Q. Do acupuncture needles hurt?
Rather than pain, patients may feel a prickly feeling when the needles are applied. It is important to keep in mind that acupuncture needles are much thinner than injection needles; in fact, their thickness is that of a human hair.
Moreover, there are five kinds of needles, and your practitioner can choose the thickness that makes you most comfortable.
Q. Why are needles beneficial?
Oriental medicine takes a holistic approach towards health, and emphasizes ways to preserve and enhance the vitality of the body. Regardless of whether an affliction is caused by external or internal factors, the body sometimes is able to regenerate on its own. However, there are times when afflictions overwhelm the body's capabilities, and no matter how much rest a person takes, the body cannot cope.
Under those circumstances, acupuncture therapy can strengthen the body's abilities to recover, sometimes in as little as one day. Acupuncture therapy helps with improving blood circulation, regulating hormones that are dragging the body down, strengthening the immune system, and generally speaking, making the body less likely to fall sick.
When treating symptoms such as lower back pain or stiff shoulders, acupuncture stimulates the production of endorphins, which is the body's natural way of dealing with pain. At the same time, acupuncture improves blood circulation, helps rid muscles from uric acid and other impurities that accumulate due to fatigue, and gets rid of pain and stiffness.
Q. How many treatments do I require, and how often?
Treatment needs vary with each individual, but we have had to advise most of our patients to come back three to five times after the first session. We also recommend receiving regular acupuncture treatments as a preventive health care strategy even after symptoms have been relieved.
Q. Is moxibustion really hot?
To a certain extent, of course it feels hot, but it is thanks to the body's reaction to heat that pain and stiffness goes away. Many of our customers have become fans of the comfort and nice feeling that comes from the warmth of moxibustion. At Egbok, we apply moxibustion in a way that does not leave traces or marks behind, so you can feel confident about giving it a try.
Acupuncture treatment
These days acupuncture has become more prominent in Western countries, such as France or the United States, than Japan. Acupuncture dates back to more than 4,000 years ago, and it is a type of Oriental medicine that does not rely on drugs. Instead, it uses needles to strengthen the body's ability to heal itself. Acupuncture has received widespread attention because it can deal with afflictions that Western-style medicine has been unable to cure. The body is capable of restoring health and keeping well. However, factors such as stress, emotional overload, overwork, or others, may hamper the body's ability to restore and preserve its health. Acupuncture works to strengthen that ability.
Acupuncture can also be used to protect the body from other kinds of threats. For example, acupuncturists in the United States have had positive results treating alcoholism and problems related to aging.
These are millennial techniques, and we encourage you to give acupuncture a try.
Moxibustion treatment
Moxibustion has a long history, and one can find references hundreds of years back in Japanese history.
The famous poet from the Edo period, Matsuo Basho, tells the story of a traveler who had his knees treated with three moxibustion applications, and was able to travel throughout Japan without any marks left behind.
Likewise, another story tells of a mother whose baby wouldn't turn and was about to be born feet-first.
With three moxibustion applications to a special place in the mother's feet, the baby turned and the delivery went ahead without complications. This technique is still available today. Times have changed, but this technique continues to improve and to deliver results in treating various kinds of symptoms.
Acupunctural indication
Lower back pain, stiff shoulders, neck pain, nerve pain
Due to everyday fatigue, our muscles produce lactic acid. If the circulatory system is not working properly, this byproduct and other substances start accumulating. Once they accumulate past a certain point, they stiffen up the muscle and it becomes painful. Acupuncture promotes the circulatory system to the area to remove the byproducts, and eliminates stiffness and pain.
Menstrual pain, sensitivity to cold, infertility, and other female symptoms
We see these symptoms fairly often. One of the advantages of acupuncture is that it stimulates the flow of ki, or the body's energy. The increased blood flow reaches to the body's extremities, restoring balance and warmth.
We also get good results treating PMS and menstrual cramps when done one week prior to menstruation
Stress, back tension, stomach pain, insomnia, anxiety, etc.
Our backs are linked with our internal organs. If the stomach is upset, the back responds and becomes tense.
Acupuncture deals with this problem by treating the stomach via the nervous system. Once balance has been restored to the stomach, the back also feels refreshed and invigorated.
Bruises, sprains, motor difficulties, age-related stiffness
Acupuncture can help shorten recovery times and rehabilitation, whether it be ligaments, tendons, joints, etc.
Furthermore, regular acupuncture sessions can keep muscles, joints and tendons soft, and thereby prevent future injuries.
Post-operative acupuncture
Acupuncture can shorten recovery times from bigger interventions, such as surgery that treats injuries from chronic overwork, lower back pain, stiff shoulders and general complications. The technique, called menken, calms and soothes patients. The body may feel sluggish, feverish and restless for a day or two, but after that it will reemerge, invigorated, light and full of energy.
Menken is used when a particular condition worsens and requires more aggressive treatment, and acupuncture is applied during the period of convalescence to assist with recovery. This technique was already described in old texts, where acupuncture is provided together with drugs to cure an ailment.