As the World Health Organization (WHO) advocates, being physically, mentally, and spiritually healthy is the most important thing in life. Things like income, house size, title, good looking, beautiful, family background, possessions, etc., are of no importance compared to health. It's amazing how many people today don't understand this at all. It is because we are healthy that we can do what we want to do freely, without any inconvenience in our daily activities and without any worries. How many people are grateful for this miracle? I often feel that many illnesses are given to people to teach them that they have forgotten something important. I often feel that this is the case. As if to prove this point, there are so many people who do not realize how grateful they are for their health until they suffer from an illness.
My treatment policy is always to provide treatment that I would want to receive. Naturally, I try to make the treatment as painless as possible. However, when an acupuncture needle enters a hair root, it can cause quite strong pain, so I immediately remove the needle at that time.
Also, medical practitioners can only help patients to heal themselves. I always try to help the patient to heal himself/herself. My treatment is only an aid to the patient's healing power. I never heal the patient, but the patient heals himself/herself.
I always tell, "Thank you for healing yourself, you don't have to thank me. When you get better, forget about me. Instead, never forget how grateful you are for your health."
I tell the patient, "You do not need to thank me." Most patients do not understand what this means. They do not know the truth, which is the fact that their bodies are healing themselves. However, those who understand this truth heal remarkably fast. I believe that it is the job of the medical staff to remind the patient who is the protagonist of the healing process.
The medical profession can never be the protagonist of healing. The hero of healing is the patient himself. Therefore, those who do not make a sincere effort to heal themselves cannot be cured, and others cannot help those who do not make a sincere effort to heal themselves.
There is a saying attributed to Ambroise Paré, the founder of modern surgery.
"I bandage, God heals."
Humans can do bandages only, and healing is the domain of God. This is the truth. It is never the medical practitioner who heals the patient.
My treatment is combined with Therapeutic Touch. Thanks to this technique, I can identify the location of qi blockage (stagnation of bioenergy) without directly touching the patient. After marking the needle points with a water-based marker, I disinfect the points and apply acupuncture or moxibustion to drain the stagnant qi. I also use therapeutic touch to balance the chi while the needles are being inserted or after they are removed. Only the minimum number of acupuncture needles is used, as indicated by the patient's body.
The more severe the symptoms, the greater the number and severity of qi stagnation. Therefore, the greater the number of qi stagnation, the greater the number of acupuncture needles. Conversely, as the symptoms become less severe and the number of qi stagnation decreases, the number of needles used will also decrease. The number of needles used is a good indicator of the condition of the body at that time. If the number of needles used increases, I can tell that the patient has been overworked, and if the number of needles decreases, I can tell that the patient is getting better.
Surprisingly, I do not use deep needles, which many acupuncturists do. (This is because it is not necessary in most cases. My needling depth is usually no more than a few millimeters.) However, I do target the muscles when necessary.
I also comply with the Hippocratic Oath, which is sworn at the time of graduation from medical school in the U.S. and other countries.
Hippocratic Oath
I swear by Apollo the physician, and Asclepius, and Hygieia and Panacea and all the gods and goddesses as my witnesses, that, according to my ability and judgement, I will keep this Oath and this contract:
To hold him who taught me this art equally dear to me as my parents, to be a partner in life with him, and to fulfill his needs when required; to look upon his offspring as equals to my own siblings, and to teach them this art, if they shall wish to learn it, without fee or contract; and that by the set rules, lectures, and every other mode of instruction, I will impart a knowledge of the art to my own sons, and those of my teachers, and to students bound by this contract and having sworn this Oath to the law of medicine, but to no others.
I will use those dietary regimens which will benefit my patients according to my greatest ability and judgement, and I will do no harm or injustice to them.
I will not give a lethal drug to anyone if I am asked, nor will I advise such a plan; and similarly I will not give a woman a pessary to cause an abortion.
In purity and according to divine law will I carry out my life and my art.
I will not use the knife, even upon those suffering from stones, but I will leave this to those who are trained in this craft.
Into whatever homes I go, I will enter them for the benefit of the sick, avoiding any voluntary act of impropriety or corruption, including the seduction of women or men, whether they are free men or slaves.
Whatever I see or hear in the lives of my patients, whether in connection with my professional practice or not, which ought not to be spoken of outside, I will keep secret, as considering all such things to be private.
So long as I maintain this Oath faithfully and without corruption, may it be granted to me to partake of life fully and the practice of my art, gaining the respect of all men for all time. However, should I transgress this Oath and violate it, may the opposite be my fate.
Translated by Michael North, National Library of Medicine, 2002.
I provide only whole-body treatment. Most acupuncture and moxibustion clinics and acupuncture and moxibustion osteopathic clinics treat only the affected area (or only the back or abdominal area). This is no different from Western medicine, which is just a symptomatic treatment, not a treatment of what is really ill, and will never cure the patient. In many cases, the location of the pain complained of by the patient is actually a related pain, and the cause is somewhere else.
For example, a patient sprains his/her ankle. Naturally, local treatment of the injured area is necessary. However, the sprain causes a strain on the entire body as the patient covers the sprained area. This strain cannot be removed by local treatment alone. Local and whole-body treatment must be done at the same time. As soon as the local area is healed, the whole body improves.
In the example of related pain, we can see that there is no stagnation in the area where the patient complains of pain and that the pain can be removed by treating the spot found by therapeutic touch. The patient may wonder, "Why don't you treat the place where the patient says in pain?" However, as mentioned above, the location of qi stagnation, the really bad part of the body, and the place where the pain is felt are often different.
I do not treat patients by looking at the tree (local area) and not the forest (whole body). It is the Oriental medical practitioner who can treat the whole body, and I believe that this is the very essence of Oriental medicine. Therefore, I will examine you thoroughly from head to toe, both on your back and abdomen.
Acupuncturists who examine the whole body are in the very minority. The reason is that it is time-consuming and costly to provide full-body treatment in the true sense of the word, as I do. A clinic that only provides local treatment is quicker, so the number of patients that can be seen within a certain time frame is increased. Naturally, this increases income. On the contrary, there is no end to the number of fake healers who claim to have performed "systemic treatment" without hesitation, even though they only can perform local treatment. If you are looking for a fundamental treatment, not a symptomatic one, the best way to go is to get a real whole-body treatment.
Treatment Procedure
Inspection
I begin my examination the moment you walk in. I watch to check your body posture, how you carry yourself as you walk, and the color of your skin, particularly in the face.
Listening & smelling examination
While I am talking with you, I check for voice tone, strength, etc.
Inquiry
I listen to the symptoms you have noticed, asking questions for clarification as needed.
Palpation
I use therapeutic touch to begin scanning your body to check for energy blockage. When it is needed, I check the tongue, blood pulse, and muscle tension.
Treatment
I use the acupuncture needles or moxibustion as appropriate.
Follow-Up
After the treatment is concluded, I will check your response to the treatment.
While acupuncture treatment is generally provided with the patient lying down, there are times when that is not comfortable for a given condition. In that case, treatment will be given in a seated or standing position, whichever is the most appropriate.
Many hospital or clinic almost always ask you to make position that therapists easily proceed treatment while patients are standing on pain. It is absolutely meaningless. Many medical staffs are misunderstanding who is main; therefore, they mandatorily ask posture. Every therapist should be trained for proceeding from any kinds of positions. Patients are main, NOT therapists.
Use of needle or moxibustion
The use of either the needle or moxibustion will be determined through my observations of your condition, the symptoms you have mentioned as well as the information I gain from therapeutic touch.
- Cold: Moxibustion
- Heat: Needle
- Tense: Needle
- Suction: Moxibustion
- Tingle: Needle or Moxibustion
Caution after treatment
Please be aware that some people feel tired or sleepy either during the actual treatment or within 30 to 60 minutes afterwards. This occurs because acupuncture therapy will often retrieve deep-seated fatigue locked inside. You might be surprised at how tired you were! If you should feel tired after treatment, I recommend that you take a short nap for 30 to 60 minutes. When you wake up, you will be feeling very fresh.
If you need to drive a car right after my treatment, please tell me so. I will re-balance and complement your Qi.
“Acupuncture as a therapeutic intervention is widely practiced in the United States. There have been many studies of its potential usefulness. However, many of these studies provide equivocal results because of design, sample size, and other factors. The issue is further complicated by inherent difficulties in the use of appropriate controls, such as placebo and sham acupuncture groups.
However, promising results have emerged, for example, efficacy of acupuncture in adult post-operative and chemotherapy nausea and vomiting and in postoperative dental pain. There are other situations such as addiction, stroke rehabilitation, headache, menstrual cramps, tennis elbow, fibromyalgia, myofascial pain, osteoarthritis, low back pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, and asthma for which acupuncture may be useful as an adjunct treatment or an acceptable alternative or be included in a comprehensive management program. Further research is likely to uncover additional areas where acupuncture interventions will be useful.
Findings from basic research have begun to elucidate the mechanisms of action of acupuncture, including the release of opioids and other peptides in the central nervous system and the periphery and changes in neuroendocrine function. Although much needs to be accomplished, the emergence of plausible mechanisms for the therapeutic effects of acupuncture is encouraging.
The introduction of acupuncture into the choice of treatment modalities readily available to the public is in its early stages. Issues of training, licensure, and reimbursement remain to be clarified. There is sufficient evidence, however, of its potential value to conventional medicine to encourage further studies.
There is sufficient evidence of acupuncture's value to expand its use into conventional medicine and to encourage further studies of its physiology and clinical value.”
