Over 3000 years old, acupuncture is one of the oldest forms of healing still practiced today. Acupuncture uses very fine pins (the size of a strand of hair) to unblock constrictions and bring blood and nutrients to areas of deficiency so that the body can harmonize and restore its health. There are many different systems and techniques involving acupuncture diagnosis and treatment. In my practice I use four different techniques:
Master Tung and Dr. Tang Style: This is the most clinically effective style for pain. It uses distal (away from the area that is in pain) acupuncture points as its primary method of healing. I often combine this style with trigger point acupuncture.
Kiiko Matsumoto Japanese Style: This style is based on Japanese Meridian therapy acupuncture. Each patient is palpated for pressure pain in certain areas of the body, mostly on the abdomen, to determine the diagnosis. When pressure pain is found, points are located to relieve that pain, when the point that relieves the pain is located it is then needled. This style employs a systematic approach that is very useful in the treatment of many internal and external ailments.
Traditional Chinese Medicine: This approach uses a combination of asking specific questions, examining the tongue and taking the pulse to reveal the patient’s diagnosis. Certain acupuncture points are then prescribed dependent on the findings. If you have ever received acupuncture, this is probably the style of acupuncture you received.
Acupuncture Physical Medicine/Trigger Point Acupuncture: APM style is a Vietnamese/French meridian approach that focuses on identifying constrictions in the body using palpation. This approach is very useful in relieving myofascial pain caused by trigger points by employing dry needling techniques.