Escaping Smoking With Acupuncture » Traditional Chinese Medicine

Introduction to Smoking Acupuncture Net

admin — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 21:07:49 +0000

In recent years, acupuncture has had both media coverage and some scientific interest for its effects for those trying to quite the evil weed – smoking cessation to end cigarette smoking, rolling tobacco smoking and tobacco pipe smoking. Ear acupuncture can be performed by practitioners trained specifically to use it as an adjunctive therapy for people trying to stop smoking. Another method is Traditional Chinese Medicine, where smokers are also encouraged to try ear acupuncture to help quitting tobacco, but may also be given some body acupuncture points to try assist their detoxification and recovery of better health.

A mound of cigarette butts

History and studies
A great deal of evidence exists to suggest that acupuncture may be used to successfully treat a variety of addictions. It was first reported in the 1970s by Dr H.L. Wen, a physician in Hong Kong, who studied patients with active opium addictions (1). The patients were receiving electro acupuncture for post surgical pain relief but also had unexpected relief from withdrawal symptoms. Dr Wen further studied acupuncture and naloxone (used to treat opiate addiction) an found 51% of patients drug free a year later (1). The studies were repeated elsewhere and from this early work, Dr Mike Smith and clinical team at the Lincoln Hospital, New York began developing ear acupuncture protocols for treating single and multiple drug addiction (2). In 1985, this work was expanded with the formation of the National Association for Detoxification (NADA) to promote the protocols with professionals coming into working contact with drug addicted clients. Studies indicated acupuncture was effective (3), and interestingly, did not appear to be specific to opiate drug detoxification. This lead to its use with a wide variety of addictive substances, including tobacco addiction.

Click on the Categories on the right to find out more about Ear Acupuncture, Traditional Chinese Medicine body acupuncture, studies and quitting smoking.

Acupuncture model

References

1. Wen, H.L. 1975. Role of acupuncture in narcotic withdrawal. Medical Progress. 2, pp15-16.

2 Smith, M.O. 1988. An acupucnture programme for the treatment of drug addicted persons. Bulletin on Narcotics. XL (1), pp.35-41.

3 The British Acupuncture Council. 2000. Substance abuse & acupuncture: the evidence for effectiveness. London: Acupuncture Research & resource Centre. Available at:
http://www.acupuncture.org.uk/content/Library/doc/addiction_bp7.pdf

Posted by: Daniel Clarke

Photo Credits:

A mound of cigarette butts – ‘The World of Cigarrettes’ by http://www.sxc.hu/profile/giacom ‘Acupuncture Head’ by http://www.sxc.hu/profile/beer

Ear Acupuncture Is Often Used In Smoking Cessation

admin — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 20:46:04 +0000

Ear acupuncture uses acupuncture points on the skin of the ears rather than other parts of the body (as for example, in Traditional Chinese Medicine body acupuncture). In most styles of ear acupucnture in Europe & North America , very fine needles are inserted to a very shallow depth, often using an insertion method known as the ‘Flying Needle technique’. This involves the trained practitioner to perform a movement to make the needle spin on its insertion, thus minimising pain to the sensitive areas of the ear. Once in place, the needles simply stay put, usually for 20 to 30 minutes, and the patient is encouraged to relax. With a good practitioner, the needling sensation can be described as painless at best and like a small pinch at worst. Some ear acupuncture schools emphasize the angle at which the needles stand to the skin, to ensure the best treatments.

Ear acupuncture in action

Relaxation To Help With Cravings

Many practitioners have the person receiving ear acupuncture sitting on a chair, not lying on a couch. One idea is this may help the person become used to a feeling of being relaxed, but not necessarily with sleepy, less than aware sensations that many of us in the West associate with relaxation. For example, if you ask many people of their idea of a relaxing time of it, you may get an answer such as unwinding with a glass of wine or having a beer after a long day. The alcohol depresses the central nervous system and produces a little disinhibtion, creating what the person describes as the ‘relaxation’. The acupuncture produces a different effect, in that people can safely experience being fully alert, yet feeling very calm and comfortable. For smokers, this calm centering may be a helpful antidote to the anxious feelings that a cigarette craving can produce for them.

Between Sessions

Ear acupuncturists may also offer ear seeds or ear magnets. These are Traditional Chinese Medicine herbal seeds (wang xing bu ling) or special tiny magnetised metal balls, which come on a prepared piece of skin compatible adhesive tape. These are then taped onto the ear like a minute version of a band aid. The seeds are gently massaged by the patient a number of times a day, whereas the magnets require no massage. This helps to prolong the rebalancing effect, or can be useful by itself.

Health & Saftey

Needles used are generally disposable and good practitioners follow strict Health and Safety codes formluated by their professional bodies which will adhere to local laws. Good practitioners also won’t mind you asking them questions about health and saftey issues at all.

How Does It Work?

According to Traditional Chinese medicine, the body’s vital energy, the Qi flows through twelve regular channels, translated from the Chinese commonly as Kidney, Heart, Lung, Large Intestine, Liver, Pericardium, Spleen, Small Intestine, and eight extraordinary channels which connect to each other and the twelve rgeular channels. The aim of regular ongoing ear acupuncture sessions is to help rebalance the flow in the channels and therefore restore the body towards health. As an additional factor, TCM views body and mind as an integrated whole, rebalancing the body’s Qi therefore has an effect in calming the mind – which should be welcome for dealing with some anxious, unpleasant emotions some people have temporarily whilst stopping.

Featured practitioners in London, UK:

http://www.tcm-acu-herbs.com

Posted by: CK Rivera

TCM Acupuncture In Smoking Cessation

admin — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 20:30:27 +0000

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) maintains that the body’s Qi (vital energy) flows around the body through 12 regular channels, which link the different organs, and each other. The channels form a network, or matrix of channels all over the body. There are also eight extraordinary meridians, which interconnect and again connect back to the twelve regular channels. They can be seen as a reservoir for energy from the twelve regular channels.

Acupuncture treatment

In ill health, including addictions, the body’s Qi is unbalanced, the flow may be ‘irregular’, ‘unsmooth’ and therefore the person experiences various symptoms of body and/or mind.

A very simple description of acupuncture points can be seen as places where the Qi can be influenced; therefore this is why they are needled. The needling helps to influence and correct the disordered Qi along the channel, and regulate the disordered Qi of the organs.

In any long term addiction, the body’s Qi is said to be profoundly affected. Since TCM understands that imbalance in one channel or organs will over time have an effect on other organs and channels, points on other channels are usually also chosen to reflect the patient’s symptoms and general emotional patterns.

TCM acupuncture clinic sessions may involve body and ear acupuncture needling simultaneously, as neither is contraindicated. Within TCM, the ear would be as theoretically valid as only other place to needle, although it has to be said that lower legs and arms and the back are perhaps most commonly used along with points at or near the affected body part. Interestingly, in modern times, many ear acupuncturist colleagues specialize only in working on the ear, feeling its effects are adequately powerful for their purposes.

Acupuncture generally involves a health consultation before points are chosen according to the TCM diagnosis. The acupuncturist leaves the room to allow the patient to roll up trouser legs or remove a shirt. Towels are usually left on the couch to avoid them feeling cold or embarrassed by feeling ‘over-exposed’. The practitioner then makes sure the patient is comfortable and inserts the needles. In the West, generally speaking practitioners use sterile disposable fine needles, manufactured specifically for acupuncture. (In Europe these must carry a CE mark on the packaging to show quality control.) The needles are inserted carefully, and then they stay in place for usually around 20 to 30 minutes. Most practitioners leave the patient to relax alone, checking on them periodically. At the end of the treatment, the practitioner removes the needles for disposal into a sharps bin.

A usual course of acupuncture is 6 to 10 sessions, although this will vary from patient to patient and practitioner to practitioner.

DISCLAIMER: NO information here is intended to be taken as medical advice – or used as a substitute for professional medical advice. Any person with any health concerns is advised instead to consult their doctor. In the case of persons seeking therapy using Traditional Chinese Medicine, this information cannot be taken as medical advice and persons are advised instead to consult a suitably qualified professional practitioner. Also please note acupuncturists’ working styles do vary between practitioners, so this general overview can’t be used any kind of ‘benchmark’ for judging their standards! Many thanks for your understanding.

Posted by: Daniel Clarke & CK Rivera

Finding An Acupuncturist or Ear Acupuncturist

admin — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 19:45:17 +0000

Traditional Chinese Medicine textbooks

The most obvious thing to point out is that anyone considering acupuncture needs to find a trained, competent and qualified ear acupuncturist or ear acupuncturist. Particularly for body acupuncture, the training needs to be lengthy and in all cases include hygienic practice.

Ear Acupuncture is taught often as a separate discipline to body acupuncture, as it may combine many different systems of acupuncture, including Chinese points and empirical points discovered elsewhere. Empirical points are those considered to have been found useful in practice – for those people who worry that somehow this makes the practice less authentic or effective, its worth remembering that Chinese Medicine also incorporates empirical points which may not necessarily belong to a particular channel but are simply classed as extra points which are useful in practice. Although this therapy is often used on its own, if you decide to opt for Traditional Chinese Medicine, you need to know some basics about how they train to find a good practitioner.

Traditional Chinese Medicine acupuncture practitioners in the West these days train for an average minimum of three years, and many professional bodies include continual professional development (more training after graduation) as a condition of membership. Many universities now teach Traditional Chinese Medicine acupuncture at undergraduate, masters and doctorate level. Those who go onto offer herbs typicaly train for a minimum total of 5 years – as you can see from the Materia Medica book above, there is a lot to learn. It hasn’t always been the case that you could learn at a university though, so longer established practitioners may have trained at non-university facilities, but again they will have had lengthy training. With the practice now accepted at mainstream academic level in the West, it’s also worth mentioning the rising number of practitioners who have travelled from China to practice in many clinics worldwide.

Chinese hospital of Traditional Chinese and modern Medicine combined

Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioners from China itself are able to also train at university level, as the practice has been accepted since the 1950s within the state healthcare system. Large TCM universities were established form the late 1950s. If you unsure about the training of any practitioner, simply ask them – this is seen as a perfectly natural question within the trained ‘TCM community’, or within qualified ear acupuncturists for that matter – no good practitioner would mind you asking.

If you’ve decided to try acupuncture to help you quit smoking, or someone else you know has, its worth remembering that its commonly seen as something that can be best used as part of a smoking cessation programme than hoping it stops you overnight on its own. There is a page of resources to help you get free advice on building a programme for yourself or joining one, on the right hand side. The links here can help you find an acupuncturist or ear acupuncturist.

Posted by: CK Rivera & Daniel Clarke

Ear Acupuncture practitioner Links

Ireland and UK

The Ear Acupuncture Register

http://www.yuantmc.co.uk/ear/earmenu.htm

Featured member for London, UK: http://www.tcm-acu-herbs.com

USA

The Auriculotherapy Certification Institute

http://www.auriculotherapy.org/

Traditional Chinese Medicine (body and possibly ear) acupuncture practitioner Links

The Association of Traditional Chinese Medicine (UK)

http://www.atcm.co.uk/

The British Acupuncture Council

http://www.acupuncture.org.uk/index.php

USA

National Certification Comission for Acupucnture And Oriental Medicine

http://www.nccaom.org/

Canada

Acupuncture Foundation of Canada Institute

http://www.afcinstitute.com/PractitionerSearch/tabid/57/Default.aspx

DISCLAIMER: Please only consult you primary healthcare physician for medical advice, the information here is not medical advice. Also please be aware www.smokingacupuncture.net cannot be responsible for the content of external links, nor do the authors automatically endorse their activities and we certainly don’t receive any sponsorship from them! Every quitter is different, and these links are posted here in good faith and cannot be definitive nor exhaustive. Many thanks and go for it, good luck quitting smoking