Acupuncture and Acupressure in India

I have just learnt through my 'Linked In' site that the Indian Government does not allow practise of acupuncture, acupressure or reflexology. The sub continent is reckoned to be the country where it all started before it transferred to mainland China about 5000 years ago. So if this information is correct it is absolutely amazing that therapies that are relatively cheap to do and with relatively few side effects cannot be practiced? I am slightly bemused with this information. I often receive emails from practitioners in India who comment on my books and ask specific questions about treating their patients with chakra puncture as well as TCM. I didn't realise that the government didn't allow practise, unless it is doctors (RMP) only. Does anyone else have any information on this?

Reflexology Research

Some positive reflexology research has actually made the popular press this week even though scores of legitimate research does not. It was a three year study by researchers at the university of Stirling that showed the effects of reflexology on the hearts of healthy volunteers. It was  small study but had excellent protocols and results. It will not be world changing but it is to be welcomed. There are many problems with medical research these days. To be shown to be effective it has to be done exactly by the book with very narrow protocols. Until something has been researched correctly it is often stated by the orthodox medical fraternity that such and such an approach is not research based and is therefore not valid. Therefore positive results for whatever complementary therapy has not complied with this narrow structure is deemed to work purely on anecdotal evidence or the dreaded placebo effect.

I have often been accused in the past of not giving a fig for research. This is actually not true - I am just as in favour of it as anyone else. Most research is actually very time consuming and, quite frankly - boring! Why should I comply with someone else's rules when all I want to do is to treat sick people. I know that my methods work without researching them - let others do that if they want to - and a few have!. We all know that pain relief acupuncture has been researched ad nauseum. This only proves one thing - that pain relief acupuncture works. Yippee!!! Ten thousand practitioners and a million patients down the ages didn't need to be told that - they already knew it. What science cannot answer though is why non pain relief acupuncture works - eg those used for well being, emotional, non painful skin conditions etc. And yet it still works!! When will these scientific boffins realise that if something has been practised for hundreds or thousands of years - it obviously works, otherwise it would have died out. Anecdotal evidence on therapies that have existed for millennia is fine by me.

Higgs Boson

One day in the early 1960's when Peter Higgs was out walking in the Scottish Highlands he had a 'eureka' moment. He, and many other physicists of the time, had wondered if the acceptable atomic model of the time was just plain wrong! What was it that caused the other particle to gell? What was it that formed the matrix or the fascia -if you will- of the universe to allow every other type of particle to function in a coherent and 'ordered' way? He formulated that there had to be another particle that was, at the time, impossible to detect with 1960's technology. He was ridiculed by many of  his peers and several articles that he wrote on his hypothesis were refused publication in the scientific journals.

The announcement this week that, at last, physicists believe that this elusive particle had possibly been located has brought huge ramifications to everyone interested in life, the universe and everything. This particle that is infitessimally small is located everywhere! It pervades the whole of the universe, therefore pervades every living organism including you and me. It has been coined the 'God' particle - this is actally a misnoma that is based on the fact that hundreds of physicists had called it the 'goddam' particle that couldn't be isolated. I just wonder though whether that which Peter Higgs dared to suggest to the scientific community in the 1960's had already been shouted from the rooftops by other philosophers down the ages such as Hippocrates, Paracelsus, von Reichenberg, Hanneman to name a few. I believe that what we have always believed to be the universal energy that has its own innate intelligence is exactly what has now been scientifically proved to exist. I believe it to be the 'Field' and the universal ether. I also believe that as scientists carry out further experiments using this new found knowledge, they will finally prove the existence of the energy field that we call prana, chi, ki or whatever other name you want to give to vital force. We are living in wondrous times!!

The art of Touch and Feel (2)

I often meet with workshop delegates who have little or no experience of actually touching their patients/clients so we have to start slowly and build up. The first exercise I ask them to do is to gently place both middle finger pads on the partner's leg on some area where I know there is a sparsity of acupoints - the hands are app. ten cms. (four inches) apart. Just see what happens! They can close their eyes, concentrate on life, universe or everything or just think nothing. It is amazing how many different reactions we get after holding two non-descript points for about two minutes (thats a long time if you arn't used to touching!) Some of them say that there's an increase in heat under the fingers, some say that there is a kind of buzzing or some other kind of senstaion. I also ask what the model is feeling. I then proceed to go to touching (just touching mark you- not massaging or stimulating in any way) two acupoints on the same meridian (although I don't tell them that) and see what the difference is! We then do some stimulating massage on these points and again see the diference.There are scores of disparate sensations to be had.

I mention this to try and prove a couple of things. Firstly there is no right or wrong in the sensation that you will have - we are all different. Secondly - less is more!! Clinical acupressure is not about attacking the acupoint like a bull in a china shop as sometime occurs in both acupuncture and some types of reflexology. The secret in treating just one point (without balancing) is to place the finger on the point slowly, then initially do some gentle circular movements and trying to tune in to what the point is actually telling you. For instance if you wanted to try to ease a chronic condition of muscle imbalance - one of the main points would be LR 3 (between the great toe and second toe). Gently place your finger pad on the point and do some gentle but firm circular movements for a few seconds - this is the  equivalent of obtaining de qui in acupuncture. Then just hold the point and see what happens. If, after a minute there is no discernible alteration in sensation, then try some more circular massage. After a while you will detect a change of sensation - then just hold the point without tonifying in any way. This needs to coupled with FOCUS and INTENTION on your part. Experience will tell you when the acupoint has been properly treated. At no time are you aloof of your client - you tune in to what they are feeling. When you are dealing with acute conditions - keep the fingers still at all times. More next time.

The art of Touch and Feel (1)

I have lived quite a schizophrenic existence in my career. I am both orthodox and complementary (I hate the word 'alternative') and have spent many years pioneering integrative medicine. In my complementary medical career I have practised many different types of therapy including homoeopathy, radiesthesia, acupuncture, acupressure, reflexology, craniosacral therapy, chakra therapy, reiki and naturopathy. I am often asked which of these I liked doing the most. the answer is always anything that requires touch and feel i.e. all the bodywork modalities. When I qualified as an acupuncturist in 1978, having been a physiotherapist for 8 years, what I tried to do then, and what I have attempted to do since is to combine the two! What could be better I thought than combining Chinese medicine and physical therapy to give the best of both worlds. I soon learnt, though, that we are all made differently and my colleagues often saw things in  a completely different light to me. Only a small fraction of physiotherapists actually touch their patients (this seems to be getting worse year on year) so why should I pioneer 'touch'. Similarly not many acupuncturists actually want to combine touch with needling, even though, strictly speaking, traditional Chinese medicine means using needle, moxa, herbs, diet AND touch.

I have lost track of the times in lecturing or in print that I have shouted from the rooftops the importance of touch and feel and that acupressure is not a watered down version of acupuncture. Much of this may have fallen onto deaf ears, but also I know that hundreds of my students, pupils and readers have, like me, found that the correct use of acupressure - in all its forms - is infinitely superior to needling. I am certainly not decrying acupuncture - heaven forbid. But what I am saying is that there are thousands of acupuncturists out there who do not know what they are missing by not using touch and feel as extra strings to their bow. I shall expand on these thoughts over the next couple of blogs. Take care - JRC

Update and New Book

Sorry for lack of blogs lately. Whoever said that retirement brings more free time was obviously not retired! Went to Edinburgh last week to see the consultant neurosurgeon and have another scan (my 6th and final one TYG). For those of you who are geographically ignorant re. Scotland (that includes many folk who live in Scotland) - it takes me about 8 hours to get to Edinburgh by car, 2 trains and cab. So with an overnight stay it meant being away from home for  40 hours - all for a 10 minute consultation!! The good news is that the surgery went well and the scan showed that the 'plastic' disc in my neck was well entrenched. The bad news is that it doesn't seem to have helped much as the pain levels are still high. He did suggest me taking vitamin B12 and Folic acid even though I take several herbal and vitamin remedies already. I was surprised that a neurosurgeon gave me vitamin advice - there is hope for integrative medicine on the NHS after all .

The 'Light Touch Reflextherapy' book is finally published. I had ordered over 100 copies from AuthorHouse the publisher in Indiana, although they are actually printed in Milton Keynes, UK. They took 44 days from order to arrival - not bad going for something that was supposed to be urgent. I had several folk waiting for copies from all round the world so that was a bit of a pain for them to be kept waiting. I had a very good service from the publishers apart from the last six weeks. Now the fun begins!! I am sending out review copies to many of the reflexology journals home and abroad and advertising in Positive Health and other on line and hard copy magazines. It is a very expensive exercise and of course all the expense is up front with returns in dribs and drabs. First reactions from those who have read it though, are favourable.

I have already written out the Synopsis for the next book on Acupressure and Homoeopathy combinations. This, too, will be self published though I may get the printing done locally. It will be a small booklet and am hoping that this will fill a void as it is aimed at the lay person and not the medical professional. The more, though, that I research the topic, the more exciting it becomes and I am wondering why on earth I get these urges to write and to share knowledge - it is a masochistic existence sometimes. What really makes it all worth while is when I receive an email or letter informing me how much the teaching has helped and how, in turn, they have been able to help their own clients.

My Spine

An update on my grotty neck - I'm off to Edinburgh in 10 days time for another scan and to see the consultant neurosurgeon. Things haven't improved since my spinal fusion last December. I'm unsure whether I want more constructive surgery as once was enough of a traumatic experience for me. There certainly isn't any conservative treatment that will help - I have tried them all over the past 15 years or so since first being diagnosed with cervical spondylosis.

I have been asked many times as to why I haven't managed to 'cure' my own neck, especially with my own acupuncture/acupressure inventions. The simple truth is that I have given myself hundreds of treatments and spent a fortune on seeing scores of different practitioners over the years in an attempt to treat my neck. I did NOT undertake surgery lightly and will always maintain that surgery should always be a last resort.

I am absolutely no different to any other patient in requiring the cause of a condition to be addressed, and not just trying to ease the symptoms. I was born with a roto-scoliosis of the mid thoracic spine. This has given me many different symptoms that has affected other parts of the spine as well as the internal organs and the autonomic nervous system. My thoracic spine has improved on what it was when I was in my twenties (thanks to treatment from my wife) and the curvature is not so pronounced although it has left me with an instability. However, fifteen years ago the cervical spine started to show signs of a compensatory curvature, that has eventually given me the compression and arthritic changes that I have today. So, I know what the cause is, but sadly, this cannot be cured.

All of this has naturally given me an interest in the spine, and in particular how various spinal anomalies can cause non spinal conditions. Several years ago I started to run workshops called 'The Holistic Spine'. This resulted in a poster being produced and later this year I am finally embarking on writing a book on the topic.  So its not all bad news then!!