Acupuncture

INTEGRATED FAMILY MEDICINE ACUPUNCTURE OF SOUTH JERSEY & PHILLY: WHAT IS IT?
Acupuncture is a method of encouraging the body to promote natural healing and to improve functioning. This is done byinserting needles and applying heat or electrical stimulation at very precise acupuncture points.

HOW DOES ACUPUNCTURE WORK?
The classical Chinese explanation is that channels of energy run in regular patterns through the body and over its surface. These energy channels, called meridians, are like rivers flowing through the body to irrigate and nourish the tissues. An obstruction in the movement of these energy rivers is like a dam that backs up in others.

The meridians can be influenced by needling the acupuncture points; the acupuncture needles unblock the obstructions at the dams, and reestablish the regular flow through the meridians.

Acupuncture treatments can therefore help the body’s internal organs to correct imbalances in their digestion, absorption, and energy production activities, and in the circulation of their energy through the meridians.

The modern scientific explanation is that needling the acupuncture points stimulates the nervous system to release chemicals in the muscles, spinal cord, and brain. These chemicals will either change the experience of pain, or they will trigger the release of other chemicals and hormones which influence the body’s own internal regulating system.

• Promotion of health and well-being
• Prevention of illness
• Treatment of various medical conditions

While acupuncture is often associated with pain control, in the hands of a well-trained practitioner it has much broader applications. Acupuncture can be effective as the only treatment used, or as the support or adjunct to other medial treatment forms in many medical and surgical disorders.  The World Health Organization recognizes the use of acupuncture in the treatment of a wide range of medical problems, including:

• Digestive disorders: gastritis and hyperacidity, spastic colon, constipation, diarrhea
• Respiratory disorders: sinusitis, sore throat, bronchitis, asthma, recurrent chest infections
• Neurological and muscular disorders: headaches, facial tics, neck pain, rib neuritis, frozen shoulder,     tennis elbow,various forms of tendinitis, low back pain, sciatica, osteoarthritis
• Urinary, menstrual, and reproductive problems
• Acupuncture is particularly useful in resolving physical problems related to tension and stress and     emotional conditions

Information taken from A Brief Explanation for Patients from THE AMERICAN ACADEMY OF MEDICAL ACUPUNCTURE and performed by Integrated Family Medicine Acupunture experts of Southern New Jersey and the Philadelphia (Philly) area.