I'm considering engaging diverse perspectives on healing and wondering if acupuncture is considered effective: in specific areas of the body, and in specific diseases. Or is it a holistic approach to healing the entire body?
Acupuncture as a treatment has been recommended as a useful treatment by the WHO for a wide variety of conditions, have a look at what they recommend it for as a starting point from a western point of view. As a modality it is somewhat practitioner dependent, the practitioner needs to know what they are doing and know what to do for a particular condition and whether it is useful for that condition as another treatment may be better.
It is for specific diagnoses, search for acupuncture and whatever specific diagnosis you want. My research has been with myofascial pain of the masticatory muscles, gagging and burning mouth syndrome. See under my name on this site.
I've been practicing acupuncture for more than 20 years. There is no easy answer to this question. Traditionally, acupuncture is part of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and is a holistic approach. More specifically, acupuncture diagnosis involves identification of patterns, which are individual innate or acquired imbalances among organ systems. Acupuncture treatment, consequently, is a method of restoring that balance. From the western medical standpoint, several mechanisms of acupuncture's efficacy have been discovered. The textbook An Introduction to Western Medical Acupuncture published by Elsevier lists and explains these mechanisms clearly and concisely. The rest can be found in acupuncture research articles. I hope this helps.
There is a significant amount of peer reviewed articles on Western Medical Acupuncture showing a reduction of pain.
- Badges
- Science topic
- Similar topics
- Phytochemistry
- Extracts