Electro-Acupuncture Medicine
I am very excited to say that I was fortunate enough to attend an Electro-Acupuncture Medicine Foundations course this first weekend in November, taught by Dr. Jeremy B. Steiner, DAOM - one of the more experienced practitioners in the field of electro-acupuncture. What is electro-acupuncture? As Steiner puts it, "Electro-acupuncture medicine (EAM) is a field of potential diagnostic and treatment techniques which uses acupuncture and electricity to modulate, enhance, or trigger the human body to produce and secrete medicinal molecules or to regulate physiology (November, 2017)." Instead of manually manipulating the acupuncture needles by hand, electro-acupuncture allows licensed practitioners like myself to precisely control the strength and time of needle manipulation during acupuncture treatment for a patient by the application of a pulsating electrical current to the acupuncture needles. Why is needle manipulation important? Manipulation helps strengthen the effect of the needles on the body's physiological system - increasing the likelihood that the targeted body system will be activated. Using the same points as traditional acupuncture, electro-acupuncture is a convenient stimulation technique that can be used for a variety of ailments. In cases of stubborn neurological disorders and chronic pain, electro-acupuncture may be the best option for point stimulation and effective treatments. Electro-acupuncture has resulted in especially good outcomes for neurological diseases, chronic pain, spasms, and paralysis (Pacific College of Oriental Medicine). With knowledge of this medicinal technique, I am excited to start offering it more in my practice to help patients, particularly those with muscle spasms, cramps and pains and for neurological disorders, including symptoms such as tingling or numbness of the extremities.
