True Acupuncture or Classical Acupuncture
We have chosen to use the term “Classical” as a prefix for the simple reason that this level is truly the ancient understanding of this profound art. Although other styles may appropriately claim the term “Classical,” because they are literally based on the classical texts of Chinese Medicine, we believe that True Acupuncture contains the deeper understanding that is required to practice at this higher level. You will notice that we use the phrase “True Acupuncture” interchangeably with “Classical True Acupuncture.” Please don’t be confused by this. There are several reasons for it; however, the main reason is to differentiate it from research studies that use the phrase “true acupuncture.”
A different style of acupuncture
The practice of Classical True Acupuncture is considerably different than the practice of other levels and styles of acupuncture. For instance, we focus largely on pulse diagnosis of the radial pulses—pulse diagnosis that takes into account all the body’s systems, and their inter-related dependencies, while not only focusing on the mere quality of the pulse or just the symptoms. Therefore, you will note that Classical True Acupuncture practitioners will spend considerable time feeling the radial pulses before inserting any needles, as well as after insertion of each and every needle. Furthermore, when possible they will continue to feel the pulse while locating and needling the center of a true acupuncture point. This is done because we are concerned with needling the absolute center of an acupuncture point (an area 1 to 2 mm in diameter), for missing the center of the point by as much as 2 mm can reduce or nullify the effects of the treatment.
Without such detailed focus on the pulses and point location, Classical True Acupuncture can never be accomplished. Finally, you will note that we needle very few acupuncture points, typically only one to a few points during a treatment, and in rare cases or in conditions that require the application of the first two levels of acupuncture (more “branch” and local treatment), more needles may be utilized — the first two levels of acupuncture generally utilize many needles.
Lastly, Classical True Acupuncture does not require the considerable number of treatments that other levels and styles require. With Classical True Acupuncture, a practitioner may often reschedule you for a follow up visit simply to reevaluate how well the treatment is going and not for actual treatment. The theory is that if your body is responding to the treatment well, inserting more needles will only disrupt the body’s innate ability to heal itself. Only when the effects of the treatment begin to diminish should you be needled again; this may be a week to several weeks from your last needling.
If you have previously been told that you are required to have multiple treatments per week and for an extended period of time to see results, give Classical True Acupuncture a chance to prove that this is not true.
The acupuncture category
This is the acupuncture category for the True Acupuncture web site. All articles about acupuncture are listed here. Please note, to view articles in a sub-category you must go to that sub-category. Please browse all the articles that interest you and thank you for visiting the True Acupuncture web site.