acupuncture

[Aces McGee]

My mother has been trying to get me to do this for years for my ulcerative colitis. As a gift this Hanukah/Christmas, my uncle bought me a treatment with his acupuncturist, a highly-regarded Chinese woman who has her M.D. from Johns Hopkins.

The first thing she did was measure something she called my "meridian." It's kind of hard to explain. She had me hold a light, hollow metal cylinder in one hand. To my other hand, she pressed a device very similar to a ballpoint pen with a retractable tip -- ten times on each hand: twice on each finger, on either side of the base of nail. Then, I swiitched hands. She did the same thing to my feet (I held the cylinder in my hand while she pressed the device -- which was hooked up to some sort of computer -- to my toes).

The she had my lay on back, stuck needs in my arms, feet, and stomach, and had me picture yellow and green items while listening to some very relaxing music. After probably half an hour, she pulled the needles out, measured my meridian again, and showed me on the computer screen how I now had fewer toxins in my body than when I came in.

I'm not sure about the toxins, but I can say that I could definitely feel *something* happening. I don't really believe in chi and all that stuff, but I can't deny that the acupuncture had some effect on me.

I'm not I'll go back -- she wants to see me 10 times in the next three years to cure me -- for a variety of reasons. Because my ulcerative colitis is not always active (I have gone as long as two years without medication and not had any problems), it'll be very hard to tell if the treatment is working.

The homeopathic stuff made me very skeptical. I watched her prescripe some supplement to my uncle, and to determine the dosage, she had him sit in a chair with the pills in his hand, and repeat the suggested dosage while she dangled a stone attached to a ribbon just above the pills.

-McGee

[cardsharkk04]

My uncle has had a couple knee surgeries to try to take away the pain in his knee and they have never helped. So he tried acupuncture and he said it helped way more than any surgery.

[Skooch]

Studies have found a measurable effect on a number of ailments through the use of acupuncture. I would do research into what exactly you are hoping to use it for as well as trying to find a reputable practicioner. I have found with things of this sort that there is a fairly large variance in the quality of care.

[dylan's alias]

There was a recent study which looked at acupuncture for pain control. Patients were divided into three groups. One group got "real" acupunture, one group got no treatment and the others got "sham" acupucture where the needles were inserted but not in the proper places.

The results were interesting. Acupuncture was superior to no treatment. However, there was no difference between "real" acupuncture and just having needles randomly placed.

This could mean that there is a placebo effect to being stuck with needles or that there is a real effect to being stuck with needles. Either way it doesn't make acupuncturists look like there is any training or skill involved.

[Blarg]

Acupuncture can take quite a bit of training. That doesn't mean that what they're learning is worth anything.

[Skipbidder]

[ QUOTE ]
Studies have found a measurable effect on a number of ailments through the use of acupuncture.

[/ QUOTE ]

The studies on acupuncture vary widely in quality. They mostly range from extremely bad to sort of bad. The tendency is that the better the study is, the worse the result tend to be for acupuncture.

A new drug would not get marketing approval if it had the body of evidence that acupuncture has.

[Skipbidder]

[ QUOTE ]
Homeopathy is horrifyingly stupid...
Acupuncture I have an open mind about.

[/ QUOTE ]

The theory behind acupuncture is not much less silly than that behind homeopathy. Magical forces that have never been able to be measured travel in the human body along pathways that cannot be seen any living or dead specimens even with modern imaging modalities.

[Blarg]

I still remember 60 minutes' report showing patients getting surgery while under the anesthesia of acupuncture. This was widely accepted at the time and wound up being instrumental in getting acupuncture much more credit around the world and even in the American medical community. To the extent that, say, insurance companies will sometimes pay for acupuncture treatments and they can be included as treatments defendants must pay for in lawsuits. The same hasn't happened with, say, astrology, or, as far as I know, homeopathy. At least according to the treatment recommendations I've read.

Now a rebuttal of sorts has come down that people who undergo surgery with only acupuncture to block the pain simply have higher pain tolerances than usual. This strikes me as at least as unbelievable as that acunpuncture sometimes works.

The reason I keep an open mind is that some of acupuncture's claims seem more legit than others. Unfortunately, it also gets combined in practice with everything from sexual massage parlors to stuff like homeopathy and whatever else the market of suckers will bear. Because it veers pretty solidly over into the realm of the spooky and potentially into hogwash, it seems to accrete weirdness to it like a snowball picking up trash going downhill. So I don't automatically figure everything in acupuncture is worthwhile or that all the baloney that shady practicioners pull in on top of it is worthwhile either. But I am interested in the things that might work. If there's a less than spooky explanation for any of it, I'd prefer it to any mumbo-jumbo. But things like blocking nerve impulses -- perhaps there is something to that. I know I couldn't skip anesthesia while surgeons rooted around in my guts, and find it hard to believe virtually anyone else on the planet could either.

[george w]

my gf is going to school for acupuncture. not sure how real it is but i do know that they heal people.

[tdarko]

oddjob,

I have an extremely open mind when it comes to this stuff. I have used traditional Chinese medicine in the past and a lot in my life and I was actually seeing an herbalist for awhile b/c of some chronic injuries. He alleviated my pain.

Last summer I hurt my back pretty badly. I use a chiropractor and believe in this as well (that is for another thread) but I wanted to do more to speed up my recovery process b/c it was needed. I decided to try acupuncture. I ended up going twice and realized that it just wasn't for me. My result was that it didn't do anything.

Also, Blarg is right, homeopathy is nuts!