Arwa Chiropractic
Your Chiropractor In Aurora, IL
4255 Westbrook Drive, Suite #213
CALL: 1-630-499-2583
"Dr. Hameed is truly the best chiropractor I have ever been to. He has great bedside manners and is genuinely interested in helping his patients. I highly recommend him...".
Janice Miller, Ogden IL
It is best to wear loose clothing for your acupuncture sessions, and best not to eat a large meal.
What is Acupuncture?
Acupuncture is the procedure of inserting and manipulating needles into various points on the body to relieve pain or for therapeutic purposes. Acupuncture needles are used in specific acupuncture points which give access to the meridians in the body through which the Qi flows so that adjustments can be made to balance the Yin and Yang thus restoring harmony and health.
Acupuncture is an extremely effective natural method of healing that is very safe and does not have any side effects. There is a powerful energy flowing in the body and circulating in the major organs. The Chinese have used acupuncture for 5,000 years.
We only use very fine needles which are inserted into the acupuncture points connected with those organs. (top)
Acupuncture and Pain Relief
If there is one area that Acupuncture can claim to have an effect it's in pain relief. Although most evidence supporting Acupuncture can be dismissed as anecdotal, trials have been done where acupuncture does show a pain relieving effect above placebo. The effect is not large, of the same magnitude as taking Aspirin or Ibuprofen, but nonetheless it's there and cannot be ignored.
That's not to say that there are not problems with such claims however. Pain is an entirely subjective experience; it cannot be directly measured and the severity felt depends to a large extent on the patient's state of mind which can be influenced by the practitioner giving the treatment. This leads on to the problem of blinding procedures with acupuncture. The practitioner is always aware of whether he's giving real or sham acupuncture and which patients he's giving them to. This can lead to the 'experimenter effect' influencing the outcome of trials.
The pain relief effect does seem to exist; however, it's not clear whether it's a real effect of acupuncture or a strong placebo effect that's induced in the patient by the elaborate procedure of an acupuncture treatment.
The Consultation
Your first session will involve a full consultation to find out about your main concerns, and to assess your overall past health history. Dr. Hameed will work out a treatment plan from this information that is tailored to your individual needs. Information about any medication/supplements you are taking will be useful to us at this stage, as well as any recent test results. After the consultation, there will be time for a short treatment. It is best to wear loose clothing for your Acupuncture sessions, and best not to eat a large meal or drink strong coffee or alcohol just prior to a treatment. (top)
Cupping
Cupping refers to an ancient Chinese practice in which a cup is applied to the skin and the pressure in the cup is reduced (by using change in heat or by suctioning out air), so that the skin and superficial muscle layer is drawn into and held in the cup. In some cases, the cup may be moved while the suction of skin is active, causing a regional pulling of the skin and muscle (the technique is called gliding cupping).
This treatment has some relation to certain massage techniques, such as the rapid skin pinching along the back that is an important aspect of tuina (12). In that practice, the skin is pinched, sometimes at specific points (e.g., bladder meridian points), until a redness is generated. Cupping is applied by acupuncturists to certain acupuncture points, as well as to regions of the body that are affected by pain (where the pain is deeper than the tissues to be pulled). When the cups are moved along the surface of the skin, the treatment is somewhat like guasha (literally, sand scraping), a folk remedy of southeast Asia which is often carried out by scraping the skin with a coin or other object with the intention of breaking up stagnation. Movement of the cups is a gentler technique than guasha, as a lubricant allows the cup to slide without causing as much of the subcutaneous bruising that is an objective of guasha. Still, a certain amount of bruising is expected both from fixed position cupping (especially at the site of the cup rim) and with movement of the cups.
Traditional cupping, with use of heated cups, also has some similarity to moxibustion therapy. Heating of the cups was the method used to obtain suction: the hot air in the cups has a low density and, as the cups cool with the opening sealed by the skin, the pressure within the cups declines, sucking the skin into it. In this case, the cups are hot and have a stimulating effect something like that of burning moxa wool.
In some cases, a small amount of blood letting (luoci; vein pricking) is done first, using a pricking needle, and then the cup is applied over the site. The pricking is usually done with a three-edged needle, applied to a vein, and it typically draws 3–4 drops of blood (sometimes the skin on either side is squeezed to aid release of blood). A standard thick-gauge acupuncture needle or plum blossom needle may be used instead. This technique is said to promote blood circulation, remove stasis, and alleviate swelling and pain. It is employed especially when there is a toxic heat syndrome and for a variety of acute ailments. (top)
