Our speaker this week, Donnielle James L.Ac, is a clinical supervisor at Yo San University of Traditional Chinese Medicine. She gave an amazing talk about acupuncture and her experience in the field.
What is Acupuncture?
Acupuncture is one of the eight branches of Classical Traditional Chinese Medicine. Acupuncture refers to the insertion of thin, sterile, single-use needles at specific points on the body, treating a wide range of complications like pain, digestive issues, menstrual cramps, and eczema, to name a few. The needles used in acupuncture can open up the joint space and relieve tightness and pain in the body. They can also stimulate the “qi” to move energy throughout the body and treat different complications. These needles come in a range of gauge and length to access specific areas in the body. Overall, the average width of an acupuncture needle is 1/25th of a typical flu shot needle.
There are 365 acupuncture points along 12 primary meridians in the body. Primary meridians can be thought of as highways for energy to move throughout the body. The 12 primary meridians are divided into five yin meridians and seven yang meridians. The five yin meridians are the lungs, spleen, heart, kidneys, and liver. In contrast, the seven yang meridians are composed of the stomach, small intestine, large intestine, urinary bladder, gallbladder, pericardium, and san jiao (a fluid transportation system). Within each meridian, there are eight unique levels. These levels include the cutaneous channel, minute collateral channel, sinew channels, 15 Luo collaterals channel, primary channel, divergent channel, eight extraordinary channel, and the deep pathways of divergent/primary channel.
Common Questions about Acupuncture
A common question regarding acupuncture is bleeding. Bleeding can occur during an acupuncture treatment, but most acupuncturists try to minimize bleeding during the injection and removal of the needles. However, in some acupuncture treatments, like treating eczema, acupuncturists will purposefully induce bleeding to release the toxic heat stored in the body. Another common question is how painful acupuncture treatments are. The amount of pain felt will be based on where the acupuncture treatment is occurring. More pain may be experienced in higher sensitive areas with more nerves like your hands and feet compared to less sensitive areas like your back.
For a more detailed look into the presentation, you can find the slides here!
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