Alternative Medicine Guide

Have you ever taken a look outside your window and noticed the busy, rushed world we all live in this day? Vehicles stream by, people hurry to offices where tensions pile up, and then those same individuals rush back home to a second shift of getting supper to the table and taking care of children. There is very little that is relaxing about our lives, and sore, aching muscles or a feeling of exhaustion are common complaints. The immune system suffers from a pressurized world where there is no time to rest.

There are a lot of side effects from over-the-counter and prescription medication intended to help us feel superior when our immune systems become overloaded.  Cold medicines can leave people drowsy and slow, hurting production and making them want to return to bed, and yet many people can’t afford to take the days off work.  Some other medications, such as anti-depressants, make people feel as if their senses are numbed.  No one should feel as if they have to live with the side effects of pills and drugs, when there’s a superior alternative.

Wouldn’t it be good to feel better, have more energy, get rid of those muscle aches and pains, and even have migraines ease up or go away totally?  Is it worth a shot?  What if this substitute came with very little risk of side effect?  It sounds pretty appealing, and it might be surprising to learn that this procedure is acupuncture.

Acupuncture might seem like the current rage in substitute medicine, but it has been around for thousands of years.  Acupuncture’s roots can be traced back to the Taoist tradition.  Practitioners of acupuncture, before it was called so, would meditate on how man and the world’s energy merged with each other.  The flow of nature was within the human body and governed by a life force or energy called Qi (pronounced chee).  Within the body, as in nature, there were lines that energy ran down.  These lines are called meridians, and there are fourteen meridians within the human body.  From these fourteen meridians, there are thousands of points that grant the blocked energy (from bodily injury, stress, or a poorly cared-for self) to be corrected.

The acupuncturist, after an initial physical and questioning the patient about his or her past medical history, will locate the damaged or blocked area and begin work.  Thin, solid needles are inserted into the skin.  It is virtually painless.  The needles are then manipulated by the hand or electrical stimulation.  The acupuncturist then leaves the patient to rest and rest before coming back in to remove the needles.

While acupuncture is a great substitute to traditional medicine, it should not be expected to be an instant miracle cure.  Some patients do report a noticeable difference within one visit, but more often, it takes many visits to see great improvement.  Another great bonus is that more and more insurance plans are covering CAM, or Complimentary Substitute Medicine, thus allowing individuals the opportunity to try something different.  With little side effect, acupuncture is certainly worth trying.  Just think - no more medicine head and no worrying about falling asleep at work from the effects of cold medicine or drugs.  It is definitely worth a shot.

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