The Needle Treatment

The Needle Treatment

Acupuncture is an ancient Chinese method of "encouraging the body to promote natural healing and improve bodily function" (1) that dates back as far as 4,700 years ago. Now for the past 25 years it has appeared in the U.S. as a popular form of alternative medicine, and it is "a licensed and regulated HealthCare profession in about half the states in the U.S." (3). It is most often called upon for problems such as lower back pain, migraines, arthritis, and additional non-fatal aches and pains. Some people say it works, others are still skeptical. Since this method does not seem to be based on "actual science", is it merely a placebo effect? Can a medical practice dated nearly five millenniums ago still prove to be valid?

When acupuncture was created, some of the medical concepts it employed were relatively new; there were not many falsified stories for it to build off from. In fact, "acupuncture is said to have been theorized... by Shen Nung, the father of Chinese medicine, who also documented his theories on the heart, circulation, and pulse over 400 years before Europeans had any concept about them" (1). Since then, Europeans and Asians alike have encountered centuries of medical dilemmas and successes. Over time, hypotheses emerge and are either disproved or continue to live on as part of scientific discourse and medical practice. For this reason, most old-fashioned treatments no longer hold true when compared to methods cultivated within the great wealth of knowledge attributed to medicine today – not because we are smarter now or are more civilized, but because the field of medicine has accumulated so much more experience and has improved methods to be "less wrong" countless times. So, why has acup...

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...l position in the womb" (4). Altogether, acupuncture has withstood the test of time; not necessarily the test of criticism. The procedure seems to work sometimes, and so it has not been falsified. It seems very beautiful, ancient and creative, and so it is left alone as a non-conventional medical alternative. But there should be more studies done on the subject, especially to prevent people from depending on it because of a desire to be all-natural. This is not reason enough to abandon centuries of experience and of scientists getting it "less wrong". Acupuncture is a possible treatment – but not a perfect one.

Internet Sources:

1) http://www.cdc-cdh.edu/hospital/cardio/art16.html

2) http://www.acupuncture.edu/laymans/index.htm

3) http://healthlink.mcw.edu/article/991233942.html

4) http://www.tamu.edu/univrel/aggiedaily/news/stories/00/112900-3.html