If you prick me, do I not bleed?
When Shakespeare was writing The Merchant of Venice, he was talking about the extent to which people are the same under the skin. But culture is more than skin deep and what one group of people find an everyday treatment, others find extraordinary. As an example, let’s take acupuncture. This is a technique perfected in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). Put most simply, the practitioners treat sickness and disease by sticking needles into their patients. There are complex diagrams identifying all the key points round the body and, by inserting needles at just the right points for each condition to be treated, you produce relief or a cure. To those in the West who are used to the idea of taking a tablet, acupuncture just looks like masochism, i.e. you feel so much better when the pain stops. But in China, there are more than two thousand years of experience in administering treatment this way and many medical hospitals in Asia and ASEAN include acupuncture as one of the therapies available to treat patients. The point of interest today is that China is now also adapting its techniques to produce aesthetic acupuncture to treat acne and premature baldness, and to promote weight loss.
Westerners are used to using a range of treatments for cosmetic problems such as acne and baldness. Some are available over the counter while others require a prescription. Accutane, being the most powerful treatment for acne, usually requires the approval of a dermatologist before it is prescribed. The treatment for acne in TCM relies on acupuncture, herbal preparations and a change in diet to food with a low fat content, low spiciness and not fried. The aim in the treatment is to improve the condition of the skin by stimulating the flow of blood around the face. This requires needles to be inserted in the upper back, shoulders and neck. Various infusions are also used together with a general recommendation to drink more dandelion tisane or chrysanthemum tea - popular drinks in the region to promote good health.
There is increasingly sound scientific evidence about the effectiveness of TCM as more Western researchers begin to study these century-old techniques. Results are not simply a placebo effect produced by the strength of the patient’s belief. There are verifiable “cures” when TCM, including acupuncture, is used. For Westerners, the question is of some importance. As it stands, the drug of final resort for the treatment of acne is accutane which has significant problems associated with its use by women of child-bearing age. If the same improvements seen among those who use acupuncture could be replicated in the West, would this not be a better way to treat a serious skin problem rather than having to rely on heavy-duty drugs with sometimes dangerous side effects? |
