The power of acupuncture proved its healing point
I closed my eyes, trying to forget about the dozens of tiny needles firmly inserted across my arm and fingers. I dared not move, because even a small change of posture could trigger a sharp pain, as if the long needle heads were ripping through my muscles.
This is how I sat, for two hours every day over the past month, in an acupuncture clinic in Sichuan province.
In that shabby and cramped room, I spent many long hours counting the clock, waiting for the moment for the doctor to remove my needles.
Growing up, I’ve always dismissed acupuncture as an old-fashioned pseudoscience. Its long treatment hours and painful processes, combined with a relatively slow recovery speed, means it’s not at all appealing, especially when the same illness could often be cured by simply taking a pill.
But the drama of my recent strange illness and recovery changed my mind completely.
Last month, when I slept through a long-haul flight from London to Beijing, I was shocked upon waking up to discover that I could no longer move my right arm and fingers. There was no pain, no bruise, no scar. Instead, my arm just simply did not follow my brain’s instructions to move, as if it no longer belonged to my body.
A doctor at the China-Japan Friendship Hospital diagnosed me with a neural injury. Aside from prescribing me with some pills and recommending that I see a physiotherapist, he admitted that there was nothing more he could do. “Rest for two months and come back for a checkup,” he told me.
I was horrified.
In that moment of despair, a longtime family friend, who is an acupuncturist in Sichuan, offered to help.
I started my acupuncture treatment the next day. If I was skeptical at first, my worries were soon appeased by the results. After a few days, I could move my fingers. Two weeks later, I could eat a meal with chopsticks. Within a month, my arm and fingers were almost back to their normal functions.
In that clinic, I made friends with many other patients and heard their stories.
An 11-year-old boy, who was born with severe autism, had started daily acupuncture treatment at the age of 3, and now he thinks and communicates quite normally. One woman, who suddenly became deaf in one ear two months ago, has just recovered her hearing abilities.
An elderly man, who strides across the room of the clinic every day to develop his walking abilities, had difficulty moving one leg. Other patients were getting treatment for jaw infections, colds, fevers, knee injuries, eczema, among other illnesses.
I could not help but marvel at how these tiny needles were capable of curing so many different illnesses, many of which even big hospitals with expensive medical devices struggle with. Is it magic? Or simply luck? My curiosity led me on a journey of investigation.
Acupuncture originated in China more than 2,000 years ago. Essentially, it functions by improving the smooth flow of life force energy, known in Chinese as qi, from the body’s primary organs to body tissues of the skin, muscles, tendons, bones and joints.
The channels through which qi flows from the organs to tissues are called meridians, and it is along the meridians where most acupuncture needle points are located. In other words, the needles work by repairing the infrastructure of our bodies, to ensure that the life force energy of qi can flow smoothly.
Although acupuncture by itself is insufficient to cure all illnesses, at least it creates a good starting point to build a healthy body.
In more recent times, acupuncture has spread internationally. In the United Kingdom, more than 3,000 acupuncturists certified by the British Acupuncture Council are practicing. London Southbank University offers a three-year undergraduate degree in acupuncture, and even the National Health Service covers acupuncture treatment.
Growing global acceptance has proved the strength of acupuncture, and I hope this wisdom of the Chinese tradition will continue to thrive, to bring health and happiness to friends here and afar.
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