Acupuncture
Acupuncture as practised by members of the British Acupuncture Council is a holistic approach to health based on 2000 years of development and refinement in the Far East . The tradition is as much about the maintenance of health as the management of disease. Western or Medical acupuncture is a more recent development practised predominantly by doctors or physiotherapists which uses a limited range of acupuncture techniques on the basis of a western medical diagnosis.
Although sometimes described merely a pain relief, traditional acupuncture is actually used to treat people with wide range of illnesses. Its focus is on improving the overall well being of the patient, rather than the isolated treatment of specific symptoms. The skill of the acupuncturist lies in their ability to make a traditional diagnosis from what is often a complex pattern of disharmony. The exact pattern and disharmony is unique to each individual and so following diagnosis, the acupuncturist puts together a personalised treatment plan.
According to traditional Chinese philosophy our health is dependent on the body,s motivating energy – known as qi – moving in a smooth and balanced way through a series of meridians (channels) beneath the skin. The flow of qi can be disturbed by many factors, physical, mental and emotional: anxiety, stress, anger, fear or grief, poor nutrition, weather conditions, hereditary factors, infections, poisons and trauma. By inserting fine needles into the channels of energy, an acupuncturist can stimulate the body’s own healing response and help to restore its natural balance.
Reproduced with kind acknowledgment from the website of the British Acupuncture Council (Use link for more information).
Website:www.acupuncture.org.uk
