Acupuncture Your Diving Aliments Away
What is the connection between diving, medical problems and acupuncture needles? Asian Diver delves into the ancient art of acupuncture with Dutch physiotherapist and acupuncturist, Janneke Vermeulen, as she reveals the remarkable impact of acupuncture on diving maladies in her new book
Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and acupuncture originated in ancient China and has evolved over thousands of years. Although largely utilised in the West as a complementary health approach, athletes are increasingly turning to TCM for treatment, especially after telltale cupping marks revealed Olympic legend Michael Phelps’ usage of cupping to relieve pain, inflammation, muscle tension and soreness from workouts. So what does acupuncture have to do with diving?
DIVING MEDICAL PROBLEMS
Not being able to clear the ears or having difficulty equalising is the most common problem experienced by divers and it’s often caused by a common cold, rhinosinusitis and allergic or non-allergic rhinitis. Having to stop a dive due to equalisation problems, when you’re just getting under the water surface, can be very frustrating. Besides that, it can be painful, with risk of ear drum perforation, if you ignore the ear pressure. The fact that acupuncture can help to get rid of these ear, nose and throat (ENT) disorders and other diving medical issues is not well known to most divers around the globe.
ACUPUNCTURE
Acupuncture has a long history as a therapeutic treatment dating back to around 4,000 BC and the earliest acupuncture needles were made of sharpened stone. One of the oldest medical books is the
Neijing Suwen – compiled around
100 BC – which is written as a series of dialogues about internal diseases between the Yellow Emperor Huang Di and his physician. This book states that vital energy (qi) streams in our body through specific channels called meridians, which have connections with our organs (and each organ is connected to a specific emotion). Qi consists of a yin and yang component and these two opposites must be in balance with each other. If they are imbalanced, disease may occur. A Chinese medical diagnosis is based on an intake (medical history) combined with, among other things, pulse, tongue and facial diagnosis. This determines the selection of acupuncture points that need to be punctured and which food and/or lifestyle advice is required. Through the ages, the needles have gained a lot of subtlety and nowadays there are sterile and disposable acupuncture needles for single use, made of surgical stainless steel.
RIGHT: Janneke with her camera in Micronesia. Course “Diving Accidents” with the Scott Haldane Foundation, 2011
Dr. Simon Mitchell
IMAGE: