“Acupuncture can offer a safe, drug-free treatment option,” says Rachel Wilson of Herne Bay-based Naissance Natural Health Clinic, acupuncture specialists whose focus is on women’s health, namely pregnancy and fertility.
“It will often address the root cause, rather than looking to treat the symptoms. The body has an incredible ability to maintain homeostasis and heal when given the opportunity to, by removing any imbalances. It can also offer a solution to problems that conventional medicine may not have been able to help.”
Rachel, who has several decades’ experience as a midwife and registered nurse, admits that when she first discovered acupuncture for musculoskeletal injuries her preconceptions of it “were limited to injury and pain management”.
Many insurance companies will cover acupuncture and it is a modality funded by ACC.
“It wasn’t until I became a midwife and I saw first-hand how it could be used successfully during pregnancy for certain conditions and discomforts and in preparation for labour that I began to understand its scope was much greater” she continues. “I went on to have acupuncture with my first pregnancy as I was planning a homebirth and wanted to do all I could to ensure as it was timely and normal. It’s a process called pre-birth acupuncture which you start at 36 weeks, like getting a warrant of fitness for labour. I was hooked and after baby number three I went on to retrain as an acupuncturist.”
Pinpointing The Origins
Acupuncture—the process of inserting narrow needles into the skin at strategic points around the person—originated in China around 2,500 years ago. One theory is that the concept was inspired by flood control—as obstacles were cleared from riverbeds to improve the flow of waterways, so it was believed blockages could be cleared from the human body to improve the flow of energy, or qi (pronounced “chee”). And as riverbeds represent natural channels of the Earth, it is said the body harbours 14 such channels, or meridians, through which qi flows.
According to Dr Igor Micunovic, President of the Association of Acupuncturists of Montenegro, Chinese holistic philosophy considers humanity, society, and nature as interconnected and “governed by the same laws” meaning that their disorders can therefore be “similarly managed”. It views the human body as a landscape verses Western medicine that views the body as a machine.
Last year, the paper Hiding in Plain Sight – Ancient Chinese Anatomy, published by the American Association for Anatomy, argued that though the Ancient Greeks are credited with mapping the human body, the Chinese likely beat them to it by about 500 years. Study co-author Vivien Shaw says that the discovery of a 2,000-year-old anatomical atlas created during the Han Dynasty “changes both the history of medicine and our understanding of the basis for acupuncture—a key branch of Chinese medicine”.
Shaw says that there is an ever increasing body of evidence-based research that “supports the efficacy of acupuncture” for a variety of conditions, while last August, the UK’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence released guidelines recommending the practice as a “first line” treatment for chronic pain.
Journey To The West
“Acupuncture is definitely more widely accepted,” says Rachel. “In New Zealand, many insurance companies will cover acupuncture and it is a modality funded by ACC. I get referrals from midwives, physiotherapists, chiropractors, osteopaths, doctors, nutritionists, and naturopaths. Women are incredibly resourceful, they are researchers, networkers and if pregnant or wanting to be pregnant, very determined to give themselves and their baby the best possible chance. They will explore many natural options and will land upon acupuncture. It is traditional, natural, and has stood the test of time—and now has compelling research to back it up.”
So often when I am treating clients, it is from a recommendation of a friend.
Known as zhenjiu in Chinese (with zhen meaning needle, and jiu relating to a type of heat therapy), the word ‘acupuncture’ first appeared in Europe in the late 17th century, taken from the Latin acus (needle), and punctum (to puncture, or pierce), having been introduced courtesy of Jesuit missionaries returning from the East. Though it remained somewhat of an alternative treatment for centuries, acupuncture gradually infiltrated Western mainstream medicine and in 1950 French scholar George Soulié de Morant was nominated for the Nobel Prize in physiology for his work in the practice. Nine years later, the UK’s Medical Acupuncture Society was established and in 1979, the World Health Organization recognised acupuncture as a clinical practice.
However, misconceptions remain.
“I wish more people knew about how this ancient, time-tested medicine can be helpful for so much more than just painful conditions,” says Rachel. “It can help with the likes of allergic rhinitis, menstrual cramps, nausea from early pregnancy or chemotherapy, fertility struggles, the turning of a breech baby, assistance with smoking cessation and much more. Many harbour the same misconceptions around the practice that I had. So often when I am treating clients, it is from a recommendation of a friend, and the client explains that they never would have considered acupuncture for the very reason they visit.”
Having had several acupuncture sessions in the past, this writer can attest to the fact that the needles often enter with no sensation, and even when something is felt, it’s barely more than a faint, fleeting scratch (followed in my case by some seriously deep slumbering on the table). But a fear of needles, understandably is one of the main reasons for people’s reluctance to take the plunge. “The width of an acupuncture needle is very thin, only a quarter of a millimetre – and often even half that size again,” says Rachel. “It is closer to the size of a human hair than to the size if an injection needle, and with a skilled and understanding practitioner you will be surprised how it just doesn’t seem to be a problem.”
Naissance Natural Health
naissance.co.nz
183 Jervois Road, Herne Bay
Auckland 1011
09 360 1144
rachel@naissance.co.nz
margaret@naissance.co.nz
