing a healthy new cell to grow

Low Level Laser is being used to treat a variety of painful and inflamed conditions of the soft tissues and joints.

• Knee Pain
• Joint Pain in knees, hands, ankles, and hips
• Arthritis, Osteoarthritis, Rheumatoid Arthritis
• Chronic neck, back, and shoulder pain
• Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
• Rotator Cuff Injury
• Sport injuries
• Bursitis
• Tennis Elbow and Golfer’s elbow
• Fibromyalgia
• Plantar Fascitis
• Headaches
• Tendonitis
• TMJ

LLLT has been in active and beneficial use in Europe for nearly 30 years. There are more than 100double blind positive studies confirming the clinical effect of LLLT. Over 2,500 clinical studies and published research reports have shown the effectiveness of LLLT for a variety of health issues.
In the past 6 years, professional sports teams have begun utilizing LLLT.