Answering the Question, "Does Acupuncture Really Work?"
Whether or not acupuncture really does work is an age old debate that no one ever seems to win.
Some people swear by the procedure and credit it with improved health.
Others scoff and say that there are no scientific principles which prove that acupuncture can do anything for the human body.
What you choose to believe will depend on your background, your experiences or those of someone close to you, and how much faith you have in alternative forms of medicine.
Due to the fact that this is an ancient Oriental technique that has been practiced for centuries, and that it is now seeing increased popularity in the Western world, a lot of people must truly believe in its healing properties.
It takes a lot of training to become an acupuncturist.
Not just anyone can hang out a shingle and start giving treatments.
Acupuncturists need to have proof of competence by having attended accredited Oriental medicine institutions.
However, as much may depend on what the acupuncture treatment is being used for as who is doing the treatment.
In clinical tests, it has been found that while using it in treating stroke victims showed very little success, acupuncture has also been used to treat addictions with a great amount of success.
Chinese medicine is based on the belief that disease is caused by the body's qi being out of balance.
Qi is supposedly a substance that flows through the body in passages called meridians which branch off and run to the various organs.
Acupuncture, then, along with other Oriental practices, restores the body's yin and yang so that it is in balance again.
Acupunturists believe in this theory through faith.
However, scientifically speaking, there is no proof of anything like this being housed within the human body.
A German study was conducted on 1,100 patients complaining of back pain.
The group was divided into thirds, and each group was treated differently.
The first group received standard medical treatments for back pain, such as anti-inflammatories and heating pads.
The second group was given actual acupuncture treatments.
People in the third group received fake acupuncture treatments and served as a control group.
The results of this study may surprise you.
About 47% of the acupuncture group showed improvement, 44% of the fake acupuncture patients improved, and only 27% of the standard treatment group improved during the 6-month study.
Of course, one study doesn't prove anything, especially to those who base their beliefs on science and logic.
Therefore, it's impossible to answer the question of whether acupuncture really works.
It's all in what each individual believes in.
Some people swear by the procedure and credit it with improved health.
Others scoff and say that there are no scientific principles which prove that acupuncture can do anything for the human body.
What you choose to believe will depend on your background, your experiences or those of someone close to you, and how much faith you have in alternative forms of medicine.
Due to the fact that this is an ancient Oriental technique that has been practiced for centuries, and that it is now seeing increased popularity in the Western world, a lot of people must truly believe in its healing properties.
It takes a lot of training to become an acupuncturist.
Not just anyone can hang out a shingle and start giving treatments.
Acupuncturists need to have proof of competence by having attended accredited Oriental medicine institutions.
However, as much may depend on what the acupuncture treatment is being used for as who is doing the treatment.
In clinical tests, it has been found that while using it in treating stroke victims showed very little success, acupuncture has also been used to treat addictions with a great amount of success.
Chinese medicine is based on the belief that disease is caused by the body's qi being out of balance.
Qi is supposedly a substance that flows through the body in passages called meridians which branch off and run to the various organs.
Acupuncture, then, along with other Oriental practices, restores the body's yin and yang so that it is in balance again.
Acupunturists believe in this theory through faith.
However, scientifically speaking, there is no proof of anything like this being housed within the human body.
A German study was conducted on 1,100 patients complaining of back pain.
The group was divided into thirds, and each group was treated differently.
The first group received standard medical treatments for back pain, such as anti-inflammatories and heating pads.
The second group was given actual acupuncture treatments.
People in the third group received fake acupuncture treatments and served as a control group.
The results of this study may surprise you.
About 47% of the acupuncture group showed improvement, 44% of the fake acupuncture patients improved, and only 27% of the standard treatment group improved during the 6-month study.
Of course, one study doesn't prove anything, especially to those who base their beliefs on science and logic.
Therefore, it's impossible to answer the question of whether acupuncture really works.
It's all in what each individual believes in.