Areas of Practice

Bronze sculpture showing acupuncture points.

Acupuncture

Acupuncture comes in many styles and in many languages, from poetic to scientific, the underlying healing has remained the same. Click here for an excellent overview of the evidence for 117 conditions the WHO recommends for acupuncture. Acupuncture is often divided in to Wai Ke/ External Medicine and Nei Ke/ Internal Medicine.

External Medicine

Illustration of a human back showing muscle anatomy with myofascial trigger points suitable for dry needing or trigger point acupuncture.

External medicine or physical medicine concern the somatic body of muscles, joints, tendons and ligaments. Acupuncture increases circulation, relieves pain and decreases inflammation which can applied to any tendon, joint or ligament.

Acupuncture treats pain and restricted ROM by eliminating trigger points, also called “dry needling.” Needling the tightest place in a tight muscle will un-spasm and return to full resting length.

Tight muscles can also be a symptom of overall stress activation in the body-mind. Acupuncture also uses points well away from the target muscles to loosen and create flow through blocked areas.

Diagram showing the neural pathways of acupuncture, highlighting acupoints on the human body and their connections to the brain, spinal cord, and organs, including the heart, stomach, intestines, bladder, and various parts of the spine.

Internal Medicine

Any tissue or organ that is influenced by the nervous system can be affected by acupuncture. The overall effect of acupuncture is to restore tone to the parasympathetic “rest, digest, repair” portion of the nervous system.

Stress keeps out body’s blood flow in the skeletal muscles to fight or run away while acupuncture aids in the recovery from sudden and chronic stressors and returns blood to nourish organs function.