The manipulation of the acupuncture needle: is it necessary?

How to react when you are confronted with the categorical affirmations of some of your colleagues? There are so many fields in which it is easy to affirm with no special consequences. In other situations this kind of decree or proclamation may destabilize, especially if it is in contradiction with your beliefs or with what somebody else whom you respect has said.

That is what happens in acupuncture when the teacher, the colleague, and/or the "professor" claim that it is essential to manipulate the needle after having inserted it. This is a topic on which I have pondered for a long time, using what had been written, what I heard during the lessons, congresses or seminars, and also my own experience. From the cultural point of view it is a fascinating issue. From the intellectual point of view it is stimulating. Concerning the relations between the practitioner and the patient it may raise problems of adaptation. And from the practical angle its strict application is not at all obvious.

It might be convenient to sensitize the reader to this particular situation. So many versions and claims circulate that should be clarified or disposed of. Using measure and wisdom, but also logic and rigor.

But first what does it mean by the manipulation of the needle? It is very simple: after it has been inserted in the body the practitioner applies various kinds of movements to increase the efficiency of the treatment. There is a long list of actions which proceed all from a logic depending closely on the traditional vision of acupuncture: tonification, dispersion, regulation, increasing of the sensation, concentration or liberation of Qi, stimulation or tranquillizing, etc.

This is the claim: the needle manipulation is essential for a good efficacy of the treatment. Without manipulation you will get no results, or very little. It is sometimes described in flowery words, using subtle or poetic words in the old texts As it is a part of the complicating process of the acupuncturists gesture it seems essential, as if there was good acupuncture only with manipulation of whatever kind. However this concept contradicts reality, whether in China or in other countries where it is said, taught, affirmed written, that the manipulation is indispensable if you want to get good results.

It is true that the different manipulations fit very well with the theories of the techniques, and to endorse them adds to the harmony and to the apparent cohesion of the acupunctural thinking process. I have seen dozens, maybe hundreds of acupuncturists perform. Chinese and non-Chinese, Europeans or Americans, Australians or even Japanese. Never have I seen them manipulate the needles as it is described in the old or modern texts. The most I saw them do is to hold the handle of the needle between the thumb and the index and apply two kinds of movements: twirl it or push and withdraw just a little. Not too much, very discreetly. The patient doesn't react, Maybe sometimes he groans in a low voice.

Is this minimum of movement even necessary? Does it increase the effectiveness of the treatment? Does the practitioner apply this technique regularly? And if not, in which case does he perform it? The great majority of practitioners whom I have seen at work insert the needle, and that's all.

Soulié de Morant introduced the systematic use of silver and gold needles, either to strengthen or to disperse. His needles where very short and thick. It was impossible to manipulate them. What was essential was the choice of the points (a choice made according to the very elegant rule inspired from the Five Elements and applied to acupuncture). The use of gold or silver needles enhanced the effect of strengthening or dispersing the stimulated points.

But when I arrived in Hong Kong in 1968 and asked my first master about this technique he first did not understand, but then realized what I was talking about: "Oh, yes, it is one of the techniques that can be used, but the best is to trust the choice of points and the manipulation. But he himself didn't manipulate the needles. So what to think about needle manipulation?

I have given you food for thought. If I wanted to exhaust to topic I would need many pages and stories and observations. Maybe an eBook...

Article Source: http://physicalfitnessarticles.net

www.acupuncturelearningonline.com François Beyens, MD. Belgian. French, english, spanish, chinese. 1968 to 1971: 3 years in the Far East. Studied Chinese and acupuncture with several masters. Since 1971 practices and teaches acupuncture, participates in many congresses. Conducted seminars in many countries, personally trained dozens of medical acupuncturists. Books: Revisiting Acupuncture, vol. I, II and III.

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