Acupressure is a form of touch therapy that utilizes
the principles of acupuncture and Chinese medicine. In
acupressure, the same points on the body are used as in
acupuncture, but are stimulated with finger pressure instead
of with the insertion of needles. Acupressure is
used to relieve a variety of symptoms and pain.
Origins
One of the oldest text of Chinese medicine is the
Huang Di, The Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Internal
Medicine, which may be at least 2,000 years old. Chinese
medicine has developed acupuncture, acupressure, herbal
remedies, diet, exercise, lifestyle changes, and other
remedies as part of its healing methods. Nearly all of the
forms of Oriental medicine that are used in the West
today, including acupuncture, acupressure, shiatsu, and
Chinese herbal medicine, have their roots in Chinese
medicine. One legend has it that acupuncture and acupressure
evolved as early Chinese healers studied the
puncture wounds of Chinese warriors, noting that certain
points on the body created interesting results when stimulated.
The oldest known text specifically on acupuncture
points, the Systematic Classic of Acupuncture, dates back
to 282 A.D. Acupressure is the non-invasive form of
acupuncture, as Chinese physicians determined that stimulating
points on the body with massage and pressure
could be effective for treating certain problems.
Outside of Asian-American communities, Chinese
medicine remained virtually unknown in the United
States until the 1970s, when Richard Nixon became the
first U.S. president to visit China. On Nixon’s trip, journalists
were amazed to observe major operations being
performed on patients without the use of anesthetics. Instead,
wide-awake patients were being operated on, with
only acupuncture needles inserted into them to control
pain. At that time, a famous columnist for the New York
Times, James Reston, had to undergo surgery and elected
to use acupuncture for anesthesia. Later, he wrote some
convincing stories on its effectiveness. Despite being neglected
by mainstream medicine and the American Medical
Association (AMA), acupuncture and Chinese medicine
became a central to alternative medicine practitioners
in the United States. Today, there are millions of patients
who attest to its effectiveness, and nearly 9,000
practitioners in all 50 states.
Acupressure is practiced as a treatment by Chinese
medicine practitioners and acupuncturists, as well as by
massage therapists. Most massage schools in American
include acupressure techniques as part of their bodywork
programs. Shiatsu massage is very closely related to acupressure,
working with the same points on the body and
the same general principles, although it was developed
over centuries in Japan rather than in China. Reflexology
is a form of bodywork based on acupressure concepts.
Jin Shin Do is a bodywork technique with an increasing
number of practitioners in America that combines acupressure
and shiatsu principles with qigong, Reichian
theory, and meditation.
Benefits
Acupressure massage performed by a therapist can
be very effective both as prevention and as a treatment
for many health conditions, including headaches, general
aches and pains, colds and flu, arthritis, allergies, asthma,
nervous tension, menstrual cramps, sinus problems,
sprains, tennis elbow, and toothaches, among others.
Unlike acupuncture which requires a visit to a professional,
acupressure can be performed by a layperson.
Acupressure techniques are fairly easy to learn, and have
been used to provide quick, cost-free, and effective relief
from many symptoms. Acupressure points can also be
stimulated to increase energy and feelings of well-being,
reduce stress, stimulate the immune system, and alleviate
sexual dysfunction.
Description
Acupressure and Chinese medicine
Chinese medicine views the body as a small part of
the universe, subject to laws and principles of harmony
and balance. Chinese medicine does not make as sharp a
destinction as Western medicine does between mind and
body. The Chinese system believes that emotions and
mental states are every bit as influential on disease as
purely physical mechanisms, and considers factors like
work, environment, and relationships as fundamental to a
patient’s health. Chinese medicine also uses very different
symbols and ideas to discuss the body and health. While
Western medicine typically describes health as mainly
physical processes composed of chemical equations and
reactions, the Chinese use ideas like yin and yang, chi, and
the organ system to describe health and the body.
Everything in the universe has properties of yin and
yang. Yin is associated with cold, female, passive, downward,
inward, dark, wet. Yang can be described as hot,
male, active, upward, outward, light, dry, and so on.
Nothing is either completely yin or yang. These two
principles always interact and affect each other, although
the body and its organs can become imbalanced by having
either too much or too little of either.
Chi (pronounced chee, also spelled qi or ki in Japanese
shiatsu) is the fundamental life energy. It is found in
food, air, water, and sunlight, and it travels through the
body in channels called meridians. There are 12 major
meridians in the body that transport chi, corresponding
to the 12 main organs categorized by Chinese medicine.
Disease is viewed as an imbalance of the organs and
chi in the body. Chinese medicine has developed intricate
systems of how organs are related to physical and
mental symptoms, and it has devised corresponding
treatments using the meridian and pressure point networks
that are classified and numbered. The goal of acupressure,
and acupuncture, is to stimulate and unblock
the circulation of chi, by activating very specific points,
called pressure points or acupoints. Acupressure seeks to
stimulate the points on the chi meridians that pass close
to the skin, as these are easiest to unblock and manipulate
with finger pressure.
Acupressure can be used as part of a Chinese physician’s
prescription, as a session of massage therapy, or
as a self-treatment for common aches and illnesses. A
Chinese medicine practitioner examines a patient very
thoroughly, looking at physical, mental and emotional activity, taking the pulse usually at the wrists, examining
the tongue and complexion, and observing the patient’s
demeanor and attitude, to get a complete diagnosis of
which organs and meridian points are out of balance.
When the imbalance is located, the physician will recommend
specific pressure points for acupuncture or acupressure.
If acupressure is recommended, the patient might
opt for a series of treatments from a massage therapist.
In massage therapy, acupressurists will evaluate a
patient’s symptoms and overall health, but a massage
therapist’s diagnostic training isn’t as extensive as a Chinese
physician’s. In a massage therapy treatment, a person
usually lies down on a table or mat, with thin clothing
on. The acupressurist will gently feel and palpate the
abdomen and other parts of the body to determine energy
imbalances. Then, the therapist will work with different
meridians throughout the body, depending on which organs
are imbalanced in the abdomen. The therapist will
use different types of finger movements and pressure on
different acupoints, depending on whether the chi needs
to be increased or dispersed at different points. The therapist
observes and guides the energy flow through the
patient’s body throughout the session. Sometimes, special
herbs (Artemesia vulgaris or moxa) may be placed
on a point to warm it, a process called moxibustion. A
session of acupressure is generally a very pleasant experience,
and some people experience great benefit immediately.
For more chronic conditions, several sessions
may be necessary to relieve and improve conditions.
Acupressure massage usually costs from $30–70 per
hour session. A visit to a Chinese medicine physician or
acupuncturist can be more expensive, comparable to a
visit to an allopathic physician if the practitioner is an
MD. Insurance reimbursement varies widely, and consumers
should be aware if their policies cover alternative
treatment, acupuncture, or massage therapy.
Self-treatment
Acupressure is easy to learn, and there are many
good books that illustrate the position of acupoints and
meridians on the body. It is also very versatile, as it can
be done anywhere, and it’s a good form of treatment for
spouses and partners to give to each other and for parents
to perform on children for minor conditions.
While giving self-treatment or performing acupressure
on another, a mental attitude of calmness and attention
is important, as one person’s energy can be used to
help another’s. Loose, thin clothing is recommended.
There are three general techniques for stimulating a pressure
point.
• Tonifying is meant to strengthen weak chi, and is done
by pressing the thumb or finger into an acupoint with a
firm, steady pressure, holding it for up to two minutes.
• Dispersing is meant to move stagnant or blocked chi,
and the finger or thumb is moved in a circular motion
or slightly in and out of the point for two minutes.
• Calming the chi in a pressure point utilizes the palm to
cover the point and gently stroke the area for about two
minutes.
There are many pressure points that are easily found
and memorized to treat common ailments from
headaches to colds.
• For headaches, toothaches, sinus problems, and pain in
the upper body, the “LI4” point is recommended. It is
located in the web between the thumb and index finger,
on the back of the hand. Using the thumb and index finger
of the other hand, apply a pinching pressure until
the point is felt, and hold it for two minutes. Pregnant
women should never press this point.
• To calm the nerves and stimulate digestion, find the
“CV12” point that is four thumb widths above the
navel in the center of the abdomen. Calm the point with
the palm, using gentle stroking for several minutes.
• To stimulate the immune system, find the “TH5” point
on the back of the forearm two thumb widths above the
wrist. Use a dispersing technique, or circular pressure
with the thumb or finger, for two minutes on each arm.
• For headaches, sinus congestion, and tension, locate
the “GB20” points at the base of the skull in the back
of the head, just behind the bones in back of the ears.
Disperse these points for two minutes with the fingers
or thumbs. Also find the “yintang” point, which is in
the middle of the forehead between the eyebrows. Disperse
it with gentle pressure for two minutes to clear
the mind and to relieve headaches.
Precautions
Acupressure is a safe technique, but it is not meant
to replace professional health care. A physician should
always be consulted when there are doubts about medical
conditions. If a condition is chronic, a professional
should be consulted; purely symptomatic treatment
can exacerbate chronic conditions. Acupressure should
not be applied to open wounds, or where there is
swelling and inflammation. Areas of scar tissue, blisters,
boils, rashes, or varicose veins should be avoided.
Finally, certain acupressure points should not be
stimulated on people with high or low blood pressure
and on pregnant women.
Research & general acceptance
In general, Chinese medicine has been slow to gain
acceptance in the West, mainly because it rests on ideas
very foreign to the scientific model. For instance, Western
scientists have trouble with the idea of chi, the invisible
energy of the body, and the idea that pressing on certain
points can alleviate certain conditions seems sometimes
too simple for scientists to believe.
Western scientists, in trying to account for the action
of acupressure, have theorized that chi is actually part of
the neuroendocrine system of the body. Celebrated orthopedic
surgeon Robert O. Becker, who was twice nominated
for the Nobel Prize, wrote a book on the subject
called Cross Currents: The Promise of Electromedicine;
The Perils of Electropollution. By using precise electrical
measuring devices, Becker and his colleagues
showed that the body has a complex web of electromagnetic
energy, and that traditional acupressure meridians
and points contained amounts of energy that non-acupressure
points did not.
The mechanisms of acupuncture and acupressure remain
difficult to document in terms of the biochemical
processes involved; numerous testimonials are the primary
evidence backing up the effectiveness of acupressure and acupuncture. However, a body of research is
growing that verifies the effectiveness in acupressure and
acupuncture techniques in treating many problems and
in controlling pain.
Training & certification
There are two routes to becoming trained in the skill
of acupressure. The first is training in traditional
acupuncture and Chinese medicine, which has many
schools and certifying bodies around the country. The
majority of acupressure practitioners are trained as certified
massage therapists, either as acupressure or shiatsu
specialists.
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