Eastern vs. Western Acupuncture
What are the Differences between Eastern and Western Acupuncture?
Acupuncture originally developed in Ancient China thousands of years ago. However, the practice has taken on many forms over the centuries with different modalities, principles and terminologies created by other nations that adopted it. Knowing the differences between eastern and western methods may help you choose the best action and adjunctive treatment.
The Origin in the East
Stone knives and pointed rocks were the first needles that relieved stress and illness when acupuncture was first used in China during the Stone Age at around 3000 B.C. “Bian” or stone needles developed into bamboo or slivers of animal bone then finally into metal needles during the Bronze Age of the Shang Dynasty. The meridian system or channels of energy were also developed during this period.
During 475 to 221 B.C., moxibustion, meridian and viscera pathology, acupuncture points, indications, contraindications and 9 needles were added. More developments such as the use of fingers or “tsun”, herbs and acupressure were found from 960 to 1368 A.D.
Western Acceptance
Between 1644 and 1911, acupuncture and other traditional Chinese medicines were traded by China with other foreign countries such as Japan, France, Spain, Portugal and Korea despite a decree to ban the practice. By the 1900s, several Arabian, Asian and European countries have already discovered the therapeutic benefits and embraced acupuncture methods continuing research and development.
In the 1940s and 1950s, traditional Chinese methods were fused with Western discoveries to improve the system and techniques including acupuncture anesthesia. The United States was first introduced to the treatment in 1916 although it took almost 60 years before the nation accepted it as effective and reliable.
Understanding the Differences
Since Americans have a hard time understanding or accepting the Qi or vital energy that Chinese believe flows through a person’s system, acupuncture had to evolve into Western standards thus leading to the creation of modern or medical acupuncture. This is advantageous when trying to combine or use the traditional treatment with modern medicine as medical doctors, chiropractors, physical therapists and osteopaths use the same new terminologies, basis of diagnosis and treatments and systems.
Western acupuncture basically emphasizes the scientific perspective rather than the philosophical principles of TCM. The term “acupuncture” is actually Western derived from the Latin words “akus” and “pungere” which means needle and prick.
Traditional Chinese acupuncture has been practiced for thousands of years and is generally based on Taoist principles and elements of naturalism. TCM or traditional Chinese medicine is the revised structure of acupuncture and herbal medicine. Therefore it is actually a modern form of the treatment that has already been infused with western medical concepts. The new system uses known medical knowledge such as anatomy and physiology and is existent in hospitals and clinics in China for over half a century. Medical institutions in other parts of the globe like Japan, Korea and other European nations also use this new form of acupuncture.
East-West Comparison
1. Eastern acupuncture uses points and meridians in the body believed to channel Qi or vital energy through systems and organs. Western acupuncture ignores or reinterprets these acupuncture points since there is no scientific or physical basis that can verify the relative connection to diseases or the existence of such.
2. Eastern acupuncture is based on philosophical principles while western acupuncture works using modern biomedical understanding of anatomy, physiology and biochemistry. Concepts of disease in the West are taken from medical data and pathology studies. Concepts of disease in the East still use medical theories from ancient times.
3. The terminologies may also differ since Eastern acupuncture describes using a Taoist metaphor and common language while Western acupuncture describes using modern biomedicine.
4. Traditional acupuncturists see modern acupuncture as a degraded version of the original since it is usually only used in modern therapy in conjunction with mainstream medicine. Sessions using traditional approaches can use more needles and last for 20 to 60 minutes while modern acupuncture may use fewer ones lasting only for 2 to 10 minutes. Traditional practitioners refer to the new methods as “dry needling”.
5. Knowing where to insert the needles is a matter of knowing where the energy flows through the body for Eastern acupuncturists. Western practitioners however, use two principles namely the gate theory of pain and the existence of natural opiates in the body.
