The Practice : Other Therapies

 

Cupping

Cupping therapy is a form of traditional Chinese medicine. This type of therapy uses glass cups applied to the skin to help relieve pain, flush out toxins, and restore healthy blood flow to the body. Using heat or a suction pump, a vacuum is created inside of each glass cup. These cups are then placed on various acupuncture points throughout the body. They can be left on particular points or moved across the skin after massage oil has been applied.

Cupping has been found to affect the body to a depth of four inches into the tissues, causing:

Moxibustion

Moxibustion is a technique used in traditional Chinese medicine in which a stick or cone of burning mugwort, Artemesia vulgaris, is placed over or on an area of the body. The purpose of moxibustion is to stimulate and strengthen the blood and the life energy, or qi, of the body. There are three methods of moxibustion.

Indirect – A stick of moxa is lit and burned above an acupuncture point to warm and stimulate the point.

Warming needle – Loose moxa is placed on an acupuncture needle and burned sending therapeutic heat along the needle to the acupuncture point.

Direct – A cone or small rice grain amount of moxa is lit on the skin and removed just as the heat is felt on the skin.

It is an interesting fact that moxibustion has several effective applications for gynecological health. It may reduce menstrual cramps and associated muscular backaches and is known to have a high success rate in the correction of breech presentation. The Journal of the American Medical Association published a study in 1998, which found that 75% of woman with breech presentation experienced a successful correction of the position of the fetus before childbirth after receiving a specific moxibustion treatment. A Japanese study published in the American Journal of Chinese Medicine in 2000 confirmed that moxibustion stimulation of acupuncture points is effective in correcting breech positioning.

In the hands of a trained and licensed acupuncturist, moxibustion is a safe and extremely effective therapy. Most people experience a warm and relaxing sensation with this therapy. Moxibustion on acupuncture points and meridians is frequently done with acupuncture treatments to treat many types of ailments.

 

Acutonics

Acutonics© is a needle-less and non-invasive treatment similar to acupuncture. Precision-calibrated tuning forks are placed on acupuncture and trigger points of the body to access both the Meridian and Chakra energy systems. Specific harmonic intervals are created when pairs of these forks are struck. When applied on or over points on the body, we are able to open, move, stimulate or release energy. The sound waves of the vibrating forks travel deeply into the body along energy pathways, deeply accessing and balancing the body's physical and subtle energy field to promote healing and inner harmony.

Acutonics© works similarly to acupuncture and can be used to treat many of the same conditions. Like acupuncture, the primary benefit is a balancing of energy. The tuning forks can be used by themselves or in combination with needles to address specific concerns. For those individuals who are needle sensitive, Acutonics© allows for the benefits of acupuncture without penetrating the skin.