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How Acupuncture Came to the United States
Acupuncture has a long history, that started well over 2000 years ago.
The beautiful thing is that many of the principles and treatment modalities
that were used back then are used now.I have often been asked how
acupuncture came to the US, and I think you may find it quite interesting.
Most will say the start of acupuncture in the United States really began in 1972.
In this year, New York Times journalist James Reston traveled to China
with Henry Kissinger, Nixon's Secretary of State. While inChina, Reston fell ill
and had an emergency appendectomy at a Chinese hospital. Afterward,
doctors used acupuncture to relieve his pain.Reston wrote about his
experience with acupuncture and its healing effects in the New York Times,
the first time most Americans had heard about the Eastern medicine in detail.
As relations with China became open during this period,
more Chinese doctors and acupuncturists began coming to the States.
This led to a surge in popularity that would hold its ground to
this day. In 1992, the U.S. Congress created the Office of Alternative
Medicine and in 1997 the U.S. National Institutes of Health
recognized acupuncture as a medical option for treating a
range of conditions.
Although acupuncture became widely known in
the U.S. in the 1970s, a Chinese acupuncturist named Mariam Lee
was making a great influence in the States in 1966.
At the time,acupuncture was illegal in California and
Lee was arrested for practicing without a license. Lee was known
for doing amazing work, and it was no surprise her
patients came to support her at court. A year later acupuncture
was legalized in the state as a legitimate medicalpractice. Miriam Lee
later founded the Acupuncture Association of America and
brought many influential acupuncturists over from China.
There are now around 40,000acupuncturists and close to a hundred
acupuncture schools in the U.S. Numerous studies have since been
done about acupuncture and its healing effects as
more and more Americans are choosing the alternative route that was
once considered experimental. This ancient form of medicine
continues to make its way in the mainstream medical
community and has become the number one alternative
medicine used in American hospital systems. As more
Americans have started to look for other treatments outside of
Western medicine, acupuncture has proved to be an effective option.
Medicine and in 1997 the U.S. National Institutes of Health
recognized acupuncture as a medical option for treating a
range of conditions.
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What Acupuncture is Good For
Most people seek out acupuncture care for
painful conditions. That makes sense, because
it works extremely well at it, without drugs or
medication.
But you may be surprised by how many health
conditions acupuncture has been known to help.
Focusing on the whole body, one of the main goals
of acupuncture is to return the body back to its
natural balance and restore it to better health.
By addressing the "whole" self instead of one
particular part where there may be just pain or
illness, acupuncture has the power to treat and
heal a variety of ailments from nausea, sciatica to
addiction.
The most common effects you will feel
after an acupuncture treatment include
better sleep, relaxation, better digestion
and more energy. Below are just a few ways
acupuncture has proven to be beneficial.
Acupuncture and rheumatoid arthritis:
http://wb.md/1xVxDTo
Acupuncture and depression:
http://bit.ly/SFReaB
Acupuncture and allergies:
http://bit.ly/1MJqH6G
Acupuncture and fertility:
http://bit.ly/1HCLEyc
Acupuncture and insomnia:
http://bit.ly/1iMtnE4
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