CNN Acupunture article - My Comments

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Just some observations.

Selections from the article:

" Acupuncture is a useful, cost-effective treatment for patients who

suffer from chronic headaches or migraine, researchers said on

Monday.

People using acupuncture had fewer headaches, less severe headaches

and they used less health resources over the course of the following

year, "

Initially there was not much difference between the two groups but

at the end of the year-long trial the scientist noticed a big change.

For severely affected patients, acupuncture reduced the severity and

the frequency of their headaches to make a real difference in their

lives,

Acupuncture was first used in China about 2,000 years ago, according

to Vickers. It involves inserting very fine needles into the skin at

specific points in the body. It is one of the most popular forms of

alternative medicine and has been shown to relieve nausea and pain. "

My comments.

There has probably been more research on using acupuncture and/or

acupressure for pain management than any other use of them. Every

study I have seen so far has had the same result - they work.

I can personally attest to the comments about the reduction in

severity and frequency, as well as the " not much difference

initially " but a big difference after a year. When I first started

doing acupressure to treat my own headaches about 20 months ago, it

took about a month before I noticed a significant change (other than

being able to stop the headaches when they happened fairly soon into

it). Simply put, I don't get headaches anymore. And I have taken

exactly ZERO meds for them in 20 months.

The study talks about acupuncture, but you can get the same results

using acupressure. The nice things about acupressure are that (1)

no needles are involved, (2) since there are no needles, you do not

have to be heavily trained and licensed to do it, (3) since there

are no needles involved, you can do it on yourself.

As for being used for 2000 years, that is true for acupuncture but

not for acupressure. Acupressure actually predates acupuncture by

several thousand years. That is not a typo. The texts on it go

back for at least 5000 years. There is also a fascinating bit of

trivia (at least I find it fascinating) about the Ice Man that was

found in the Alps a few years ago. The Ice Man mummy has been

conclusively carbon-dated to around 5,000 years old. Seems that he

has some tattoos (pay attention all of you Buffalo bound tattoo

fiends) on his low back. These were just assumed to be some kind of

tribal markings until someone trained in acupuncture was watching a

TV special and noticed them. It seems they are the markings that

indicate degenerative lumbar disk problems, along with the specific

needle points for treatment. The disk problems have been confirmed

by cat-scan. The most recent Discovery Channel program I watched on

the Ice Man even commented about this tattoo discovery. They did

not, however, ask any questions about the significance or

implications of CHINESE MEDICINE tattoos being found on a 5,000 year

old mummy in the SWISS ALPS. Sure raises a few questions in my mind…