Acupuncturist and Chinese Medicine Practitioner Emily Farish joins the show to discuss the origins of acupuncture, how acupuncture works, and who typically benefits from treatment. She also shares her knowledge of Chinese herbal medicine and explains how it compliments using acupuncture. Prepare for a wealth of information!
Show Notes
This episode focuses on 5 main topics, which are listed below.
- Topic 1: The history of acupuncture. Emily explains how acupuncture is simply one tool used in Chinese medicine, which has been evolving for the last 3,000-5,000 years. She also goes into detail about how pulse reading is a valuable diagnostic tool that helps her determine where to direct the acupuncture treatment (as well as which herbs/supplements to recommend).
- Topic 2: How does acupuncture work? Once you figure out the area you want to target with acupuncture, you now know which points to focus on. Essentially, using specific acupuncture points helps direct the brain’s attention to that specific area. This is a neurological approach. In addition, the points also tell the brain where to direct additional blood flow. Another way to think of this is that acupuncture helps the body direct its energy, which has loosely be thought of as “Chi”. Emily also explains that the definition of Chi isn’t quite that simple, but it’s a good working model for most of us!
- Topic 3: Health benefits of acupuncture. There are a number of symptoms and conditions that acupuncture can help with. This includes helping people with pain, fatigue, sleep issues, inflammation, digestive issues and neuropathy (just to name a few). Acupuncture is also a “holistic” approach, meaning that it aims to improve the function of the overall system. One way it does this is by helping to calm the nervous system, which allows the body to relax, recover and heal. In medical terms, we refer to this as activating the “parasympathetic” nervous system, which we discuss in detail on the episode.
- Topic 4: Common Misconceptions & Questions. The biggest question people typically have is in regards to if the needles will hurt and how deep they go. Emily explains that the depth of the needles depends on the target of the treatment, but for the most part the needles don’t go in very deep and are completely painless. Emily also explains that she expects her clients to start experiencing positive results from treatment within the first 3-4 sessions.
- Topic 5: Herbal Medicine. Emily talks about herbal medicine throughout the podcast, as it is an integral part of Chinese medicine and works hand-in-hand with acupuncture. We don’t go into specifics regarding the herbs, as we focused on acupuncture instead.
If you’d like to learn more about how working with Emily might benefit your health, she’s happy to speak with you on the phone. Simply call the number below to arrange a phone consultation. She also offers a 20-minute in-person consultation so that you can meet her and discuss your situation before committing to any type of treatment. Her information is below.
Thank you for listening to the “Stay Healthy Spokane” podcast! If you have any comments/questions or ideas for future topics, please reach out to Luke at Luke@GordonPhysicalTherapy.com
