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Q: has anyone tried accupuncture and experienced benefits from it?

I am also wondering if anyone can reccomend a place in wuhan for this?

12 years 3 weeks ago in  Health & Safety - China

 
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I haven't, but my mother gets acupuncture regularly. She has fibromyalgia, and for a while she took pills. When my dad's company switched insurance companies, they wouldn't cover her prescription anymore, so she decided to try something more natural. Now she takes vitamins* and gets acupuncture as well as massage. For her, the acupuncture works. She says that it helps with the pain temporarily. It might not work for everyone, but you can give it a try, or do some research.

*edit

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12 years 3 weeks ago
 
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I used to have back pains often.  I tried accupunture (after many other things).  I was placed face down on a table, bare back, and about 20 needles stuck on different areas of my back, next to spine.  It was requested that I try to sleep for 3 hours (and I did).  Then needles removed, a back massage given, and until today I seldom get any more back pains.  To me, it works.

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12 years 3 weeks ago
 
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I contend that accupuncture played a major role is alleviating my gout pain and would even go as far as to say that it sped up my healing process ten fold. I had serious gout in the past. I couldn't bend my knees or even walk. It's all good now. After one treatment I walked out of the hospital. I kept up the sessions for 3 weeks. I still enjoy my beers but have eliminated beef and seafood. That has helped as well.

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12 years 3 weeks ago
 
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Texascowboy, tha'ts a seriously contentious question! If you've done a search on this forum (which you obviouisly haven't), you'll find a few long (and heated) arguments - both for and against! I won't go over them again...

What I will say is: in most major cities, you should be able to find one of the public hospitals will be a TCM base, offering all sorts of therapies. So, if you want to try it, ask one of the locals about it.

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12 years 3 weeks ago
 
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Oh boy, one of my favorite subjects.

Ok, let's begin with this:  ALL Traditional Chinese "medicine" is based on the belief that there is a magical energy called "Qi" flowing through your system.  Any ailments, diseases, cancers, whatever, is because this magic energy is out of balance.  You see, there are these lines called "meridians" that channel the "qi" through your body. When they get blocked, you get sick or have problems.

With me so far?  Ok the theorectical principle of acupuncture is that it can divert or unblock this flow and restore balance.  Now, there has been exactly ZERO evidence ever found to support the existance of Qi.  Based on what it is supposed to be and what it's supposed to do, we should be able to find some evidence of it - EVEN if we can't physcially find it, because of the way acupuncture and TCM are reputed to work, scientists should be able to throw Qi out of balance ON PURPOSE with predictable results.  They haven't been able to.  Any "imbalance" that has been created following these ideals has been shown to have a perfectly explainable cause without the need of magic energy.  Here's an experiment you can try:  Avoid any food with iodized salt and actively don't eat anything with even trace amounts of iodine in it.  There's an extremely high chance you will get goiter and have a huge swollen throat.  Now before scientific method, sure, I'd bet that a magic river of energy might be to blame, but well, we know better now don't we?

As for acupuncture, the ONLY evidence is based on personal experience.

Here's a quote from the American Journal of Acupuncture: "Thirty years of active acupuncture research have failed to unequivocally demonstrate its clinical efficacy."

That means it has not yet stood the test of any clinical trials.The main retort to this is the "well, it effects every person differently" claim.  Sure, but keep in mind that the entire practice is based on a flow of magic energy. 

Perhaps an effective test has not yet been devised to prove acupuncture's claims, but I feel 100% confident that the idea of "Qi" can be tossed out the window as superstition.  No meridians have ever been found, nor has any evidence of Qi ever been substantiated.

With that in mind, give it a shot.  Maybe it will work for you.  There are people out there that think human hands giving a massage can somehow break down chemical bonds and expel "toxins" from muscle tissue (FYI - they can't, and anytime someone tells you they can, ask them to specifically tell you what "toxins" get released - they'll most likely say "lactic acid" which A.) isn't a toxin and B.) is removed by the blood in your system - increased bloodflow to a region VIA massage will speed up the process, but the massage itself doesn't "remove toxins" - it just feels nice and improves circulation.  Science is neat.)

So try it out, if it works for you, I wish you the best.  I firmly believe the effects are more psychological than physical, as there is little evidence to the contrary, but of course, I am always open to being proven wrong.

Shining_brow:

Why did you have to go there? We've had this out before... did we really need another re-hash??? You'll note I DELIBERATELY stayed away from it..... May I suggest, in the interests of keeping people's sanity, that you delete it? And just leave this subject alone? (as will I)

12 years 3 weeks ago
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MrTibbles:

I will gladly delete it when everyone else that says it works deletes theirs. Texascowboy asked a question, I answered. It's good to hear opposing viewpoints if he's trying to make a decision.

12 years 3 weeks ago
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Shining_brow:

NO!!!! You clearly didn't read their posts! They said "IT WORKS FOR ME!" (or, 'my mum'). By your current logic, anyone who expresses an opinion on liking chocolate must immediately be countered with chocolate is bad because of all the health studies! What's more - NO, YOU DID NOT ANSWER THE QUESTION! The question was "Has anyone tried acupuncture and experienced benefits from it". The above posts DID answer that question... they HAVE tried it, and they HAVE experienced a benefit from it. So, I suggest you either delete it, and let's just have that other thread remain as the ONE place of debate on the subject... OR you modify your post to explain your PERSONAL experience with acupuncture... Isn't that... you know... 'fair'??

12 years 3 weeks ago
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MrTibbles:

Here, maybe this will help:  I have tried acupuncture and it did ABSOLUTELY NOTHING for my lower back pain.  Is that better?  Amazingly, my lower back pain was caused by a real medical problem in the form of a kidney stone.  I had it removed and voila, no more back pain.  There was no magic energy that needed to be diverted.  I would say sorry for posting actual information that is not based on iron age superstition, but I'm NOT.  Demanding that I delete a post because it conflicts with your personal belief in magic and UNPROVEN HOKUM is ridiculous and childish.

12 years 2 weeks ago
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Shining_brow:

I'm not asking you to delete your post because of my personal opinion... I'm doing it out of RESPECT to the forum community! AND to the OP... There is a time and place for certain battles... each and every time the subject comes up is NOT it... I'm not on a crusade to convince everybody of their stupidity, IN EACH AND EVERY SINGLE thread of it's kind. We've had a debate on whether it works or not (which, btw, you ended in NOT responding to in the end), but THIS post is NOT about "does it work" - it's about "What happened with you? And where can I get some?" You'll notice that I haven't expressed an opinion on the subject... the others all gave their personal experiences.. that actually answered the question!. You're " I tried in on my back, it did nothing" answered the question.... cool! Are you suggesting that any thread about religion, I should get on my high-horse and go on a rant about god not existing?? "Hey, everyone, is there a temple in XYZ I can visit to get some peace, and do some prayers?" "Don't be foolish, religion is bunk! You don't need temples, and gods don't exist, why don't you listen to the scientists who have never (and will never) be able to prove such an existence???" I AM suggesting, if you want to debate the pros and cons, great - let's have a dedicated thread to it... (yeah, I love a good debate... I don't like beating dead horses). But let's NOT attack every inquisitive person who asks... Is that ok???

12 years 2 weeks ago
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12 years 3 weeks ago
 
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Mr Tibbles is gonna kick my butt, but I plan on trying it while I'm there for my shoulder pain. It can't hurt, right? I've heard the good and bad, the un-scientific bits, those who swear by it. We'll see. If it works, maybe I'll stay Wink lol

Shining_brow:

May I ask about your shoulder?? Here or in PM??

12 years 3 weeks ago
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12 years 3 weeks ago
 
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Hey, no butt kicking here!

If you try it, and it does something for you, great.  Prayer works for some people, so maybe try that as well.

One time, I knew a guy going in for an AIDS test and he wished upon a star that he didn't have AIDS and his test came back negative!  So that obviously works too because I saw that with my own eyes!

Here's my issue with TCM and acupuncture:  Results cannot be proven.  If you take one hundred people with the exact same symptoms and perform the exact same procedure, it should statistically generate results like this:  Didn't work - worked slightly - general improvement - marked improvement - vast improvement.  The results, if favorable, should look like a bell curve as it does for anything from pennicillin to cancer surgery.  This does not happen with TCM findings.  Most Chinese studies done discard any results that are not favorable, so their results are bogus at best.

If you insert a needle somewhere, according to iron age charts, it should provide a specific effect.  In blind studies, let's say for back pain, people have gone in and had needles inserted at various different locations, sometimes NOT where it's supposed to help.  The results?  47% positive.  A study that used fake needles that didn't even puncture the skin provided these results:  47% positive.

That's not even half the participants.  In a clinical trial, 47% is a FAIL.  Not to mention that the same percentage "received benefits" from either NOT doing the procedure (fake needles) or putting the needles in the "wrong places".

So, it "works" for some people but it is apparent that the reason it works is because people BELIEVE if works.  That's called the Placebo effect.

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12 years 2 weeks ago
 
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