Acupressure: Power in Simplicity

 If you have a nagging ache, hurt or just feel exhausted and worn out - call now for an acupressure session.   Mention this article and get the first session free!   

What is the biggest hurdle a practitioner of any of the 'touch' therapies has to jump?    How something so simple, so painless, so...... nothing.... can work.    But it does.   Even if a person doesn't feel that 'frisson' running down a leg or tingling in the toes or fingers, it is still working. 

Meridian Channels

The younger you are - yes, there is a prejudice to age in acupressure as in many things - the faster symptoms reverse themselves.   The reason is simple, younger cells react quicker than older cells on the average.   So younger people often feel "healed" in one session, while older, more chronic conditions often take more time.   By the same rule, a condition that is very new will often correct in only one treatment, or just two - even in an older person.    The lesson being - call in the early stages of symptoms and they will often clear immediately.

But getting back on track:    how can something - that feels like nothing - work?!

Acupressure is one of the foundations of Traditional Chinese Medicine, an over 5000 year old healing tradition.   It works by increasing circulation to areas of the body that have become congested, or stagnated, and the circulation compromised. 

 This can happen many different ways - injury or by the slow deterioration of circulation because of improper nutrition, lack of exercise or stress.   All have been documented as causes in chronic ailments.   Acupressure, acupuncture and many other bodywork therapies have been documented to be very beneficial for chronic health issues as well as acute ones.   Simplistically, it works by connected the dots (acupoint) along the meridian lines.  

Boulder, CO, Study Supports Acupressure in Treatment of Stroke

I have rarely found significant acupressure studies in medical literature.   I am excited to share a recent study done in Boulder, CO, using not just acupressure, but specifically Jin Shin – my specialty – in the treatment of stroke.    The testing was done with Jin Shin treatments and ‘placebo’ treatments to determine the effect on the Autonomic Nervous System.   The Autonomic Nervous System controls the breathing, heart function and is indicated in stress reduction.   The Sympathetic Nervous System is activated by stress and increases the functions of the heart, respirations, etc.   By increasing the effect on the ANS, the SNS is decreased, in other words – this treatment reduces the stressors that increase wear and tear on the heart and the vascular system.   These are also the systems that are often damaged in cases of stroke. 

The most interesting fact to be learned from this study was not that it helped – but that it didn’t help that much until after the 4^th treatment.   This study was conducted over 8 weeks, so for the first 4 weeks, there was no significant change.   I do not personally see this in my sessions, but we are not marking respiration, blood pressure, etc. as they were in this trial.   My stroke clients (not uncommon in any client) report feeling more relaxed, have better flexibility which improves gate, and generally sleep better.   None of these issues were part of the study and, therefore, were not reported. 

Here is an excerpt of the report which was authored by KL McFadden and TD Hernandez and printed in Complementary Therapies in Medicine (Feb. 2010.)

“Cardiovascular Benefits of Acupressure (Jin Shin) Following Stroke”