4.29. Read the text and be ready to hold a q&a session: ask each other

questions and answer them basing on the text or your personal

knowledge of acupuncture. Have you ever turned to this therapy?

Acupuncture and Other Alternative Therapies

“As an acupuncturist I think it’s important to understand the philosophy of Chinese medicine, which includes the belief in Chi and the body’s energy flow. If you have an even flow of chi you are in good health. What acupuncture offers is an ability to tap into the Chi. It is then possible to readjust a person's flow of energy if it is has become unbalanced. Before I treat anybody, I take some time to study the patient’s medical history. I also read the body's pulses. We can take the pulses at twelve different places, and each place relates to different organ. From this information I can decide if there are any blockages in the flow of energy or indeed any surges of energy. It is at this point I decide where I’m going to insert the needles. These needles increase or reduce the flow of energy when they are twisted at the appropriate meridian points. Don’t worry - it doesn’t hurt and you won’t bleed.

There is great interest and acupuncturists have a long waiting list. The reason for this is partly because conventional medicine has become increasingly impersonal. Ordinary doctors are over-worked and don’t have enough time to spend on each patient. It is often easier and quicker for them to hand out pills than to give proper personal attention.

Now I believe that acupuncture can benefit most people suffering from disease or who are in pain. In China it is used as an anesthetic. I myself used it on my wife when she was having our last child. It certainty seemed to reduce her need for pain-killers.

What acupuncture does is encourage the body to heal itself, which is, after all, a natural tendency. There is nothing drastic about the treatment, and people feel more in control of their bodies than when they are subjected to all that high-tech equipment in a modern hospital.”

4.30. A) What ailments can be treated with alternative medicine? Should

there be any restrictions applied to alternative therapies?

b) Scan the text to pick up the main causes of migraine and the

methods of alternative medicine that can be used to treat it.

c) What treatment would you personally prefer if you had a migraine?

Alternative Therapies and Migraine

A great many people have headaches. For millions it’s a nuisance that can easily be cured by a couple of aspirin pills. For some, however, that headache becomes a nightmare. Headaches of such severity are nearly always due to migraine. Cases of migraine only increase largely due to stress of city living where noise and pollution are contributive factors. In addition, it’s recognized that particular foods and wine can bring on a migraine as well as inadequate sleep.

Conventionally, treatment with the painkillers is usually very effective especially if the patient suffers from nausea. A more successful approach is to use alternative therapy. Mild bouts of migraine can be relieved by homeopathic remedies, usually in the form of tablets which dissolve under the tongue and do not irritate the stomach.

Acupuncture produces excellent results in cases of sever migraine. Four needles applied to points of the face give rapid relief, and freedom from attacks can be achieved after as few as six treatment sessions.

Hypnosis is another technique which can be used. Many people misunderstand hypnosis. A hypnotic state is simply one of deep relaxation. You are still in complete control and can not be made to do anything against your will. Hypnosis is an effective cure for migraine, as it induces a trance in the patient and migraine attacks eventually disappear.