Acupuncture's Role in Health
Recently there has been a lot of press and information about acupuncture as a method to help in the healing of health problems. While most patients have some idea what acupuncture involves there is ambiguity as to acupuncture's role as a healing method in the 21st century, what conditions it treats and if it really works. Dr. Rodriguez views acupuncture as one of many complementary therapies that can be used to augment ones health. He uses the word "complementary" and not "alternative" because acupuncture is one of many "tools" that can be used to complement one another in helping a patient heal and re-discover health. With certain catastrophic illnesses there is no "alternative" to western medical care. If you are in a major car accident you need the services of a trauma surgeon to save your life. That is not to say you couldn't survive but your chance of survival increases substantially by utilizing western care. While western medicine is very effective at intervening in catastrophic illnesses it frequently falls short in chronic debilitating illnesses. Immediately after a major insult, acupuncture and other therapies can be used to serve as a complement to the western therapy. After a patient has "healed" by western standards at times there are lingering effects that acupuncture can help the body to overcome or optimize the final outcome. The body's ability to heal is truly miraculous and acupuncture stimulates that intrinsic healing process. Sometimes a disease progresses beyond the body's ability to recover without western therapies. Acupuncture can once again complement western therapies in these instances helping the body to recover and heal.
In addition there are many illnesses that acupuncture serves as a stand alone pathway to improvement and even resolution. Anxiety, stress, insomnia, acid reflux, irritable bowel, structural and non-structural back, neck or extremity pain, headaches, and many illnesses that have no explanation in the western model are well treated with acupuncture.
While acupuncture provides a major therapy to heal it has its greatest efficacy as preventive therapy. Disease happens when the body is not strong and in harmony. Daily the human body is bombarded with bacterias, toxins, and stresses yet manages to survive and flourish. It is only when the balance is tipped that the disease takes hold and the patient becomes sick. The best "cure" is to keep the body healthy and balanced so that it can use its intrinsic ability to keep insults in check and recover should a disease take hold. Acupuncture helps optimize this balance and health.
Acupuncture is a highly effective treatment modality for many diseases and injuries. The controversy regarding its efficacy in the western medical model at this time can only be countered with 3000 years of practice. There are many theories as to the method by which acupuncture works, but to date there is no concrete evidence as to its mechanism of action. Like many drugs and therapies in western medicine, we have no concrete explanation as to how they work but can only point to the end result of efficacy of treatment.
While acupuncture is highly effective it is not a "cure all" or "panacea". It is not a miracle but it can be miraculous. The body heals in a stepwise fashion. The longer a disease has taken hold the more difficult it is to drive it from the body but it can be accomplished. Everyone heals in an individual manner thus treatment duration varies from case to case.
In addition there are many illnesses that acupuncture serves as a stand alone pathway to improvement and even resolution. Anxiety, stress, insomnia, acid reflux, irritable bowel, structural and non-structural back, neck or extremity pain, headaches, and many illnesses that have no explanation in the western model are well treated with acupuncture.
While acupuncture provides a major therapy to heal it has its greatest efficacy as preventive therapy. Disease happens when the body is not strong and in harmony. Daily the human body is bombarded with bacterias, toxins, and stresses yet manages to survive and flourish. It is only when the balance is tipped that the disease takes hold and the patient becomes sick. The best "cure" is to keep the body healthy and balanced so that it can use its intrinsic ability to keep insults in check and recover should a disease take hold. Acupuncture helps optimize this balance and health.
Acupuncture is a highly effective treatment modality for many diseases and injuries. The controversy regarding its efficacy in the western medical model at this time can only be countered with 3000 years of practice. There are many theories as to the method by which acupuncture works, but to date there is no concrete evidence as to its mechanism of action. Like many drugs and therapies in western medicine, we have no concrete explanation as to how they work but can only point to the end result of efficacy of treatment.
While acupuncture is highly effective it is not a "cure all" or "panacea". It is not a miracle but it can be miraculous. The body heals in a stepwise fashion. The longer a disease has taken hold the more difficult it is to drive it from the body but it can be accomplished. Everyone heals in an individual manner thus treatment duration varies from case to case.