About Acupuncture

 Since Acupuncture evaluates and treats how we function, it is described as preventative as well as curative.

 Acupuncture history and origins

Acupuncture has a history that can be traced back to Neolithic times. Traditionally acupuncture was a spiritual art. The needles were said to create axis points around which the body’s ‘gates to heaven’ could open and close. If this sounds like ‘mumbo jumbo’ there is extensive modern research confirming its benefits.

 Acupuncture and Chinese philosophy

Chinese philosophy says that life is characterised by change and flux; an inability to change is the cause of numerous diseases. An expression of our ability to change is the free flow of vital energy. Acupuncture aims to facilitate free flow by ‘opening the upper orifices’ and helping us to ‘change our mind’.

 What are acupuncture points?

Acupuncture pinpoints sensitive spots where the relationship between the spirit and body can be mediated. These points give root to the spirit, in the body. Oriental medicine states that channels of energy exist in the body through which the vital energy circulates. Acupuncture points often lie along these channels.

How acupuncture diagnosis works
Acupuncture diagnosis is based on observation, questioning and feeling. A key element is an in-depth study of the pulses – their position, depth, rate and above all quality. Palpation of the abdomen and acupuncture points gives important clues as does visual observation of the face, tongue, posture, and general demeanour.

 Is acupuncture safe?

In acupuncture nothing is injected or introduced. In this respect it is extremely safe. Single-use sterilised needles and scrupulous hand cleansing ensure high standards of hygiene and negligible risk of cross-infection.

https://acupuncture.org.uk/news/the-power-of-collaboration/

·         History of Acupuncture in Europe

In about 1680 Ten Rhijne was the first European doctor to describe Acupuncture. He worked for the East India Company and was exposed to acupuncture in Japan.

Acupuncture, as a medical practice, was brought to France by George Soulié de Morant, who was a French diplomat in China between 1901 and 1917. His student Dr. Albert Chamfrault, helped establish the French Association of Acupuncture (Association Francaise d'Acupuncture; AFA) in 1945.

Jesuit missionaries first brought reports of acupuncture to France in the sixteenth century.

Another colourful character in the history of UK Acupuncture was Dr Felix Mann-Heinemann. Felix Mann was a German-born acupuncturist. He devised the system known as Scientific Acupuncture and was the founder and past president of the Medical Acupuncture Society. He was also the first president of the British Medical Acupuncture Society, and the author of the first comprehensive English language acupuncture textbook Acupuncture: The Ancient Chinese Art of Healing first published in 1962. He was 83 when he died in 2014.

Dr Mann was educated at Malvern College, Christ's College, Cambridge and Westminster Hospital

He is best known for his critical examination of traditional acupuncture concepts, particularly the existence of acupuncture points and meridians.

He also played a significant role in the establishment of professional societies focused on acupuncture, including the Medical Acupuncture Society and the British Medical Acupuncture Society

In the foreward of Dr Mann’s ‘Acupuncture The Ancient Chinese Art of Healing’ Aldous Huxley wrote “That a needle stuck into one’s foot should improve the functioning of one’s liver is oviously incredible. It can’t be believed because , in terms of currently accepted (1962) physiological theory ‘it makes no sense’……………..it can’t happen …….The only trouble with this argument is that as amatter of empirical fact it does happen. Inserted at precisely the right point, the needle in the foot regularly affects the function of the liver.”

Guardian Obituary Dick Van Buren.pdf