6/14/2006: Traditional Chinese medicine

[Happy Monkey]

Originally Posted by Owl

Hey there! Yep it's called cupping and it works--well for my gf's asthma, anyway

Hmm. Laying down and relaxing with suction cups attached helps her breathe better?

It might even work without the suction cups!

[Owl]

Thanks for the nice welcome.
Heh.
Not far-east, i'm in Midwest, heh. :-)

[Kitsune]

Originally Posted by Ibram

One traditional chinese procedure is to use extremely powerful suction cups / vacuums on your skin, leaving GIANT round bruises.

So, they're not just for lifting floor tiles, anymore?

"Hand me the Parton Extender, please..."

[Flint]

Originally Posted by Kitsune

So, they're not just for lifting floor tiles, anymore?

No, dude, that's the doorstop for the IT machine room.

[srom]

when i first saw the picture, i thought the walnut was just a seriously swollen eye.

holistic medicine is cool.

[Pancake Man]

I'm sorry, but I must say it. Why does that old lady have a super-sized marijuana cig?

[xoxoxoBruce]

She would have to be stoned to let them stick a burning cigar in each ear and a walnut in her eye.

[Shawnee123]

Originally Posted by Happy Monkey

Hmm. Laying down and relaxing with suction cups attached helps her breathe better?

It might even work without the suction cups!

Good point. In fact, I think that is the basis of much of those types of "medicine." Kind of a mind over matter thing. If you are concentrating on the sucking of your skin, or a walnut in your eye, or needles sticking out of various body parts, you may be relaxing and not thinking of whatever ails you, therefore aiding the process of healing.

But I'm not a doctor, I just play one on TV.

[magilla]

My father-in-law was trained in both traditional Chinese and western medicine. I asked him once if he knew any acupressure that would help me quit smoking (he was retired when he came here, so never got licensed for acupuncture). He said yes, grabbed my arm and squeezed. I figured if someone did that to me every time I started to light up, I'd quit in no time. (Zyban for a week finally did the trick, thank you.)

[magilla]

Originally Posted by Shawnee123

Good point. In fact, I think that is the basis of much of those types of "medicine." Kind of a mind over matter thing. If you are concentrating on the sucking of your skin, or a walnut in your eye, or needles sticking out of various body parts, you may be relaxing and not thinking of whatever ails you, therefore aiding the process of healing.

But I'm not a doctor, I just play one on TV.

It's called the placebo effect.

Chris

[footfootfoot]

Yes, but can chinese medicine cure Ed Zachary disease?

[Karenv]

Okay, here is where I reveal myself as a Doctor of Traditional Oriental Medicine, US and China trained, and a purveyor of moxabustion, cupping, needling and similar practices that may seem quite bizarre but which generally work.

Now, it isn't just placebo, but ALL medicine, including magilla's Zyban works better if it engages the placebo response. And placebo, for those of you who think it means "fake" really means engaging your body's own defenses to fight disease. (Magilla, btw, ear needling using the NADA protocal works better than grabbing pressure points on the arm. I have even used it effectively with crack addicts, along with counselling.)

Cupping, which is used extensively in a number of cultures- Russians, Italians, Egyptians, Chinese, Japanese, Koreans, Vietnamese, other Africans- works by
stimulating circulation and the immune response expressed through the blood, with some nerve stimulation thrown in for good measure. I have used it to lower blood pressure and once to stop hiccouping of several days duration. It may be acompanied by pricking the skin first, which yes does draw blood and sets off an immune cascade.

Now I have never seen the opthamologic moxa eyeglasses, or a moxa stick in the ear. The techniques taught in US schools are somewhat limited. Although they told us that an acupuncture student should always have a blister from direct moxa on Stomach 36, I never met anyone here who followed that advice. If you make a tiny cone of moxa and light it on a watermelon it will make a laser-like hole through the middle of the melon. Mugwort has some very cool properties.

[Karenv]

Originally Posted by Griff

I've seen the results on the back of a child. I wonder how it would have played out if his teacher didn't know where they came from...?

In NYC where I am located, the population is international enough that teachers tend to know about cupping*. But most acupuncturists have heard enough horror stories that they provide a printed notice about the treatment for the child to bring to school or to carry around.

Although no one has actually been found liable for anything, some acupuncturists have had to cancel appointments and give depositions or go to court.

*But not enough- when my son went on a tour of the Tenement Museum on the Lower East Side, they didn't believe him when he correctly identified the cups.

[Kitsune]

Originally Posted by Karenv

And placebo, for those of you who think it means "fake" really means engaging your body's own defenses to fight disease.

Care to explain this theory? I've never heard of anything suggesting placebos trigger an immune/defense response other than those that are conditioned responses. The other prominent theory, the exectancy theory, certainly doesn't follow your idea, either.

[barefoot serpent]

Originally Posted by Karenv

Cupping, ... I have used it to stop hiccouping of several days duration.

cupping to stop hiccupping...

or did the thought of the process just scare them enough?