Herbal Products

Home

What is Acupuncture?

Contact

Home   What is Acupuncture?  Herbal Products   Contact

WHAT ACUPUNCTURE IS?

ACUPUNCTURE is part of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM).  It has been practiced for thousands of years.  According to Wikipedia, “Acupuncture is a technique of inserting and manipulating fine filiform needles into specific points on the body to relieve pain or for therapeutic purposes”.  In reality, it is much more complicated and involves years of training.

First of all, Acupuncture is a science (from the Latin scientia, meaning "knowledge").  According to Wikipedia again, “science refers in its broadest sense to any systematic knowledge-base or prescriptive practice that is capable of resulting in a prediction or predictable type of outcome. In this sense, science may refer to a highly skilled technique or practice”.  Acupuncture fits the definition. 

In fact, every acupuncture point has its specific organ or sections of the body to target.  In Zhang’s Acupuncture, we describe this relationship as “the effect of one key opens one lock”.  This fact makes acupuncture a pure science!  It also tells us how effective and quick the treatment can be.  For example, a patient may have a pain on the right wrist from carpal tunnel syndrome.  By inserting an acupuncture needle at a point called ST 43 on the left foot (Xiangu Point), it will relieve most of the symptoms immediately in the right wrist, regardless of age, sex, or race.

Secondly, we believe that there is a difference in the way of thinking between TCM and modern medicine.  TCM considers a human body as “a most complicated and complete pharmaceutical company”.  It makes all the “drugs” for itself.  The body is sick because some of the “drug factories” have decreased production or have shutdown while others are over producing.  The approach of resolving the problem, for an acupuncturist, is using needles and herbs, as well as other techniques to help this “pharmaceutical company” to resume its normal production. That is, in TCM, the theory of yin and yang balance.  The person may recover as a result of this type treatment. 

Thirdly, it takes much training and experience to become a good acupuncturist.  There are so many unknown areas in medical sciences and TCM faces the same challenge.  What is the solution? In acupuncture, ‘hard working’ means ‘harvest’.  So a credible acupuncturist can successfully deal with the ‘new’ and ‘unknown’ situations.  The practice of acupuncture, at a higher level, is more “arts” than “sciences”.  In China, therefore, basic training for TCM doctors takes at least 5 years (in some case, it could be more than 10 years).  Like most of other professions, finishing school and getting certified is only the entrance.  An acupuncturist still has to continue studying and accumulating experiences for decades, even for generations, to become a “good” one.  This is the reason people pay more respect to those acupuncture doctors who are carrying on family traditions for generations, as in the case of Zhang family generations.  One must dedicate one’s life to TCM to do it right, instead practicing acupuncture as “side-work.”

WHY IS ZHANG’S ACUPUNCTURE DIFFERENT?

The owner of Zhang’s Acupuncture, Bin Zhang, has practiced TCM professionally for over 20 years.  But he grew up surrounded by it.  His first “tutor” was his father, Zhang Jianye, MD, who was a famous doctor in China.  The elder Zhang taught many “secret” and unique points and techniques to his son that are only used in the Zhang family.  Bin Zhang, has built on his family tradition and has adopted this system in his own practice, in addition to absorbing the knowledge from other schools. 

The benefits of the Zhang techniques include: powerful effects without choosing local points, less suffering, and safety.  Patients coming to Zhang’s Acupuncture for a treatment, always see the effects in the very beginning, just few minutes after the first visit because it works as “one key opens one lock”.  This technique involves fewer needles in each treatment and takes fewer visits to get result, which dramatically reduces the cost and discomfort for the patient. 

Safety is always the first priority in my practice.  There is no chance for us to “make mistakes”, because Zhang’s Acupuncture only selects points located on the limbs and some on the scalp, because we believe that the further away the points are from the site of the disease, the better the results.   

A TYPICAL TREATMENT – WHAT TO EXPECT

If a patient has left lower back pain, for example:

Our office is located close to the center of Westport, Connecticut.  A patient comes to the office for an appointment.  He will have a physical exam, including checking his/her tongue and pulse.  Then, he/she will have several needles inserted on the right hand, which takes a few minutes, with insertion and explanations.  Insertion of the needles causes minimal discomfort.  He/she will feel pain relief, in the lower back and a Range Of Motion (ROM) within a few minutes. After that, he/she will be left to quietly rest for 30 minutes after a few more needles are placed in the other limbs.  At the end of the treatment, the patient will leave the office with a special herbal formula to drink over the next few days, which has been specifically chosen from over 400 authentic chinese herbs, to treat his or her current physical ailment.  The result and the number of appointments will vary depending on the nature of the diseases and the physical situation.  But one thing never changes: the patient feels better each time. 

Zhang’s Acupuncture gives each patient the same complete care that one would receive in China.  Chinese herbs, in the hands of a credible acupuncturist, are important weapons along with acupuncture needles in terms of helping the human body heal quickly.  Acupuncture needles works the bodies exterior, while herbs work from the bodies interior.  At Zhang’s Acupuncture, you will receive the best treatment possible, because we have the first class “knowledge and gear” to serve you. 

WHY IS ZHANG’S ACUPUNCTURE SO EFFECTIVE?

Zhang’s Acupuncture has its own theory of treatment, based on the energy flow (qi) that travels in the meridians and the foundation of these meridians.  We believe that the farther the acupuncture points are located away from the diseased spot (where the energy is blocked), the stronger the energy can increase as it travels.  In other words, the farther the qi flow travels in the meridians, the more energy it accumulates. 

It is like a river, originating in the high mountain as a little stream with limited energy.  On its way flowing to the ocean, it collects water from other streams and tributaries, and finally, it reaches the ocean with huge water (energy) that can float ships. It is also true in the body that the accumulated qi could crash the blockage and reopen the meridians as we direct the qi traveling from other part of the body to the diseased spot.

Therefore, we always select the points on the right hand to treat conditions on the left foot, instead of the local points on the left foot with low energy.  It makes the points function very different from the classic approach.  Using this theory, selecting acupuncture points in the treatment requires much more training for the acupuncturist.  Besides, we have many “secret” points only used in Zhang’s family.  We use much fewer needles in the treatment, so that patient are less discomforted.

WHAT IS THE MEANING OF “ONE KEY OPENS ONE LOCK”?

It is a common term we use in Zhang’s Acupuncture, which has two meanings.  1) It means that every point has its specific target organs and sections of the body.  In other words, every organ or a specific area of the body has at least one point to control it.  This fact makes sure acupuncture is a pure science! 2) It also tells us how effective and how quick the treatment could be.  Zhang’s Acupuncture works in the same way as inserting a key and turning it to open the lock.  Of course, our body is alive and much more complicated than a mechanical lock.