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Definition
Acupressure is a form of touch therapy that utilizes
the principles of acupuncture and Chinese medicine. In acupressure, the
same points on the body are used as in acupuncture, but are stimulated
with finger pressure instead of with the insertion of needles. Acupressure
is used to relieve a variety of symptoms and pain.
Origins
One of the oldest texts of Chinese medicine is the
Huang Di, The Yellow Emperor's Classic of Internal Medicine, which may be
at least 2,000 years old.
Chinese medicine has developed acupuncture,
acupressure, herbal remedies, diet, exercise, lifestyle changes, and other
remedies as part of its healing methods.
Nearly all of the forms of Oriental medicine
that are used in the West today, including acupuncture, acupressure,
shiatsu, and Chinese herbal medicine, have their roots in Chinese
medicine.
One legend has it that acupuncture and
acupressure evolved as early Chinese healers studied the puncture wounds
of Chinese warriors, noting that certain points on the body created
interesting results when stimulated.
The oldest known text specifically on
acupuncture points, the Systematic Classic of Acupuncture, dates back to
282 A.D.
Acupressure is the non-invasive form of
acupuncture, as Chinese physicians determined that stimulating points on
the body with massage and pressure could be effective for treating certain
problems.
Outside of Asian-American communities,
Chinese medicine remained virtually unknown in the United States until the
1970s, when Richard Nixon became the first U.S. president to visit China.
On Nixon's trip, journalists were amazed to
observe major operations being performed on patients without the use of
anesthetics. Instead, wide-awake patients were being operated on, with
only acupuncture needles inserted into them to control pain.
At that time, a famous columnist for the New
York Times, James Reston, had to undergo surgery and elected to use
acupuncture for anesthesia. Later, he wrote some convincing stories on its
effectiveness.
Despite being neglected by mainstream medicine and the
American Medical Association (AMA), acupuncture and Chinese medicine
became a central to alternative medicine practitioners in the United
States.
Today, there are millions of patients who attest to its
effectiveness, and nearly 9,000 practitioners in all 50 states.
Acupressure is practiced as a treatment by Chinese medicine practitioners
and acupuncturists, as well as by massage therapists. Most massage schools
include acupressure techniques as part of their bodywork programs.
Shiatsu
massage is very closely related to acupressure, working with the same
points on the body and the same general principles, although it was
developed over centuries in Japan rather than in China.
Reflexology is a
form of bodywork based on acupressure concepts.
Jin Shin Do is a bodywork
technique with an increasing number of practitioners in America that
combines acupressure and shiatsu principles with gigong, Reichian theory,
and meditation. Benefits
Acupressure massage performed by a therapist can be
very effective both as prevention and as a treatment for many health
conditions, including headaches, general aches and pains, colds and flu,
arthritis, allergies, asthma, nervous tension, menstrual cramps, sinus
problems, sprains, tennis elbow, and toothaches, among others.
Acupressure
techniques have been used to provide quick and effective relief from many
symptoms. Acupressure points can also be stimulated to increase energy and
feelings of well-being, reduce stress, stimulate the immune system, and
alleviate sexual dysfunction.
Description
Acupressure and Chinese medicine Chinese medicine views the body as a
small part of the universe, subject to laws and principles of harmony and
balance. Chinese medicine does not make as sharp a distinction as Western
medicine does between mind and body.
The Chinese system believes that emotions and mental states are every bit
as influential on disease as purely physical mechanisms, and considers
factors like work, environment, and relationships as fundamental to a
patient's health.
Chinese medicine also uses very different symbols and ideas to discuss the
body and health.
While Western medicine typically describes health as mainly physical
processes composed of chemical equations and reactions, the Chinese use
ideas like yin and yang, chi, and the organ system to describe health and
the body. Everything in the universe has properties of yin and yang.
Yin is associated with cold, female,
passive, downward, inward, dark, wet. Yang can be described as hot,
male, active, upward, outward, light, dry, and so on.
Nothing is either completely yin or yang.
These two principles always interact and affect each other, although the
body and its organs can become imbalanced by having either too much or too
little of either.
Chi (pronounced chee, also spelled qi or ki in
Japanese shiatsu) is the fundamental life energy. It is found in food,
air, water, and sunlight, and it travels through the body in channels
called meridians. There are 12 major meridians in the body that transport
chi, corresponding to the 12 main organs categorized by Chinese medicine.
Disease is viewed as an imbalance of the organs and
chi in the body. Chinese medicine has developed intricate systems of how
organs are related to physical and mental symptoms, and it has devised
corresponding treatments using the meridian and pressure point networks
that are classified and numbered.
The goal of acupressure, and
acupuncture, is to stimulate and unblock the circulation of chi, by
activating very specific points, called pressure points or acupoints.
Acupressure seeks to stimulate the points on the chi meridians that pass
close to the skin, as these are easiest to unblock and manipulate with
finger pressure.
Acupressure can be used as part of a Chinese
physician's prescription, as a session of massage therapy, or as a self-
treatment for common aches and illnesses.
A Chinese medicine practitioner examines a
patient very thoroughly, looking at physical, mental and emotional
activity, taking the pulse usually at the wrists, examining the tongue and
complexion, and observing the patient's demeanor and attitude, to get a
complete diagnosis of which organs and meridian points are out of balance.
When the imbalance is located, the physician
will recommend specific pressure points for acupuncture or
acupressure. If acupressure is recommended, the patient might opt for a
series of treatments from a massage therapist.
In massage therapy, acupressurists will evaluate a
patient's symptoms and overall health, but a massage therapist's
diagnostic training isn't as extensive as a Chinese physician's. In a
massage therapy treatment, a person usually lies down on a table or mat,
with thin clothing on.
The acupressurist will gently feel and palpate the
abdomen and other parts of the body to determine energy imbalances. Then,
the therapist will work with different meridians throughout the body,
depending on which organs are imbalanced in the abdomen.
The therapist
will use different types of finger movements and pressure on different acupoints, depending on whether the chi needs to be increased or dispersed
at different points.
The therapist observes and guides the energy flow
through the patient's body throughout the session. Sometimes, special
herbs (Artemesia vulgaris or moxa) may be placed on a point to warm it, a
process called moxibustion.
A session of acupressure is generally a very
pleasant experience, and some people experience great benefit immediately.
For more chronic conditions, several sessions may be necessary to relieve
and improve conditions.
Acupressure is also very versatile, as it can be done
anywhere. There are three general techniques for stimulating a pressure
point.
Tonifying is meant to strengthen weak chi, and is
done by pressing the thumb or finger into an acupoint with a firm, steady
pressure, holding it for up to two minutes.
Dispersing is meant to move stagnant or
blocked chi, and the finger or thumb is moved in a circular motion or
slightly in and out of the point for two minutes.
Calming the chi in a pressure point utilizes
the palm to cover the point and gently stroke the area for about two
minutes.
Acupressure is a safe technique, but it is
not meant to replace professional health care. A physician should always
be consulted when there are doubts about medical conditions.
If a condition is chronic, a professional
should be consulted; purely symptomatic treatment can exacerbate chronic
conditions. acupressure should not be applied to open wounds, or where
there is swelling and inflammation.
Areas of scar tissue, blisters, boils,
rashes or varicose veins should be avoided. Finally, certain acupressure
points should not be stimulated on people with high or low blood pressure
and on pregnant women.
Research & General Acceptance
In general, Chinese medicine has been slow
to gain acceptance in the West, mainly because it rests on ideas very
foreign to the scientific model.
For instance, Western scientists have
trouble with the idea of chi, the invisible energy of the body, and the
idea that pressing on certain points can alleviate certain conditions
seems sometimes too simple for scientists to believe.
Western scientists, in trying to account for the
action of acupressure, have theorized that chi is actually part of the
neuroendocrine system of the body.
Celebrated orthopedic surgeon Robert O. Becker, who was twice nominated
for the Nobel Prize, wrote a book on the subject called Cross Currents: The Promise of Electromedicine; The
Perils of Electropollution.
By using precise electrical
measuring devices, Becker and his colleagues showed that the body has a
complex web of electromagnetic energy, and that traditional acupressure
meridians and points contained amounts of energy that non-acupressure
points did not.
The mechanisms of acupuncture and acupressure remain difficult to document
in terms of the biochemical processes involved; numerous testimonials are
the primary evidence backing up the effectiveness of acupressure and
acupuncture.
However, a body of research is growing that verifies the
effectiveness in acupressure and acupuncture techniques in treating many
problems and in controlling pain.
Key Terms
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Acupoint
A pressure point stimulated in
acupressure.
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Chi
Basic life energy.
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Meridian
A channel through which chi
travels in the body.
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Moxibustion
An acupuncture technique that burns the herb moxa or mugwort.
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Shiatsu
Japanese form of acupressure massage.
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Yin/Yang
Universal characteristics used to describe
aspects of the natural world.
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