We have all heard that acupuncture works mainly through the nervous system. But there is much more to it than that. I have been emphasizing the charge related effects that also influence the nervous system but also have effects independent of the nervous system. Now I want to go over ALL of the nervous system effects of acupuncture. As I explain in my books, there are different ways acupuncture influences the nervous system depending on what kind of treatment you are doing. Every time you stick a needle in the body (anywhere) you are moving charge (electrons) from the surface of the skin to collect under the skin. What effect that has depends a lot on what is going on in the nearby tissues. I can be helpful or harmful. Now if you put the needle in a classical acupuncture point (as I define it, not all “classical” points are truly classical points – the jia ji points are one example) you will have some effect on the nervous system. The electrons will make the nerve endings more sensitive. Typically you are sticking the needle down in the underlying muscle where the parasympathetic innervation at the point is. Stimulation of the parasympathetic innervation which is where the traditional functions of the point mostly come from. If you add heat to the point you will get not only the effect of stimulating the heat receptors, but also the effects of more structured water being built around the needle. That causes more negative charge at the needle and more positive charge in the surrounding extracellular fluid. The negative charge at the needle draws water to the needle by electro-osmosis. Depending on where you put the needle, you will influence the flow of extracellular fluid in the meridian. Done properly, you can help such problems as edema and peripheral nephropathies. If, however, you treat the problem as an issue with blood circulation and it is really due to poor circulation of extracellular fluid you will make the problem worse nut better.
Back to the nervous system. If you needle a classical point on a very anxious or nervous patient who’s nervous system is on high alert, they may feel the needle right away. The needle never gets to the parasympathetic innervation at the point. But you will still get the function the point is known for. Somehow the nervous system knows to do this. Just another thing no one has looked at.
Now when you do continuous electro-acupuncture you will get an adaptation response where the nervous system will begin to ignore input from that area, reducing pain.signals from that ares as well. In addition, if you are stimulating the parasympathetic nerve at the point, you will also reduce the propagation of signals from the area due to the gate control theory. That will also reduce pain. And if you use a frequency that stimulates release of endorphins, you will get additional pain relief. But if you use the wrong frequency, you can increase muscle tension and spasminess you will make the patient worse, not better.
Now if you are using a plum blossom or seven star hammer or roller/wheel to help with numbness, you are also depending on the role of the gate control theory. Here you are stimulating the sympathetic nerves just under the skin which causes the signals from the area to increase.
Now, when I was recovering from my first stroke, the scalp acupuncture I was doing on myself quit working at about the 2-1/4 year mark. It was about then that I learned about Frequency Specific Microcurrent (FSM). I thought maybe I could create a protocol that might make the scalp acupuncture work again. So I bought the equipment and designed a protocol based on how I understood acupuncture worked. And it worked! My scalp acupuncture began working again! And I even got it to work more timed in a row than I ever had before (6). Thus proving once again that my understanding of how acupuncture really works is correct! I’m just taking what others have done and applying it to acupuncture. My ideas usually work when I try them in my clinic (with the patient’s consent of course). But not all of my ideas work out. Sometimes there is some other factor at play that I have not thought of. But the vast majority of my ideas have worked. And I can explain how just about everything I do in my clinic works scientifically. Can you? Without using TCM jargon?
It is the sympathetic innervation at classical points that makes palpation and point locators so useful. When the part of the body or function that the point is related to is damaged or upset, a “stress response” is sent to the point through the sympathetic nervous system. That makes the point more sensitive on palpation and more electrically active so it can be readily found with a point detector. And the more sensitive it is either the patients nervous system is more sympathetic dominant or the more related the point is to the problem. And the more helpful the point is in treating the problem. By using palpation you can confirm your diagnosis and proposed treatment and show your patient you really know what you are doing.