MEDICINE

By: Bianca P. Have you ever been afraid of needles? Well, don't think of it as a painful thing! Imagine needles being calm and relaxing. The Chinese use it as a relaxing treatment to cure people. The idea comes from the Taoist tradition, which goes back 8,000 years. The people of this time would meditate and observe the connections between man and its nature and universe. By observing nature, he created the first two symbols; yin and yang. These symbols represented creation and reception. This theory has influenced many types of Chinese medicine. The actual procedure doesn't hurt at all! The needles that are put into your skin are hair thin, so you can barely ever feel it. If there is any pain at all, it is only for a short time and it is light. Acupuncture is mainly used for back and neck pain. The results of acupuncture are relaxing. The pain is greatly reduced and it almost always works. Some patients even report back feeling energized. **Acupuncture Needles****. [Online image] http://babble.com/CS/blogs/strollerderby/acupuncture.jpg] Available** **,** **March 24, 2009****.**



By: Christina Y 
==Has the word 'massage' every come to mind when you think about medicine or healing people or anything of that sort? Well, the Chinese have used tihs ancient way of healing called Tui Na. Tui Na, in a way, is like a massage therapy. People who have a career in doing this, use techniques that they believe will create a more balanced flow of Qi, or energy that flows in your body. The Chinese believed that by creating this balanced flow, will help the body to heal by itself. Tui Na "includes the use of hand techniques to massage the soft tissues of the body, acupressure techniques to directly affect the flow of Qi, and manipulation techniques for bone-setting," or fixing the bones and muscles of the body (__TMC Health-Info__). Tui Na is mainly used to treat problems with the mucles or bones, problems with stress, and problems with the digestive system, respiratory system , and the reproductive system. Tui Na is not a relaxing massage so it must only be used with needed. ==  "A man getting a Tui Na massage" Available: http://cdn-www.expertvillage.com/showImage.aspx?site=21&fn=chinese-massage-plucking.jpg, March 22, 2009

By: Christina Y 
==Did you know that the Chinese used glass cups to heal people? They called it 'cupping'. What they did was first, they heated the glass cups by putting something that's burning inside the cup. This "removes all the oxygen, creating a vacuum. Then, the cup is turned upside-down (with the burning thing removed) and placed on specific acupoints* of the body. The vacuum created by the lack of oxygen anchors* the cup to the skin and pulls it upward on the inside of the glass," (__Acupuncure Today__). They did this to get the blood flowing in the body and they believe that it will take out all the bad thing from the body. Cupping is mainly used to take care of breathing problems such as asthma, other problems with bones, and also to help lessen certain pains. Sometimes, pumps are used now instead of cups. ==


 * acupoints-certains places on the body where needles for acupuncture are used.
 * anchors-to hold on to



"The steps for cupping" Available: http://www.shen-nong.com/eng/images/exam/speciality_cancer2/cupping-techniques.jpg March 21, 2009



  By: Christina Y ==You've heard of 'acupuncture', but did you know that the Chinese also created a method that uses fire? Moxibustion is like acupuncture but it uses a plant called mugwort, fire, and sometimes needles. “a form of heat therapy that uses the grounded up mugwort,”(__Ancient Way Acupuncture & Herbs, Inc)__ and there are 2 different ways of doing this treatment called, direct and indirect moxibustion. Direct moxibustion is when the grounded up-when it has been turned into powder-mugwort is put on top of an acupoint. Then, it is ignited, or set on fire, while it's still on the skin. They sometimes leave it there until it's all gone but if they do, it leaves scars on the skin, making it very painful. However, sometimes they put out the fire and take it away before it touches the skin. Indirect moxibustion can be done in 2 different ways too. One way is when the mugwort is rolled up into a shape of a cigareete. Then, one end of the cigarette is lit and is held near the place of the body that needs to be treated until it turns red. Another way is when <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">“a needle is inserted* into an acupoint and the outer end is wrapped with the mugwort and is ignited, generating* heat to the point and the surrounding area,” (__Ancient Way Acupuncture & Herbs, Inc)__. Moxibustion is used when a person has a cold or feels a bit sluggish. == ==<span style="color: rgb(0, 128, 0);"><span style="font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 128, 0); line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> <span style="font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">*inserted-put into ==

[[image:Moxa02.jpg]]"Indirect Moxibustion" Available http://www.yinyanghouse.com/files/u2/moxibustion_roll_arm.jpg March 20, 2009
Works Cited: <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">Allen, Marilyn. “Cupping: An Introduction.” __Acupuncture Today.__ 23 February 2009 <http://www.acupuncturetoday.com/mpacms/at/home.php> "American Cancer Society." __Acupuncture.__ 21 February 2009 <http://www.cancer.org/docroot/ETO/content/ETO_5_3X_Acupuncture.asp> O’Neil, Kevin. “Moxibustion.” __Ancient Way Acupuncture & Herbs, Inc.__ 22 February 2009 <http://www.ancientway.com/Pages/Moxibustion.html> West TCM. “Tui Na(tuina)-Chinese Bodywork Massage Therapy.” __TCM Health-Info.__ 22 February 2009 <http://tem.health-info.org/tuina/tem-tuina-massage.htm>

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