Research is an important area of study for the profession, to try and measure the effectiveness of treatment for various conditions as well as in attempting to see exactly how acupuncture works in terms of the physiology of the body.
Research on the effectiveness of acupuncture for pregnant women
Speakers include Sarah Budd who will be presenting research on the use of acupuncture in pregnancy. Acupuncture is frequently used to help relieve morning sickness. It is also a good treatment option for women who are suffering from back pain or pain around the front of the hip as pregnant women are often keen to avoid taking too much medication. Acupuncture treatment is often used to turn breech babies. In these treatments the practitioner gently warms an acupuncture point at the end of the little toe (Bladder 67) with a moxa stick. Moxa is a herb which is frequently used in acupuncture to help warm areas of the body.
Acupuncture helps trigger labour
Acupuncture is also frequently to help trigger labour and to help women give birth naturally. Pre-birth acupuncture treatments also help promote calmness and releive stress anxiety as the due date approaches.
British Acupuncture Council’s Acupuncture Awareness week
The British Acupuncture Council is also promoting an ‘acupuncture awareness week’ from the 27th of February to the 2nd of March to help answer faq’s on acupuncture. For example surveys show that people believe accupuncture needles to be the thickness of a hyperdermic needles when in fact the needles used are between 0.18 0.25 of a millimetre thick. If you have any questions about acupuncture you can phone Mark on 07798 622 788 or email him at markbutterworth@blueyonder.co.uk or arrange a free 20 minute face to face chat either at Burlington Court, New Street, Birmingham or Harborne, Birmingham.
The British Acupuncture Council is the body that regulates acupuncture in the UK. Mark Butterworth is a British Acupuncture Council registered practitioner who has used acupuncture for fertility and acupuncture for pregnancy related conditions as well as for other condition since 2003. For more information visit the homepage
Recent research from Japan shows that needling one of the acupuncture points Du 20 – Ba Hui (which is often translated into English as ‘One Hundred Meetings’), increases blood flow to the brain via the middle and anterior cerebral arteries (see link http://www.jcm.co.uk/research-archive/article/needling-du-20-increases-cerebral-blood-flow-1837/ ). This is of particular interest to acupuncturists as one of the actions of Du 20 according to acupuncture theory, is to help raise the qi of the body.
In acupuncture theory we understand that the qi (sometimes translated as the vital force of the body) travels with the blood. The relationship between qi and blood is inseparable, and blood can be regarded as a dense form of qi. “When qi moves, blood moves” – this quote from the acupuncture classical text the Su Wen describes how the qi makes the blood circulate efficiently.
Needling Du 20 increases blood flow to the brain
Therefore needling Du 20, the highest of the acupuncture points on the body and thus activating the qi at the top of the head where the point is found (see point location video) increases the blood flow to the brain. Acupuncturists often use this point alone, or in combination with other acupuncture points, to help raise the qi in the body – for example Du 20 is frequently used as a point in pregnancy if there is a threat of miscarriage (often in conjunction with Kidney 9 which helps prevent uterine cramping).
Many people will be familiar with Du 20 ‘Ba Hui’ through the practice of martial arts such as qigong, taichi or karate katas such as sanchin. Practitioners of these techniques imagine a silk thread pulling from the sky to Du 20, and then the down the through the spine to Ren 1 which ensures a good posture with a nice straight back. When this posture is aligned with breathing techniques it activates the circulation of qi between the ren and du channels increasing the martial artists’ power. The du meridian runs from the tip of the coccyx, up the spine to Du 20 at the top of the head and then over the midline of the head down the forehead and nose and ending on the gums in between the two front teeth. Acupuncture points all along this meridian are frequently needled for a variety of conditions.
Du is often translated as the ‘Governor Vessel’ and it is one of the 8 extraordinary meridians, the most basic channels of qi in the body (for a good explanation of these see John E. Pirog ‘The Practical Application of Meridian Style Acupuncture’). The Du meridian controls the yang forces of the body which in Chinese medical theory relate to consciousness and the senses. Points on the Du meridian are therefore often used in the treatment of headaches, dizziness and visual disorders as well as in helping to ‘lift the spirits’.
A report in the December issue of Anesthesia and Analgesia shows acupuncture provides greater relief than either medication or placebo. Dr. Tong J. Gan, the author of the studied commented that “People who get acupuncture prefer it to medication, because of the potential side effects of drugs.” For a fuller review of the article with references please follow the link -http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/16/health/research/16regi.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss
