The first thing that a practitioner should experience is that even a slight manipulation of needling can bring the subtle change of the body. Manipulation of needling here is not a deep insertion, but a shallow needling, and one has to know that it can affect the sense and tone of the skin both subjectively and objectively.
The generally recognized effect of acupuncture is that a needle should be inserted in a certain depth for a certain period to give certain stimulation to get a result of needling. This view is mainly based on the neurological theory of the western medicine, and in other words, the misunderstanding that more stimulation brings more the treatment effect is.
However, acupuncture treatment can never be like that, rather, the most important is to give the most suitable stimulation that the body requires, and it engenders the most appropriate treatment effect.
Moreover, the structure of the body is based on multiple layers of qi, so to perform needling on the deep area abruptly is a forcible manner to the body, and the treatment effect can vary.
One has to know that the body is always changing, so acupuncture treatment should be adjustable to its change, requiring the fluid manipulation of needling. Abdominal contact needling is the first step of the treatment based on such an idea.
*This article is translated from the book of "Toyo igaku koza dai 10 kan, Keiraku-Shakuju chiryo hen (Oriental Medicine Lectures, Vol.10, Meridian Shakuju Treatment)"
Saturday, August 4, 2012
Chill
A chill is the condition of feeling cold and shivering, in such a state, even one put a blanket on, the feeling of coldness stays. This is considered that one has the coldness from the core of the body to the surface of the body, in other words, the movement of the qi is getting weak systemically.
However, shivering means that the body still has power. If one loses the force of body qi, one cannot even shiver. In an extremely strong chill, during the period recovering from it, one sometimes gets fever and sweat on the contrary, but this indicates the body qi is getting stronger, so it is a good phenomenon.
The cause of a chill should be found in the temporally close past, so when one looks back one's daily life, it would be easily understandable. Generally speaking, a chill is one of symptoms of a cold, but one should be careful when it accompanies a pain in the abdomen.
(Note)
A chill accompanying a pain in the abdomen is the condition when one's energy gets lowered more, so it requires a professional examination and treatment.
*This article is translated from "Yamai hitokuchi Memo" p. 165, written by Shoji Kobayashi, 2005.
However, shivering means that the body still has power. If one loses the force of body qi, one cannot even shiver. In an extremely strong chill, during the period recovering from it, one sometimes gets fever and sweat on the contrary, but this indicates the body qi is getting stronger, so it is a good phenomenon.
The cause of a chill should be found in the temporally close past, so when one looks back one's daily life, it would be easily understandable. Generally speaking, a chill is one of symptoms of a cold, but one should be careful when it accompanies a pain in the abdomen.
(Note)
A chill accompanying a pain in the abdomen is the condition when one's energy gets lowered more, so it requires a professional examination and treatment.
*This article is translated from "Yamai hitokuchi Memo" p. 165, written by Shoji Kobayashi, 2005.
Thursday, August 2, 2012
Heat
Whether one has heat or not is scaled by a thermometor, but it can be also known by comparing the pulse rate, the temperature of the forehead and languor with one's normal condition.
*This article is translated from "Yamai hitokuchi Memo" p. 163-4, written by Shoji Kobayashi, 2005.
Rather, it is far more important to get accustomed to judge one's own condition of the body than caring about deciminal one or two numbers showed in the thermometor. One can lighten the psychological burden to taking account of small change of temperature.
Except high fever, there is no criteria, such as more than what degree may harm the body, and also heat is not necessary to be shown as high fever in the thermometor all the time, it is very important to know the condition of heat checking disorders of the body.
Heat symptoms are evaluated from the body conditions, such as fatigue, the color of the face gets red, the whole body, of course the forehead as well, is getting hot, increased pulse rate and so on.
Heat indicates that the movement of qi of the body gets overactive, but one should not judge to lower the temperature as soon as one gets feverish. Fever is the condition that one cannot control the heat because the power of qi of inner organs to govern the movement of the body smoothly decreases and brings coldness in the center of the body. Basically, the body needs a rest, so it is better not to lower temperature forcibly to work or something.
(Note)
1. When one gets fever, one tends to think to use an ice bag to alleviate fever, but it should be done after the treatment such as acupuncture. The treatment is to give power to the qi of the body and to diminish the coldness of the core of the body, so if one uses an ice bag after the treatment, it does not cool the body so much.
2. When one has fever, one should not take a bath. Taking a bath is consuming the qi of the body, so it deteriorates the fever more.
3. Slight fever continuing for a long time, sudden high fever, symptoms with a chill, strong pain somewhere in the body, such as the head and the abdomen, something wrong with one's consciousness are emergency conditions, requiring professional examination and treatment.
*This article is translated from "Yamai hitokuchi Memo" p. 163-4, written by Shoji Kobayashi, 2005.
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Meridians
There are some patients who say that they feel something moving down to the leg, though the needle is applied on the abdomen, or "electricity running" and so on.
This means that the patient has something irregular down the leg. It is very common to perform needling on the limbs or back though, for example, the patient has a headache.
Especially the feeling as if the electricity is running in the body is like the lightning streaks down the ground. The path such the electricity runs is expressed as "meridian" in Oriental medicine. As the lightning is called as "electricity", the power, qi, is running the all over the body.
Such responses of meridians were used to be very common long time ago, but now people have lost such senses, so this is not what everybody can feel. However, the fact that applying the needle on certain point can actually cure the disorder which appears far away from the point. This is understood as the qi is transferred from the point where the needle is applied, through the meridian and reaches at the affected area, in other words, the unbalance of qi is adjusted.
However, does the qi really run through the meridian that you expect?? There is no way to prove it, so this is quite uncertain. Because, it is also common that the lightning streaks through the meridian that you never anticipate. Even the qi runs through the meridian, it is very modern point of view (!) to think that the qi runs where one expects.
Rather, it is more practical to think that the symptom, such as a headache, is one of reference points indicating the unbalance of qi of the whole body, in other words, as the tip of the iceberg.
The movement of qi is more open and generous. It is the power to move all over the body, not limited only via the path of certain meridians.
*This is translated from the article by Kobayashi sensei, "Taishido Times Square" vol.16
This means that the patient has something irregular down the leg. It is very common to perform needling on the limbs or back though, for example, the patient has a headache.
Especially the feeling as if the electricity is running in the body is like the lightning streaks down the ground. The path such the electricity runs is expressed as "meridian" in Oriental medicine. As the lightning is called as "electricity", the power, qi, is running the all over the body.
Such responses of meridians were used to be very common long time ago, but now people have lost such senses, so this is not what everybody can feel. However, the fact that applying the needle on certain point can actually cure the disorder which appears far away from the point. This is understood as the qi is transferred from the point where the needle is applied, through the meridian and reaches at the affected area, in other words, the unbalance of qi is adjusted.
However, does the qi really run through the meridian that you expect?? There is no way to prove it, so this is quite uncertain. Because, it is also common that the lightning streaks through the meridian that you never anticipate. Even the qi runs through the meridian, it is very modern point of view (!) to think that the qi runs where one expects.
Rather, it is more practical to think that the symptom, such as a headache, is one of reference points indicating the unbalance of qi of the whole body, in other words, as the tip of the iceberg.
The movement of qi is more open and generous. It is the power to move all over the body, not limited only via the path of certain meridians.
*This is translated from the article by Kobayashi sensei, "Taishido Times Square" vol.16
Saturday, July 14, 2012
Listlessness and heaviness of the body
There are three types of feeling listless chronically, mentioned below.
1. Feeling listless from waking up and during the morning.
2. Feeling listless in the afternoon and the evening.
3. Feeling listless the whole day.
When you feel weary only one day today, you can guess its cause thinking back what you did the day before.
The case when one feels dullness of the body from waking up and during the morning chronically is the type that one can accumulate the qi of the body by being active. One does not move the body during the night and the air becomes cooled down, so his/her power of qi gets weak in the next morning. This is the reason why one feels listless in the morning,.
Likewise, the case one feels listless or heaviness of the body in the afternoon and evening is the type one exhausts the body qi because of the daily activity. For this type, one has not to exhaust the energy during the night.
The third case, feeling listless the whole day means it is the more severe case than these two cases. The vital energy is getting weak overall, one exhausts the qi of the body by daily activities and he/she cannot fill the energy up during the night.
If one finds out the cause of such weakness of the body qi, one has to eliminate it. For example, the practitioner has to find out if the person always goes to bed after the midnight, he/she has enough sleep, whether the amount of the foods he/she takes are too little or too much, if he/she takes any medication regularly, if he/she is overwork, if the work environment is too cold, if he/she has excessive sexual life, if she is too active during her period, and as a matter of congenital qi, if one's family member or relatives have similar conditions.
Ultimately speaking, the dullness of the body means slackness of body tissues, namely, the density of the body qi gets loosened. This brings the coldness into the body, and makes the body movement more dull.
All types of listlessness vary in terms of the extent of symptoms and they are not the same.
The expression that the body is heavy, is often used when one feels the weight on one's limbs and difficulty to move them, but sometimes one feels the whole body is heavy. Both of them are regarded as more serious conditions than feeling listless.
The heaviness of the body is sometimes felt even if one's weight is light. This means that the power of qi of inner organs cannot reach at extremities fully, so the movement of qi of extremities gets dull. Basically this occurs when the power of digestive organs becomes weak.
Here, the problem lies in the core where the body gets the acquired qi, but limbs are what makes such power of inner organs more active, so if one cannot use limbs freely, it is a fatal problem.
As recommended countermeasures, one changes the quality of the diet, ie. vegetarian foods that is more light to the body, and eats less.
*This article is translated from "Yamai hitokuchi Memo" p. 160-2, written by Shoji Kobayashi, 2005.
1. Feeling listless from waking up and during the morning.
2. Feeling listless in the afternoon and the evening.
3. Feeling listless the whole day.
When you feel weary only one day today, you can guess its cause thinking back what you did the day before.
The case when one feels dullness of the body from waking up and during the morning chronically is the type that one can accumulate the qi of the body by being active. One does not move the body during the night and the air becomes cooled down, so his/her power of qi gets weak in the next morning. This is the reason why one feels listless in the morning,.
Likewise, the case one feels listless or heaviness of the body in the afternoon and evening is the type one exhausts the body qi because of the daily activity. For this type, one has not to exhaust the energy during the night.
The third case, feeling listless the whole day means it is the more severe case than these two cases. The vital energy is getting weak overall, one exhausts the qi of the body by daily activities and he/she cannot fill the energy up during the night.
If one finds out the cause of such weakness of the body qi, one has to eliminate it. For example, the practitioner has to find out if the person always goes to bed after the midnight, he/she has enough sleep, whether the amount of the foods he/she takes are too little or too much, if he/she takes any medication regularly, if he/she is overwork, if the work environment is too cold, if he/she has excessive sexual life, if she is too active during her period, and as a matter of congenital qi, if one's family member or relatives have similar conditions.
Ultimately speaking, the dullness of the body means slackness of body tissues, namely, the density of the body qi gets loosened. This brings the coldness into the body, and makes the body movement more dull.
All types of listlessness vary in terms of the extent of symptoms and they are not the same.
The expression that the body is heavy, is often used when one feels the weight on one's limbs and difficulty to move them, but sometimes one feels the whole body is heavy. Both of them are regarded as more serious conditions than feeling listless.
The heaviness of the body is sometimes felt even if one's weight is light. This means that the power of qi of inner organs cannot reach at extremities fully, so the movement of qi of extremities gets dull. Basically this occurs when the power of digestive organs becomes weak.
Here, the problem lies in the core where the body gets the acquired qi, but limbs are what makes such power of inner organs more active, so if one cannot use limbs freely, it is a fatal problem.
As recommended countermeasures, one changes the quality of the diet, ie. vegetarian foods that is more light to the body, and eats less.
*This article is translated from "Yamai hitokuchi Memo" p. 160-2, written by Shoji Kobayashi, 2005.
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| So, the green outside of the clinic was "the gourd"!! It grows so fast!! |
NAJOM November 2012
There are three articles about Shakuju Therapy in the newly published NAJOM (November 2012)! Please check it out!
"Thoughts on Japanese Acupuncture" by Shoji Kobayashi
"Shakujyu Therapy: Case Study" by Cynthia Quattro
"Seminar Report: Shakuju Therapy, Hawaii, Spring 2012" by Ehrland Truitt
"Thoughts on Japanese Acupuncture" by Shoji Kobayashi
"Shakujyu Therapy: Case Study" by Cynthia Quattro
"Seminar Report: Shakuju Therapy, Hawaii, Spring 2012" by Ehrland Truitt
Saturday, July 7, 2012
Intake forms
In the advanced course, we have learned about "intake form".
When talking with staffs and students, the most of them ask technical questions, such as how to treat in which conditions and want confirm the skill, for example, the way to check the pulse and how to palpate with fingers.
Not so many people have focused on what to ask in interviews with patients. Shakuju therapy is performed with the ultimate etiology, the deficiency of Jin-qi and the efficient skill to tonify it, so it might look very simple at a first glimpse. So there are many misunderstanding.
For example, there is a patient with lower back pain. If I ask the practitioner what the cause is. The answer will be "the deficiency of Jin qi". However, does the patient understand with this answer? Maybe no. Then, I ask why the deficiency of Jin-qi occurred, not so many people can answer this question. In any treatment, there is a cause of diseases, so there should be causes that the Jin-qi diminishes. To look for the cause is history taking. In interviews, you have to ask when the deficiency of Jin-qi started, in which extent Hie is serious. In this process, what plays an important role is an intake form.
"The cause of your disease (the cause of your deficiency of Jin-qi) is blah blah, so let us change this with treatments, and please take care not to do blah blah any more..." Not so many people can explain such an ordinary thing to the patient. Even though you change the treatment form or acupuncture points, or furthermore you add how to use the consciousness, if you continue treatment without understanding the cause, what can be healed does not heal.
How can the fat person who is eating too much lose weight with only acupuncture treatments without controlling his/her diet? Furthermore, if you explain the reason why he/she is fat is the deficiency of Jin qi..., it just becomes chaotic.
When you get skill of interview and using intake forms, the treatment effect will change dramatically. Do not depend only on your techniques, acquire the knowledge as well in your everyday clinic!
* This article is translated from the Japanese Shakuju Association blog.
When talking with staffs and students, the most of them ask technical questions, such as how to treat in which conditions and want confirm the skill, for example, the way to check the pulse and how to palpate with fingers.
Not so many people have focused on what to ask in interviews with patients. Shakuju therapy is performed with the ultimate etiology, the deficiency of Jin-qi and the efficient skill to tonify it, so it might look very simple at a first glimpse. So there are many misunderstanding.
For example, there is a patient with lower back pain. If I ask the practitioner what the cause is. The answer will be "the deficiency of Jin qi". However, does the patient understand with this answer? Maybe no. Then, I ask why the deficiency of Jin-qi occurred, not so many people can answer this question. In any treatment, there is a cause of diseases, so there should be causes that the Jin-qi diminishes. To look for the cause is history taking. In interviews, you have to ask when the deficiency of Jin-qi started, in which extent Hie is serious. In this process, what plays an important role is an intake form.
"The cause of your disease (the cause of your deficiency of Jin-qi) is blah blah, so let us change this with treatments, and please take care not to do blah blah any more..." Not so many people can explain such an ordinary thing to the patient. Even though you change the treatment form or acupuncture points, or furthermore you add how to use the consciousness, if you continue treatment without understanding the cause, what can be healed does not heal.
How can the fat person who is eating too much lose weight with only acupuncture treatments without controlling his/her diet? Furthermore, if you explain the reason why he/she is fat is the deficiency of Jin qi..., it just becomes chaotic.
When you get skill of interview and using intake forms, the treatment effect will change dramatically. Do not depend only on your techniques, acquire the knowledge as well in your everyday clinic!
* This article is translated from the Japanese Shakuju Association blog.
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