What Is Acupuncture?
What Is Acupuncture?
Spa Space, widely known as one of the best spas in Chicago when it comes to both women’s men’s spa services – including great Chicago massages – as well as group spa parties, spa day packages, couples spa day, manicures and pedicures, now also offers acupuncture.
“Contrary to popular Western belief, acupuncture is not just a system for inserting very fine needles into specific body locations to alleviate pain,” says Andrew Weil, M.D., a world-renowned leader and pioneer in the field of integrative medicine. “Acupuncture is a complete medical protocol focused on correcting imbalances of energy in the body. From its inception in China more than 2,500 years ago, acupuncture has been used traditionally to prevent, diagnose and treat disease, as well as to improve general health.”
Acupuncture is based on the traditional concept of qi (pronounced “chee”), an essential life force that circulates through the body. When qi flows freely, the body is healthy. Dis-ease is the result when the flow of qi is impaired. Extremely thin, sterile needles are superficially inserted into the skin at key points, known as acu-points, to stimulate the free flow of qi.
Dr. Weil believes there is more than traditional wisdom behind the effectiveness of acupuncture. “Research published in the May 30, 2010 online edition of Nature Neuroscience demonstrated that the effects of acupuncture needling include influencing the activity of adenosine, an amino acid which becomes active in the skin after an injury to ease pain. This may explain in part why pain relief is often experienced as one of the benefits of acupuncture,” he says on his website. “In fact, much research in the West has focused on this pain-relieving effect, rather than acupuncture’s traditional role of balancing energy to address a wide range of disorders, and the more subtle mechanisms that may be responsible for its overall benefits to health.”
