Acupuncture is a treatment that is over thousands of years old. The primary purpose of acupuncture is to encourage healing, reduce or relieve pain and improve the functions of the body.
Acupuncture is part of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and is certainly gaining wider popularity with the passing of time and more research done on it. It is a “collection of procedures involving penetrating the skin with needles to stimulate certain points on the body” (2) done by a specialist.
Acupunture is effective in treating conditions such as, headaches/migraines, neck and back pain, shoulder pain, tennis elbow, tendonitis, sciatica, arthritis, knee problems and sports injuries etc, even cancer pain. A new study has found that acupuncture can help ease some of the side effects of breast cancer treatments.
Special advice:
1, Do not eat large meals after or before treatment.
2, Avoid alcohol and coffee after treatment.
3, Avoid showers or baths after treatment.
4, No exercise or cigarettes for 3-4 hours after treatment.
For females:
1, No acupuncture for the first 3 days of menstrual cycle.
2, If pregnant, avoid acupunctue entirely.
Moxibustion (Chinese: 灸) is a traditional Chinese medicine therapy which consists of burning dried mugwort (moxa) on particular points on the body. Practitioners burn the fluff or process it further into a cigar-shaped stick. They can use it indirectly meaning not touching the skin but using the heat around acupuncture needles, or just around certain points of the body.
Moxibustion has also been studied for the treatment of pain, cancer, stroke, ulcerative colitis, constipation, and hypertension.
Written By: Helen Hiu Ming Yu, Registered Massage Therapist