Acupuncture has been used in China for over 4000 years. Dr Monk has practised it full time for more than 20 years.
Increased understanding of how acupuncture works has led to a growing acceptance by the medical profession in the West, and we now have a strong scientific basis for its use. A great deal of reliable research in the last twenty years allows us to use acupuncture in a modern and effective way for many medical problems, not just for pain relief.
In this practice we use very fine disposable needles which are used once and then destroyed. Most people find acupuncture is almost pain free, and indeed it often produces a sense of relaxation.
How acupuncture works at present there are 2 main theories explaining why acupuncture is effective. The first is the neurohumoral mechanism. Research shows that fine needles inserted into the body stimulate the release of many different chemicals which transmit information in the brain and nervous system (hormones and neurotransmitters).
This neurohumoral approach has been instrumental in establishing the scientific validity of acupuncture, but it has become obvious that it cannot explain all the effects that we observe in acupuncture.
More recently the concept of 'morphogenetic singularity' has emerged which helps to explain several longstanding puzzles in developmental biology and acupuncture research.
In the development of the human from the embryo (morphogenesis), organising centres (known as singularity points) appear and these control and guide the way in which the body is formed. This is thought to be by variations in the bioelectric field of the body. Singularity points have much in common with acupuncture points, and their importance lies in the fact that they may represent a system of control which in evolution preceded all other physiological systems including the nervous system. Acupuncture produces electrical changes locally at these points and generally within the body and so achieves important regulatory and balancing or normalising functions.
How acupuncture can be used. There are many different ways in which acupuncture can be used, from trigger point needling (which can be deep or superficial), minimal needling, segmental needling, Intramuscular Stimulation (IMS) to Traditional Chinese Medicine. Dr Monk uses a western scientific approach drawing on all of these different strands.
