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Are there different styles of acupuncture? |
| Posted on Mar 15 2008 at 5:57 PM |
| News / Blog >> Acupuncture |
I had a new patient recently who was concerned because a friend had told him that there are different sorts of acupuncture, and that he should only have, 'the right one'.
It is true that there are different styles of acupuncture but it isn't easy to say which is the best style for any one person or condition. Practiced well they are all effective, and a lot depends on the skill and experience of individual practitioners.
At the broadest level it could be said that there are two main sorts of acupuncture - traditional and modern. Acupuncture has been practiced over millenia and there are many different traditional lineages. Having developed originally in China (as far as we can tell), acupuncture was widely practiced in the East, in countries such as Japan, Korea, and Vietnam. Different schools of thought developed both within China and in each culture in which it was developed.
After the communist revolution in China there was a drive to systematize the many different traditions of acupuncture and herbal medicine. This led to a comprehensive style of acuuncture, which has many strengths, but which has been criticised for limiting diversity (which I personally don't hold with). In Japan, by way of contrast, there are many different styles of acupuncture. Some are similar to the Chinese style of acupuncture, whilst others are markedly different in their approach to diagnosis and treatment. Over two hundred years ago in Japan, it was declared that acupuncture and massage were suitable professions for the blind, and this slowly led to styles of acupuncture which rely heavily on palpation of the body and acupuncture points for diagnosis, rather than visual observation - such as looking at the patient's tongue. Other styles of Japanese acupuncture are influenced by more modern developments, such as Ryodoraku acupuncture, which uses electrical measurements of acupuncture points for diagnosis. In our country most acupuncturists practice Chinese styles of acupuncture - although Japanese acupuncture is becoming increasingly popular.
Modern acupuncture comprises two main approaches. The first of these has simplified traditional Chinese acupuncture to give a method that is easier and quicker for doctors and physiotherapists to learn, and which is falsely claimed to be more scientific. Traditional acupuncture requires several years of study to learn traditional systems of diagnosis and point selection based on this. For example, a patient suffering from migraine could be found to suffer from one or more of several distinct syndromes in traditional Chinese acupuncture. Each syndrome requires a different treatment. In the simplified modern approach a small number of points have been said to be effective for all migraine sufferers. Whilst this approach can be effective there is increasing evidence to suggest that the traditional approach is more effective. As an illustration of this, Australian researchers reported the effects of acupuncture on a group of 593 women suffering from morning sickness. Both modern 'formula' acupuncture and traditional acupuncture relieved patient's nausea significantly, but those receiving the traditional acupuncture reported improved vitality as well.
The second school of modern acupuncture derives largely from the work of Jane Travell, an American physician, and her colleagues, who developed the treatment of myofascial trigger point pain. This is referred pain from the soft tissues of the body such as muscles, tendons, and so on. A trigger point is a very small group of sensitive nerve endings which are usually found in tight bands of muscle. If pressure is applied to a trigger point it is exquisitely tender. These trigger points cause weakness and contraction in the muscle with which they are associated and will refer pain in predictable pathways. The interesting thing about these pain referral patterns is that they are often at some distance from the muscle in which the trigger point is found. For instance, a trigger point in the front muscle of the neck can refer pain to the forehead, temple and back of the skull. Whilst Travell and her colleagues would deactivate trigger points using injections of steroids or local anaesthetics, it has since been found that they are as effectively deactivated with acupuncture - with much fewer potential side-effects. I have found that this method integrates very well with traditional acupuncture.
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