How is acupuncture more than just acupuncture?

Acupuncture is one of the most powerful and versatile therapies in Chinese medicine, but it is not the only one.  Acupuncturists use many techniques of Traditional East Asian Medicine.

The most common therapies are acupressure, Chinese herbal therapy, moxibustion, gua sha, and cupping.  I’ve written about the last three in this post.

Moxabustion

Needle Head Moxibustion

Moxabustion is the burning of an herb call mugwort, ai ye in Chinese, close to specific acupuncture points or on the needle itself.  It is used to warm and add energy to the acupuncture point.  It also is good for moving stagnation.

Moxibustion is central to acupuncture treatment, the word for moxibustion is actually in the Chinese for acupuncture- zhen jiu.  Zhen means needle, and jiu is refering to moxibustion.

Gua Sha

Gua sha is the rubbing of a coin or a spoon on the skin.  Often it is done on the upper and lower back, neck, and the ribs. It is a long time home remedy which is used for colds and fever, nausea, muscle aches and pain, as well as inhibited urination.

Often gua sha will break the blood vessels below the skin causing a bruise.  In Chinese medicine we say this breaks blood stagnation and releases heat.  Interestingly, if there is not too much heat present, or there is no blood stagnation, it does not create a bruise.

Cupping

Chinese Fire Cups

Cupping works in conjunction with acupuncture to relax muscles and increase circulation.  During this therapy, glass, wooden, or plastic cups are applied to the skin.  The inside of the cup is depressurized with a flame or a vacuum, so it then lifts up the skin below it.

This often leaves round bruises, which are mostly painless.  It helps to relax the muscles and increase circulation.  For more reading on cupping, I recommend this article at the Institute for Traditional Medicine.

Read More in this Series:

• The Theory Behind Acupuncture
• Acupuncture Stimulates The Brain to Heal Itself
• Acupuncture Channels and Points

More than Acupuncture: Moxibustion, Cupping, and Gua Sha is a post from:

And that makes for poor bike riding conditions. A few weeks ago, I was riding home from my Tai Ji class in central park. I was trying to be cautious, but when I hit a muddy spot on a turn my bike slipped out form under me.

Splat, I fell on my left elbow.

I was worried. Is this going to require a serious rehab time?  I knew, no mater what, it soon swell up badly and needed quick treatment. I would get an x-ray later in the day, and luckily nothing was broken.  But I knew I could start reducing the inflammation immediately.

I rode home, and got out my cups, acupuncture needles, and the all too valuable herbal anti-inflammatory topical poultice San Huang San.

My arm was swelling up, becoming red and hot.  These are all signs of the inflammation in the area.  As the swelling increase, my range of motion decreased. From previous similar injuries, I knew if I did not do anything this would take at least 2-3 months to heal.

The best way to reduce the inflammation and swelling is the ancient technique of cupping and bleeding. Cupping is

Chinese Fire Cups

done by creating a vacuum in a glass (or wooden) cup with a flame and then pressing that cup to the skin, drawing up the muscle beneath it.

For acute injuries, the bleeding helps to reduce the inflammation and swelling. Tom Bisio, one of my teachers and an expert on treating traumatic injuries, says in his wonderful book A Tooth from the Tiger’s Mouth,
this is like breaking holes in a beaver dam. Once you open a little hole, it gets larger and larger, and more and more water will flow through. For injuries, this allows qi to flow through to promoting healing.

By using a small thick lancet, I pricked the swollen area to draw a little blood. Then, I used cupping to draw that blood away from the injury. I also needled some points for qi and blood circulation.

After the cupping treatment I used the herbal poultice called San Huang San, which has anti-inflammatory and cooling properties, and wrapped my arm for the night.

The next day I felt better, and the swelling had gone down considerable. I repeated the cupping and bleeding, and again wrapped my arm. Each hour I felt more circulation and relaxation. I repeated for another day. After that, there was very little swelling and I had almost full range of motion.

That week I treated myself with acupuncture two more times, and by the end of the week, I was 90% better. Within two weeks, the pain and tightness was completely gone.

I still have to rebuild some of the strength, but thanks to the cupping and acupuncture, my rehabilitation will be only a few weeks, rather than a couple of months.

photos: magicattic88

Acupuncture and Cupping for an Acute Injury is a post from:

Here is a picture of one of the Chinese swimmers who just had a cupping session for back pain. Cupping is an ancient therapy which reduces pain and promotes healing by increasing the circulation. In the procedure is quite simple and effective. A vacuum is created in a cup through the use of a small flame. The cup is “stuck” to the patients body, creating small round bruises. The cups stay on for about 5-10 minutes.

It is a great therapy, I do it all the time.

Chinese cupping at the Olympics is a post from: