Acupuncture as a Treatment Practice

The biggest fear in the mind of any patient who is sick is to go under the knife at some point during the treatment. Scientific techniques have developed to make this process relatively painless, the fear of surgery is still widely prevalent amongst the people. It is pretty ironic that even in advanced times such as these when technology forms the crux of almost every treatment procedure, it is a traditional medical procedure named acupuncture which is still widely used by many medical practitioners to alleviate pain.

Acupuncture is a form of traditional Chinese medicine or TCM which involves the insertion of needles at certain points in the skin known as acupuncture points. Although its main application lies in alleviating pain, it can also be used as a complete cure for many diseases and problems like dizziness, depression, back pain, anxiety or indigestion. Trusted completely as in independent treatment plan, mostly it is used in combination with other forms of treatment. For example, a patient undergoes this therapy of acupuncture after and along with the surgery to decrease post surgery stress and pain. It is particularly effective for cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. Chemotherapy has various side effects like nausea, vomiting and headache for which acupuncture is considered one of the best treatments.

History of acupuncture dates back to 1000 BC in China when it was believed that a particular energy runs in the vein which was channelized by insertion of needles and these points where the needles were inserted were called acupuncture points. Its popularity since then has increased and decreased based upon the beliefs of the ruling party amongst many other factors.

Although the prospect of needles being inserted in the skin may seem daunting and repulsive, if this process is executed by a highly skilled practitioner, the insertion of needles can be done without causing any pain at all. The needles used in acupuncture are made of stainless steel to prevent them from bending or breaking inside the skin. It is recommended that the needle be sterilized before insertion and a new needle be used for every patient so as to minimize the risk of illness spreading from a person to person.

With the advent of new reforms in the treatment procedures of various diseases, acupuncture is not preferred much by medical professionals nowadays. The main reason for this bias against this technique is that the number of proficient practitioners is not very high and the risk when this technique is executed by an average doctor is very high. The neglect on the part of the physician could have serious consequences in the future for the patient. Often, a related practice called acupressure is preferred more as this does not involve any needles but the practice of acupuncture has its own unique lure which cannot be replaced by any other technique. It carries with it a huge historical heritage which cannot be replaced anytime soon. By- Vatsal Gupta

Author Bio: 

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