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My friend took her partner to a western medicine practitioner (MD) to no avail. Through a physical exam, bloodwork and some diagnostic tests the physician was unable to come to a diagnosis. My friend and her partner felt frustrated, unable to get a handle on anything. About this time, the group that we belong to on-line suggested her partner try acupuncture. This was something that she had already been thinking about - in fact, it was something that her partner, not into alternative anything, had even brought up. I know for a fact that acupuncture works. My sister has a German Shepherd that has severe hip dysplasia (something that is common to this breed of dog). At one point in time, when Katy could hardly walk, my sister and her friend loaded Katy into her car and took her to the vet that had been treating her. Along the line, in expanding his base of knowledge, this vet had learned acupuncture. The treatment worked so well that Katy ran out to the car and wanted to jump in by herself (because of her problem, she always has help getting into the car). Luckily, the vet snuck up on her, picked her up and placed her in the car so that she wouldn't hurt herself. She remained able to move as freely as she had before her symptoms got worse, with relatively little pain. Where does acupuncture come from? It is part of what is termed "Traditional Chinese Medicine" (TCM). The first record of acupuncture occurs in the Huang Di Nei Jing (Yellow Emperor's Classic of Internal Medicine) - said to be the oldest medical textbook in the world. Even this record is based on earlier theories developed by Shen Nung, the father of Chinese medicine. Acupuncture is based on the theory that the body has a life force of energy, called Qi, running through it. We know that we are energy bodies. We have a pulse, our body fluids contain what are called electrolytes that must be kept in balance to preserve the movement of energy. If our hearts stop, we can *restart* them with electrical impulses. (Conversely - an electrical shock that is large enough can also stop the heart from beating.) Nung's version of energy went beyond the physical to include the mental, emotional and spiritual bodies. So acupuncture can be used for many different things. It can heal on many levels at the same time. Qi travels through the body on what are termed meridians, or special pathways. There are fourteen main meridians that run vertically up and down the body, with twelve organ meridians on each half of the body (the meridians run in pairs one on the right side of the body, one on the left side). When these pathways are blocked or out of balance in some way, dis-ease occurs. This is said to be because the yin and yang in the body (the male and female energies) are out of balance. Acupuncture restores this balance. As a treatment, acupuncture consists of inserting needles at any one of the 365 traditional acupuncture points in the body. They may be inserted in a manner that is anywhere from 15 - 90 degrees in relation to the skins surface. Once inserted, several different techniques may be used. They may be twirled, rotated or trembled (where vibrations are sent through the needle). The patient is meant to feel a sensation from the needle, but not one of pain. Because it reaches all systems (physical, emotional, mental and spiritual), the uses for acupuncture are endless. And it is now reaching a point where it is becoming accepted in the western world, and being taught here. My friend finally got a medical referral to a hospital that accepted her partner as a patient for diagnostic purposes. (Not as easy as one might think - he was not working and had no insurance.) They took his case seriously, answered his and my friends questions, and made them feel like people again. (This had not been the case with the first physician that they saw.) He has since been diagnosed with MS, and is receiving preliminary treatment for it. It may be his decision to combine acupuncture with traditional western medicine - this is an option. We need to take a look at all of our options, and follow the paths that bring us the best results. Certainly acupuncture is one of those paths. May each of you that is facing an obstacle in their lives - whether it is mental, emotional, physical or spiritual - be open to considering all of the paths available to you. We do not need to accept the diagnosis of one physician, the words of one friend or the opinions of society in general as absolute. We all need to find our own truths.
March 2001
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