Accupuncture - Real or Imagined?

My research into accuncture reveals that it has been around for over 2000 years, originating in China as a method to treat illness.  It is considered a form of traditional medicine, which the World Health Organization defines as "the sum total of knowledge, skills and practices based on the theories, beliefs and experiences indigenous to different cultures that are used to maintain health, as well as to prevent, diagnose, improve or treat physical and mental illnesses."   They also note that "scientific evidence from tests done to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of traditional medicine products and practices is limited. While evidence shows that acupuncture, some herbal medicines and some manual therapies (e.g. massage) are effective for specific conditions, further study of products and practices is needed."  The WHO factsheet is located here:  http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs134/en/. 

What is accupuncture?  In my own words, it's the practice of inserting needles into the body at specific points to effect the flow of qi (pronounced "chee") energy.  An accupuncturist might further describe those specific points in relation to "meridians" which stimulate specific areas and organs of the body, via the energy and/or blood pathways.  According to Wikipedia,  (see their full collection of accupuncture tidbits at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acupuncture), there is little to no allopathic, western language which directly correlates to these traditional, eastern treatments.

I find that interesting as a self-described student of the world.  Many of you are aware that when we translate literature from other languages, we have a limited capability to understand precisely what is being expressed, because there is no equivalent a priori notion in our culture.  This is one of the many reasons why people choose to learn foreign languages (to fully understand other cultures) and also why we adopt foreign words wholly into English.  Qi energy, spelled chi in English, is a classic example.  Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary defines chi (with an earliest recorded date in English of 1850) as "vital energy that is held to animate the body internally  . . ."   I don't understand how we can accept that our nervous system carries chemical and electrical messages throughout our bodies, and not accept that stimulating a point at a nerve ending could send a message via the connected pathways to specific organs.  But hey, that's just me and my active imagination!

Does it work?  In my experience, yes.  I receive accupuncture treatments to relieve pain associated with tendonitis in one of my hips and various other mild disorders;  to help balance and envigorate my energy and to relieve stress.  When I receive treatments, I become very aware of imbalance in my phycial well-being, much like a person will become aware of a sore muscle or a joint functioning improperly when stretching or practicing yoga.  This awareness is associated with the level of pain noted when the needle goes in.  Where things are functioning well, there is a light buzz of energy that is stimulated at the entry point; where things are stagnant, there is anything from a quick flash of soreness to a burning sensation.  Too much indulgence in food and drink (or even a recognized medical condition such as ulcer, allergic rhinitis, headache) can result in anything from sore spots associated with, say, the digestive tract to burning sensations upon stimulation of the liver meridian.  The pain subsides within a few moments and I am entirely focused on how I have been treating my body; something that a single parent with a full-time career and an active lifestyle typically ignores.  When I leave I will go equipped with the appropriate stores and nutritional guidance from Dr. Giselle Lai of Frederick Natural Medicine and Accupuncture - see  http://www.healingpowerofnature.com/ to attend to whatever is slightly out of whack.  Maintaining this practice for the past eight years, I have managed to avoid any chronically debilitating illnesses, many of which run in my family and have manifested for all of my siblings and parents by middle-age. 

Each time I experience accupuncture, I depart wishing I could have stayed longer, wishing I could receive the treatment every day, and lamenting the fast pace of modern life.  Besides that, I am wondering about western cultural traditions that have been lost or trampled over by the rise of materialism, pharmaceuticals, emergency room and antibiotic abuse, and dare I say it - the failure to fully appreciate the economic value of  women's roles as caregivers - namely nutritional meal preparation and home nursing.  (This feminist does not eschew her womanly nature, but that's another blog for another day.)

Perhaps accupuncturists, massage therapists, nutritional counselors and many other alternative medicine providers represent, in part, a conversion of the economy of unpaid maternal labor into a commodity?  While this notion is my own, I feel good about in my gut.  It gets my energy flowing; it has it's own power.  I probably am not the only individual to think of this, and wonder if there are any "real" studies.  In the end, it doesn't matter.  This is America, a place where things we care about enough to pay for are recongized as having value.