Acupuncture Effective for Slimming?

For most women, having beautiful and slim body, of course, be a dream. No wonder that many women who have problems with weight gain, especially those who are obese, often looking for quick and inexpensive way to lose weight, including alternative methods.



One alternative method that has been chosen in a thin body is acupuncture therapy. This is a treatment technique used in traditional Chinese medicine. The needles are very sharp used to stimulate specific points on the body.



In practice, the treatment of obesity with acupuncture method does not always guarantee success. Acupuncture therapy should not be too arbitrary. If not done by people who are real experts, the therapy would probably be in vain.



According to nutrition experts from the Department of Nutritional Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Indonesia (Faculty of medicine), Dr. Samuel Oetoro, treatment of obesity with acupuncture method should be done by people who are real experts.



In doing acupuncture, there are two points on the body that was stabbed. First is the desire to continue eating dots and the second is a point of metabolism.



"It worked when stabbed in the right spot, and should be done by people who are real experts," he said in courses and seminars with the theme of obesity Management of Obesity and Its Related Problems, Friday (8/4/2011) in Jakarta.



Based on the results of several studies, it is clear Oetoro, slimming through acupuncture method results are not too significant. According to him, most acupuncture patients who feel lost weight, more because of the influence of drugs given. In fact, an acupuncture expert who really are not going to give medicine to patients.



"If there are patients who come home from acupuncture to go home to take medication, then acupuncture is not convincing," he said.

Acupuncture And Beauty

Acupuncture is a treatment technique used in traditional Chinese medicine. The needles are very sharp used to stimulate specific points on the body. These points are the energy pathways called "meridians". Acupuncture treatment designed to improve the flow and balance of energy along these meridians-meridian.



Traditional Chinese medicine has a history of more than 2,500 years. It views the human body as a system of energy flows. When these flows are balanced, the body is healthy. The practitioners examine patients' pulses and observing their tongues to diagnose energy imbalances. In Chinese medicine, the pulse can be checked at three locations on each wrist, and at three depths at each location.



Illness is not defined by symptoms or the name of a disease like "HIV infection." Conversely, a Chinese medicine practitioner will talk about energy imbalances. The language can sound very strange, like "yin deficiency" or "increase in kidney heat." Chinese words yin and yang describe the energy that mutually exclusive that should remain balanced, and Qi (pronounced "chi") can be roughly defined as the energy or life force.



In traditional Chinese medicine, there are many ways to improve the balance of the body's energy flow. The most common techniques used in western countries are exercise techniques such as Qigong or Tai Chi, acupuncture (acupuncture), and herbal medicine.

Resolving Dampness and Phlegm with acupuncture

When I give lectures I often hear that "ST-40 resolves Phlegm": I wish! Resolving Phlegm involves much more than simply using ST-40. In order to resolve Dampness or Phlegm, it is necessary to activate the Three Burners.
The Triple Burner is described in the Nei Jing as the official in charge of irrigation: this means that the Triple Burner is responsible for the transformation, transportation and excretion of fluids in all parts of the body and all organs. This is one of the most important functions of the Triple Burner.
The terms used in Chinese in connection with the Triple Burner’s influence on the body fluids are often shu 疏 which means “free flow” and tong 通 which means “free passage”. Therefore the Triple Burner is like a system of canals and waterways to channel irrigation water through the proper fields and then out: this ensures that body fluids are transformed, transported and excreted properly.
The Triple Burner’s function in relation to body fluids is closely dependent on its function of controlling the transportation and penetration of Qi. The Triple Burner influences the ascending/descending and entering/exiting of Qi in the Qi Mechanism:
it is the coordinated and harmonized ascending/descending and entering/exiting of Qi in all organs and structures that ensures that the body fluids also ascend/descend and enter/exit in the proper way in all places. Essentially, the transformation and movement of fluids depends on Qi.
This whole process is called “Qi Transformation by the Triple Burner”: the result of the Qi transformation is the production of Nutritive-Qi, Defensive-Qi, Blood and Body Fluids. That is also why the Triple Burner is said to control “all kinds of Qi”. This sums up the way in which acupuncture can influence the transformation, transportation and excretion of fluids: it can only achieve this through Qi.
Herbal medicine resolves Dampness by using herbs which are actually diuretic (e.g. Fu Ling, Zhu Ling, Ze Xie, Yi Yi Ren, etc.); and it resolves Phlegm by using herbs that are drying (e.g. Ban Xia, Dan Nan Xing, etc.). Acupuncture can resolve Dampness or Phlegm only by regulating the ascending/descending and entering/exiting of Qi in the Qi Mechanism.
Secondly, one must resolve Dampness or Phlegm by regulating the fluid movement, transformation and excretion by the Triple Burner. In my experience, in order to do this, it is necessary to activate all three Burners which means that one should not hesitate to use more points than one would normally use. For example, to resolve Phlegm from the prostate (i.e. Lower Burner), I would use many points from the Lower Burner (listed in previous slide) plus some from the Upper and Middle Burner.
Please note that when we say that we need to “regulate the Triple Burner”, we do not do that by using Triple Burner points necessarily. Many points regulate the fluid metabolism by the Triple Burner and especially points on the Ren Mai: indeed these are the most important ones.

POINTS TO ACTIVATE WATER TRANSFORMATION BY THE THREE BURNERS
- Upper Burner: Du-26 Shuigou, Ren-17, LU-7, LI-4, LI-6, TB-4, TB-6
- Middle Burner: Ren-9 Shuifen, Ren-12, ST-22, Ren-11
- Lower Burner: ST-28 Shuidao, Ren-5, BL-22,, BL-39, SP-9, SP-6, KI-7.

T.B.-4 and BL-64 in combination move Qi in the Triple Burner and activate Water Passages.

NOTE: the three points in blue (Du-26 Shuigou, Ren-9 Shuifen and ST-28 Shuidao) activate the fluid transformation in each Burner. Shui means “water” and those points are therefore “Water Ditch”, “Water Separation” and “Water Passages” respectively. The points in red are strategic points on the Ren Mai that have the same function, Ren-17, Ren-9 and Ren-5 for the Upper, Middle and Lower Burner respectively. As we can see, Ren-9 pertains to both groups of points and that is why this point is such an important point for the metabolism of fluids and a point I would always use to resolve Dampness or Phlegm.
This means that when I resolve Dampness and Phlegm, I do not hesitate to use quite a lot of points to activate all three Burners but giving predominance to the points where the Dampness or Phlegm is situated. For example, if there is Phlegm in the Lower Burner (e.g. prostatic hyperplasia), I would use many points from the Lower Burner but also some from the Middle and Upper Burner. This is an example of such a point combination: Ren-3, BL-22, Ren-5, ST-28, SP-9, ST-40 (Lower Burner), Ren-9 (Middle Burner) and LU-7 (Upper Burner). With variations, this point combination could also be used for Phlegm in the Uterus.