Acupuncture - Deactivating the Brain

Acupuncture has been a medicinal treatment for well over five thousand years, starting with the ancient Chinese, its founders. What hasn't been documented for over 5,000 years is exactly why acupuncture works so well.

Acupuncture is carried out by lots of little needles being inserted into numerous points in the body that are deemed important by the ancient Chinese, these are called acupuncture points. When acupuncture is carried out correctly the patient can expect to have hundreds of needles inserted.

The ancient Chinese believed that acupuncture helped redirect the flow of Qi, which they believed to be the body's natural energy. The belief was that an ailment was a lack of Qi reaching that part of the body for one reason or another.

How does acupuncture work then?

In recent years a group of Chinese medical scientists wanted to show that acupuncture does work, and show exactly how it works, and the results were astounding.

The scientists showed that when the acupuncture needles are inserted into a patient in the correct manner, where the needles are turned when they are in, the patient would feel a slight dull aching sensation; it is at this point the central nervous system becomes stimulated.

When the nervous system becomes stimulated in this manner it has been shown that the limbic system, which is actually part of the pain network and is located in the brain, becomes deactivated. Because the limbic system deactivates, many people who are suffering with pain feel the pain subside or even go away totally. It is important to note that the pain is still in the body and the pain receptors are sending signals to the central nervous system, but it means the signal doesn't get through to the part of the brain, which tells you that you are in pain.

Many scientists found this to be an interesting step forward as they had always known that acupuncture has a positive effect on the brain, they just were not sure what the effect was.

It is important to note that these effects only happen when the acupuncture needles are inserted at least one centimeter into the skin, this means that it needs to be performed by someone who is qualified to do so. If the needles are not inserted correctly great damage can occur to internal tissue and organs.

Summary

It seems that the ancient Chinese found a great alternative medicine which they thought worked for reasons different to those that make it so effective.

Acupuncture is a great remedy to a number of different medical conditions, some physical, some physiological, either way if you are having issues with a medical condition and feel like finding an alternative method in treating the problem, acupuncture is certainly the treatment to choose.

Acupuncture deserves a lot of credit, we all have to remember that it has been used for over five thousands years, and the method of acupuncture we use today is the same as the one written by scholars two thousand years ago during the time of Daoism philosophy.