Acupuncture, an ancient Chinese acupuncture medical procedure, involves inserting and manipulating of needles at more than 360 points in the human body.

The conventional hospital methods typically do not include alternative medicine in their scope of practice.

Ancient Chinese acupuncture is scoffed at and to get any of these types of interventions in the hospital is nearly impossible. I would speak to doctor after doctor looking for approval but without success.

We finally sought help after research into alternative medicine. And we found it outside of the hospital. I began speaking to friends and associates that I knew were educated in alternative medicine and found a source who had first hand experience with ancient Chinese acupuncture and brain injury. She would explain that no one really knows how acupuncture works and that it might merely be a matter of suggestion. Scientists have proven that to be wrong.

One study found that ancient chinese acupuncture and supplements significantly improved symptoms in patients with depression or anxiety.

Since our son was capable of leaving the hospital grounds on day trips and we were fortunate to be able to get him into our car we arranged for our first visit.

Our first visit to the Chinese acupuncture office building involved a detailed examination with a tiny elderly Chinese doctor who barely spoke the English language. She would speak to us through an interpreter asking questions about the accident as well as any other symptoms that might be interfering with his recovery. She was most interested in unblocking the “qi” or “energy” which might be interfering with his recovery efforts. She then began inserting and manipulating needles. She placed the needles in various locations along the leg and if I remember right there was also one placed on the inside of his arm. He didn’t seem to mind or to be bothered by the needles and no marks were left for the shrewd eye of the charge nurse upon our return.

The needles were meant to trigger the release of endorphins which inhibit pain signals by blocking their pathway through the spinal cord. Studies have shown that placing acupuncture needles in certain parts of the brain causes a rise in the level of endorphins in the spinal fluid. Endorphins make you feel good. Regions of the body are reached by different channels I would learn and the Bladder primary channel was the best vehicle for brain injury and is located on the posterior portion of the outside of the leg. Then there are the many vessels that play into the practice of which I really don’t understand.

Ancient Chinese acupuncture seeks to restore the body’s balance. It’s importance in alternative medicine is unmeasureable.

Acupuncture charts were not readily obtainable and she was not in the least interested in explaining her methods but it was obvious she knew what she was doing. She would place the needles and twill them for over an hour. Our son would sleep during most of the experience.

A good book on ancient chinese acupuncture is called “A Manual of Acupuncuture” by Peter Deadman and Mazin Al-Khafaji. It has many of the acupuncture charts that explain meridians and vessels.

We would continue the art of acupuncture like sneaky teenagers for over ten sessions. Each week looking for evidence that it was helping.

The practice of Acupuncture has grown spectacularly in the United States in the last three or four decades.

The benefits of acupuncture are many and worth trying.

This entry was posted on Monday, March 2nd, 2009 at 9:15 pm and is filed under Treatment. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.