Acupuncture is a discipline that is based on cutaneous stimulation with needles and heat according to the physiological and energetic parameters of traditional Chinese medicine which also identify energy channels in the body together with physical ones. Let's find out better.
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What is acupuncture
Acupuncture is an ancient therapeutic path belonging to the body of traditional Chinese medicine. The discipline provides for the insertion of some needles in specific points of the human body. The state of illness is often associated with poor circulation of the qi, with consequent accumulation or lack of energy between the parts of the body. Inoculating thin needles along the meridian axis, acupuncture acts on the individual's energy balance, guaranteeing a state of well-being.
The method of treating acupuncture has very ancient origins, dating back more than ten thousand years. It was under the Ming dynasty that acupuncture reached its period of splendor. Then exported by the Jesuits in the 1600s and spread thanks to the work of G. Sulier de Morant, a French diplomat. Mao Tse Tung who formalized acupuncture, allowing the use of this methodology in the hospital.
Since the 1950s, scientific research on acupuncture has also begun, aimed at connecting the practice to modern references such as cells, biochemistry and related structures.
Even in Western countries, acupuncture is beginning to be considered a respectable and undoubtedly effective methodology.
Benefits and contraindications of acupuncture
Cutaneous stimulation through needles and heat is an effective remedy against multiple disorders: insomnia, headaches, acne, psoriasis, stress, depression and infertility.
Recently, acupuncture allows important successes in the fight against addictions . More and more people are turning to acupuncture to quit smoking or to control nervous hunger during the diet. Indeed, by stimulating a precise point, the specialist's needle nullifies the uncontrollable desire that leads those who are trying to resist the need to smoke or to eat compulsively into temptation.
However, acupuncture has important contraindications if it is not performed according to the parameters. Failure to sterilize the needles used during a session can lead to very serious infections and diseases, such as hepatitis. Hygiene is essential. Very rarely does it happen that a professional uses needles incorrectly, causing perforations of some fabrics and other problems. It is always good to make sure of the professional level of the therapist.
For those who are useful
An acupuncture treatment is particularly useful for those who have to take many drugs at the same time or who have difficulty taking the drugs that could solve their problem. This category also includes pregnant women, a period in which it is generally advised against the use of medicines, and subjects suffering from chronic pathologies, as prolonged use of anti-inflammatories is contraindicated.
Acupuncture facilitates the natural metabolic process and restores it in the event of alterations; for this reason it has excellent results in the sports and athletic sector. The needle is also indicated for anxious subjects, who are thus able to free the heart from the cage of oppression: this is in fact the peculiar vision of anxiety in Traditional Chinese Medicine.
The successes of acupuncture in the field of weight loss and in the fight against smoking have considerably widened the field of users.
Discover also acupressure, acupuncture without needles
The law in Italy and abroad
The regulation for those who want to become acupuncturists, licenses and education vary according to the country. In Italy, only doctors and veterinary graduates can practice acupuncture; it is in effect a specialization.
Whoever practices it without this requirement commits an illegal act, punishable by law (sentence of the Court of Cassation, 1982). Anyone who has been trained abroad in medicine must take the state exam in Italy to practice acupuncture. This does not mean that even the doctor must follow a precise training, as he cannot improvise acupuncturist.
The World Federation Acupuncture Society (WFAS) brings together over 80 associations from 42 countries. In 1976, the World Health Organization gave full recognition to the International Acupuncture Training Centers. These are found only in Shanghai, Nanjing, Beijing and Korea. Recently, European Advanced Training Courses in acupuncture-moxibustion have been recognized in France, England, Holland, Belgium and Italy. In our country these are promoted by the AIAM (Italian Association of Acupuncture-Moxibustion and Traditional Chinese Medicine) and by the Paracelsus Institute which has offices in Venice, Rome and Palermo. However, confusion persists in acupuncture legislation, despite numerous acupuncture courses in the area.
Curiosity about acupuncture
According to data reported online by the Italian Acupuncture Association, there are about 6 million Italians who every year resort to needles for a variety of reasons and, according to data emerging from a recent meeting sponsored by the Italian Society of Pharmacognosy (Siphar), would be about 12 thousand acupuncturists, a number that puts Italy in third place after China and Japan.
