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Acupuncture is one of the many methods people are turning to in order to quit smoking.
As a smoker looking to become an ex-smoker once and for all, it is important to realize that acupuncture is no more of a magic cure to quit smoking than is nicotine gum, nicotine pouches, Bupropion, electronic cigarettes, or any other such means.
Though not a magic cure, what acupuncture does do is assist in reducing the smoking cessation withdrawal symptoms associated with stopping smoking.
If you’re not familiar with acupuncture, it is the procedure of inserting and manipulating filiform needles into various points on the body to relieve pain or for therapeutic purposes.
When patients come in with a plan of quitting smoking with acupuncture, their treatment will focus primarily on the ear points, with treatment being applied to the shamen, kidney, sympathetic, lung upper and lung lower, and hunger or mouth ear points.
Also, treatment is applied to somebody’s points, specifically the Tim Mee which is an extra-meridian point located on the wrist between LU-7 (League) and LI-5 (Yangxi) and the four gate points (LI-4, LV-3).
This process is designed to circulate energy (Qi) throughout the body and calm the nervous system.
We realize that for those just looking at quitting smoking with acupuncture the above paragraph might have sounded Chinese to you; actually, it is, but that is beside the point; just keep in mind that you don’t need to understand the science behind a treatment for it to be successful.
We will, however, get to the history and acupuncture science soon, but first, let us mention some products given to those quitting smoking with acupuncture.
Often when someone attempts quitting smoking with acupuncture, their practitioner will also introduce herbal medicines or supplements into the mix.
Lung Yin Tonic such as Ophiopogonis Combination (Mai Men Dong Tang) is given to moisten lungs and mouth which reduces smoking cravings.
Products to treat the detox process might be as simple as green tea or the more powerful Lobelia Tea.
These teas also are used with a calm spirit formula called Chai Hu Jia Long Gu Mu Li Tang, which in English is a combination of Bupleurum with Dragon Bone and Oyster Shell.
This works much like an antidepressant and relieves irritability and anxiety associated with quitting smoking.
Now that we’ve covered a little about quitting smoking with acupuncture we’ll look more at what acupuncture is.
Acupuncture, an ancient practice that works today
Acupuncture is an ancient practice that is a part of Traditional Chinese Medicine, a complete medical system that has been around for over five thousand years.
There are three branches to this medicine: acupuncture, herbalism, and essential medical theories.
These are all taught today in universities the world over, and in Western society, the advanced course work is known as complementary medicine. Major universities offer post-master’s advanced coursework in TCM, with anatomy, biophysics, and nutrition a part of this work.
It can require three to four years of acupuncture and oriental medicine training as well as clinical experience to qualify for a license.
Traditional Chinese medicine
As mentioned above, TCM is a complete medical system. It takes into account all of the person, mind, body, and soul.
What this means, in particular, in scientific terms, is that the physical, psychological, philosophical, and emotional condition of a person is all considered and effectively treated.
The Chinese have for thousands of years observed and practiced methods of such close study and have improved treatment with the results of what they have learned. Here, we will look at acupuncture and see how it works.
The scientific evidence of Qi is difficult to explain, but it has been seen in photo-imaging and by other scientific measurements that it must be there because it does produce the desired result.
To the average person with little biochemistry knowledge, it may compare to an explanation of how pain or pleasure is transmitted from one point of the body to the brain.
The body is made up of cells that communicate with one another through, for one, electro-neural transmission. When something works, a person will experience that it works and may even feel it as an “overall” feeling of well-being.
The Chinese explanation is interesting and touched on here, but there is also a link to a page where Qi is explained in scientific detail here: Acupuncture Explained. Also worth noting, Harvard Medical School offers an advanced course for physicians to obtain a solid grounding in both the practice and science of acupuncture.
In each of us, there is a life force that TCM calls Qi. It is present throughout the body and flows freely communicating from cell to cell.
When this cell-to-cell communication is blocked or changed by injury or by chemicals, such as nicotine, the communication is altered. It is the purpose of acupuncture to free this blockage by the insertion and manipulation of tiny needles in points called “meridians”.
In the case of withdrawal from a chemical addiction, there is a craving for the very thing that has harmed us and discomfort due to the lack of what we have become dependent on.
Acupuncture deals with the discomfort by opening channels that have become blocked or disrupted and restores normal energy flow.
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