Does Acupuncture Therapy Really Heal?
In the past six months, I have been to see an acupuncture therapist who I must say has been able to help me alleviate pain that years of seeing an OBGYN had not been able to help.
First let me explain how I came to find this acupuncture therapist. I have been on a whole health food, natural living kick for about a year now. One day, while visiting my chiropractor’s office, the massage therapist told me about a Natural Living Expo that would be in town that weekend. Out of pure interest in a new way of living, I decided to attend. The expo, as expected, was filled with booths featuring local businesses and individuals selling natural products and services.
As I walked along the different booths, I felt drawn to one man who looked very peaceful and unobtrusive. He seemed to be the type who only wanted to help those who wanted his help – he would not impose himself on anyone. I walked to his booth and saw that he was an acupuncture therapist. Always having been curious about acupuncture, I asked him about what acupuncture was and if it was really helpful. In so many words, he explained that acupuncture is therapy that works to release energy blocks in our bodies. Having only a slight idea of what he was talking about, I went to my second question: healing. He explained that acupuncture basically helps the body heal itself more effectively since the body was made to heal any ailment that was brought upon it.
Convinced that I wanted to know more, I took his card and asked if he took insurance, which he did. He also explained that he takes appointments regularly just to check over the body at no expense. Hook, line and sinker! I was game. So I called the office the following Monday to set up a FREE appointment to be “looked over.”
His office was small and cozy, very friendly. I already felt very comfortable there. After about 10 minutes of waiting, he called me in. Not knowing what to expect, I went into the examination room and sat, waiting for him to “do whatever he does.” The first thing he did was to have me explain what issues I was trying to have worked out, if you will. I told him I was interested in basic good health, however I did have an issue that followed me throughout my adolescence and adult years: irregular and painful menstruation. He told me that he should be able to “fix” that with no problem. A little skeptical, I took a mental note to make sure to see if he would be able to follow through on something no OBGYN had been able to help me with.
Wanting a more detailed explanation of what he told me about acupuncture at the expo, I asked him to go into more detail about the concept. He almost seemed excited that I’d asked. He explained about the concept of energy. He said that our bodies are made up of energy that vibrates at different frequencies. The faster the vibration the less solid something is. For example, a table is energy, like electricity is energy, but a table vibrates at a much slower frequency than electricity, which is why it appears to be solid. But when you look at it under a microscope, it has the same atoms and molecules as electricity, or human beings, or rocks, trees – anything else on this earth. Since we are all made up of the same energy, just vibrating at different frequencies, our bodies are heavily affected by our environment – it’s like we’re all related to everything because everything is God’s energy (he didn’t say God, but that’s where he was going with it). That’s why someone else’s bad mood can affect your mood. But he went deeper to say that our body picks up everything, even the upset that trees go through when they get cut down. Our bodies feel it because we are all connected.
And just as we are all connected with other things, our body is connected with itself, meaning that things we do physically affect our emotions and vice versa. So the things we think, eat, touch and do all affect how we think and feel (physically and emotionally). So if I eat a lot of junk, it affects my body. Or if I think a lot of negative thoughts, or live a stressful life, it can cause disease (which is really “dis-ease” – being uneasy about something to the point of it affecting you physically).
He explained that God has provided everything on this earth that our bodies need to be emotionally and physically “right” from herbs, minerals, fruits, vegetables, etc. But most of what God gave us is right in our bodies. That’s why we were given an immune system. However, we don’t treat our immune system properly so it doesn’t keep us as healthy as it should. It’s like forgetting to get an oil change or tune-up, yet expecting a car to run efficiently. He said that the energy that our bodies are made up of flows constantly like blood, and as it flows it keeps our immune system strong, but as life gets in our way (stress, eating junk, not exercising, thinking negative thoughts, being around negative people and energy), our energy gets blocked.
Acupuncture helps in that when you stick very small needles in the energy spots that are clogged up or blocked, this frees up and allows the energy to flow correctly and then allows the immune system to work correctly and heal itself. He said that when we take a lot of different drugs, they might fight off a virus for us but weaken our immune system at the same time. This is because our immune system is set up to fight off foreign substances, meaning it would fight off the drugs before they could work. So drugs are made to weaken the immune system so that they can override it and fight the disease instead. While he said that about 50% of the time, drugs are necessary if the immune system cannot battle the strength of the disease in your body, most times the immune system is strong enough on its own, but we override it every time with drugs. And the more drugs we take that weaken the system, the less likely it will be able to fight off even simple things like a Cold. So it is important to know what things the body can fight off by itself or may simply need a boost from vitamins and herbs, and what may need the help of drugs.
Feeling that he knew what he was talking about (or maybe just wanting to believe him) I allowed him to check me over then listened to his suggestions. To spare sharing ALL of my personal information, I will say that he found what he thought was the cause of my irregular and painful menstruation. He explained that I had abnormally high levels of estrogen and needed to balance my levels of progesterone (whatever that meant). He prescribed an herbal supplement and treated a few key areas on my body that he explained pertained to my menstrual cycle, then asked me to come back in two weeks so that he could repeat the process. Now keep in mind that I’d been irregular since I started my period 17 prior. Now six months after my first visit, I have been VERY regular and only in mild discomfort (on the first day only) for five of those months. I see this as a miracle because no OBGYN could tell me in 17 years what he was able to tell me, and essentially “cure,” in two visits.
So to answer my original question: Does Acupuncture Therapy Really Heal? Hey, I’m not professional in the acupuncture game. But if someone were to approach me today and ask my thoughts on acupuncture, after my menstruation miracle (sorry fellas … lol) in addition to other “problems” he was able to “fix,” I am an avid believer that acupuncture is not mythical concept – it really works! Now you be the judge. Find an acupuncture therapist in your area and try it for yourself.