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Acupuncture
Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is based on a philosophical concept that the human body is a small universe with a set of complete and sophisticated interconnected systems which must work in balance to maintain good health. Unlike the Western anatomical model which divides the physical body into parts, the Chinese model is more concerned with function. Thus, the TCM liver is not a specific piece of flesh, but an aspect of function related to detoxification within the body. TCM practices include such treatments as herbal medicine, acupuncture, dietary therapy, Tui Na and Shiatsu massage, Qigong, and Taijiquan.
Acupuncture is a 2,000 year old medical procedure of inserting and manipulating fine filiform needles into specific points on the body's twelve main meridians to restore qi (vital energy flow), relieve pain, and provide therapy for illnesses. There are a total of 618 acupuncture points (acupoints):
In 2003, the World Health Organization (WHO) published a review and analysis of controlled clinical trials on acupuncture. They listed the following as "Diseases, symptoms or conditions for which acupuncture has been proved - through controlled trials - to be an effective treatment":
- Adverse reactions to radiotherapy and/or chemotherapy
- Allergic rhinitis (including hay fever)
- Biliary colic
- Depression (including depressive neurosis and depression following stroke)
- Dysentery, acute bacillary
- Dysmenorrhea, primary
- Epigastralgia, acute (in peptic ulcer, acute and chronic gastritis, and gastrospasm)
- Facial pain (including craniomandibular disorders)
- Headache
- Hypertension, essential
- Hypotension, primary
- Induction of labour
- Knee pain
- Leukopenia
- Low back pain
- Malposition of fetus, correction of
- Morning sickness
- Nausea and vomiting
- Neck pain
- Pain in dentistry (including dental pain and temporomandibular dysfunction)
- Periarthritis of shoulder
- Postoperative pain
- Renal colic
- Rheumatoid arthritis
- Sciatica
- Sprain
- Stroke
- Tennis elbow
Additionally, the WHO listed several dozen additional conditions "for which the therapeutic effect of acupuncture has been shown but for which further proof is needed".
The latest acupuncture techniques incorporate electrical stimulation, ultrasound, heat, friction, suction, magnets, and laser beams directed at acupuncture points to engender greater health benefits than those realized by the use of needles alone. For example, GTT Acupuncture (Gokavi Transverse Technique) combines dry needling with high frequency electrical stimulation. It has been found to be very useful in the treatment and management of chronic fibromyalgia and myofascial pain.
During GTT, acupuncture needles are inserted in a specific transverse direction to form a special circuit enclosing the area of pain. The needles are electrically stimulated at two different high frequencies. The end result of this treatment is relaxation and analgesia of the muscles involved. It is believed that the high frequency electrical stimulation causes the midbrain to bypass the endorphin system and causes the release of serotonin and norepinephrine which suppress the transmission of pain.
IceWave patches work in a similar manner to relax and relief pain in muscles while triggering the release of serotonin and norepinephrine to suppress the continual transmission of pain signals associated with chronic pain. However, IceWave accomplishes this without using needles or electrical stimulation!
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