Acupressure is an ancient Chinese art of healing that works by stimulating the natural self-healing powers of the body through the application of pressure on the most essential pressure points of the body through the use of the elbow, palms, fingers, or even feet. It is believed to have been practiced by countless numbers of people for over five millennia.
How Effective is Acupressure Therapy?
Acupressure has shown to effectively cure a wide variety of conditions that are associated to stress. It also can actually develop the general health of a person, enhance the flow of blood, alleviate pain, and ameliorate tension. Besides addressing stress-related conditions, acupressure has been shown to regenerate reproductive organs, enhance skin tone, and detoxify the body.
This therapy can help prevent the body from falling to diseases and strengthen resistance to illness and pain. It can be self-administered by anyone who have studied pressure points and the therapy’s various techniques so that he or she can self-heal certain medical problems such as emotional trauma, learning disabilities, mental stress, muscle pain, and many others more.
How Does Acupressure Work?
During an acupressure procedure, the healer will ask you to lie along a massage table. The treatment does not require you to take your clothes off. The healer then begins to gently apply pressure on selected pressure points in your body and then massage them. Ordinarily, a session of acupressure may last an hour or so. If you want to get the most out of this therapy, you may need to attend multiple treatment sessions.
The real objective of any bodywork including acupressure is to regain the overall well being and health of a person by modulating the negative (yin) and positive (yang) energies circulating though the body. Some individuals believe that acupressure not only can treat the fields of energy in our body but also our emotions, mind, and spirit.
Commonly Used Pressure Points
There are a lot of pressure points (also called acupressure or acupuncture points) in the human body, that it may take some to list them all down. The only thing one needs to know is the most important pressure points that healers most often use. These points include:
1. Spleen 6 acupoint(SP-6) – This pressure point is used to treat ailments associated with the liver. It is located within a distance of 3 cuns (or 3 finger widths) just above the ankle. It is very tender in this region of the lower calf muscle.
2. Liver 3 acupoint(LR-3) – This pressure point is used in treatment of diseases associated with the liver and is located between the second toe and big toe.
3. Large intestine acupoint(LI 4) – This point is used to treat conditions associated with the large intestine and is found in the thick flesh between the thumb and forefinger.
Who Can Benefit from Acupressure?
While a lot of people believe that acupressure can address a wide range of ailments, you have to admit that this healing modality and its capacity to improve many health problems have still not been thoroughly vetted. In the West, acupressure is a “new” treatment approach.Proper studies should be done before issuing statements like, “Acupressure can effectively cure such and such condition in this many weeks.”
Nonetheless, time and again, this therapy has certainly improved a lot of medical conditions. There is absolute proof, albeit a little that it really does work, but absolute proof is needed to show that it can treat the following medical conditions:
Nausea related to pregnancy and post pregnancy
Motion sickness
Chemotherapy side effects
During or after injection of spinal anesthesia
Postoperative nausea and trauma
Nausea and vomiting
Several studies have indicated that wrist acupressure can very well treat nausea and vomiting caused by the following factors:
Post chemotherapy
During or after injection of spinal anesthesia
In a lot of the above mentioned cases, wrist acupressure has proven shown to work very well.
Nausea and Vomiting
For curing nausea and vomiting, the P6 pressure point is used. It is found in between the two nerves that begin at the base of the palm. Uniquely designed wristbands which can help manage nausea and vomiting conditions can be bought online or in your local pharmacy.
Anxiety and Depression
Several research efforts done on people have shown the ability of acupressure to uplift the mood of a person and to help allay anxiety, depression, and fatigue.
Arthritis
Studies demonstrate that the use of acupressure on patients with arthritis resulted in a meaningful decrease in the sensation of inflammation in the joints. The scientific explanation behind this is,the use of acupressure stimulates the production and release of endorphins that reduces the inflammation in the joints, thereby relieving the ordeal suffered by arthritis patients caused by their condition.
Physical Pain:
There is preliminary evidence that shows acupressure’s capacity to relieve headache, post-surgical trauma and pain, and lower back pain. Problems caused by other medical conditions can also get better through the use of acupressure. As far as headaches are concerned, pressure is administered to the pressure point concerned.
Cancer:
Based on many individual reports, besides relieving chemotherapy-related nausea, acupressure has also been reported to reduce pain, boost the levels of energy, eliminate, and relieve tension in cancer patients.
Safeguards
Acupressure,in general, is safe to use. However, patients with chronic health conditions like heart disease, arthritis, and cancer should talk to their doctor before deciding to go ahead with this procedure. Acupressure is merely a precautionary measure.
To Conclude
Although acupressure therapy is still in its infancy in the West, most of those people who have tried this mode of therapy appear to be satisfied. Many of them believe that this,undoubtedly,is one of the best forms of treatment around that can guide people to a healthy lifestyle. If you want to get the best outcomes, acupressure should be only performed under the guidance of a qualified acupuncturist Spokane.