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Acupuncture is gaining traction

Most of us experience periods of ill health during our life. Illness is alas an integral part of life. In this light, how fortunate we are to live in a time and a place where, thanks to the work of today’s and yesterdays physicians, we are only hours away from receiving life-saving medications and operations. The advancements of Western Medicine over the last couple of centuries is very impressive, and has saved a lot of lives.

As good as it is, it could also be said that more people are asking themselves if there is an alternative to visiting the GP for 10 minutes (to be given tablets that may have side-effects? Big Pharma? GP’s under increasing stress?).

In short, over the millennia various medical traditions arose. Two such traditions are Chinese Medicine and Indian Ayurveda. Interestingly they both recognise energy pathways throughout our bodies. In Chinese Medicine they are called ‘meridians‘ and in Ayurveda they are called ‘nadi’.

Today in China, it is common that patients are treated with both Western Medicine as well as Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). They are both held in equal regard. During the cultural revolution Mao ZeDong was keen to root out superstition that he felt held back the country. Acupuncture, a part of what became known as TCM, was in all this recognised as being effective, and therefore ‘kept’. So, is Acupuncture effective? There will always be arguments for and against. In my mind it is unlikely that Acupuncture would have survived for two thousand years had it not had a positive effect.