Acupuncture
The origins of the Chinese ear- and body acupuncture can be traced back in China to about 450 BC. The purpose was to cast out demons that had invaded the patients’ spirit and body with pointed needles. It is interesting that the acupuncture points have names such as »demons’ storage« or »demons’ heart«. Acupuncture is one component of a complex medical system that also includes medicine, special kinds of movement and massage therapy (Qi Gong, Tuina) and nutritional guidelines. Interesting parallels can be discovered between acupuncture and natural cures as well as complementary therapies that have been developed over the centuries in our western hemisphere (herbal remedies, homeopathy, anthroposophic medicine, dietetics, the Kneipp method, physiotherapeutic methods such as the manual therapy, the osteopathy etc.).
Today, the effectiveness of acupuncture can be comprehended more by an energetic point of view. This means that the body contains a number of energy lines that cover the body. Symptoms of diseases develop in places where the harmonic energy flow is blocked or where disequilibrium, a block, an obstacle or a lack of energy occur. The acupuncture points can be understood as openings on the bodys’ surface, through which these energy flows can be influenced and guided to counteract these disturbances.
My personal perception is that acupuncture is a wonderful complementary expertise to my training in western traditional medicine. The western traditional medicine is clearly superior in diagnostics, classification and treatment of diseases within the system of western-scientific thought. Acupuncture, on the other hand, offers additional, important and successful possibilities of treatment on the so-called »symptom level«.
I am impressed by the fact that a number of important acupuncture points are effective in treatment of mental as well as physical diseases and disorders. Thus, a psychosomatic comprehension of diseases long before the discovery and foundation of psychosomatic medicine becomes apparent. For a long time, acupuncture has offered the possibility of holistic treatment, the same kind of treatment more and more in demand in our cultural hemisphere.
It is interesting that acupuncture as such does not exist in China. About 200 different schools are mentioned, and especially in the West and in Japan, classic acupuncture has undergone significant changes and developments (for example, the discoveries of Nogier regarding ear acupuncture, the trigger point therapy according to Chan Gunn, the »very point« technique and microsystems of Gleditsch, cranial acupuncture of Yamamoto, Smiths’ addiction therapy). These developments expanded the fields of application and improved treatment successes immensely.
In my office, I offer acupuncture treatments for a range of diseases and disorders, partly in combination with selected plant remedies or remedies of complementary medicine:
- Several types of headache (for example migraine, headache caused by tension etc.)
- Back aches (for example in the area of the cervical and lumbar vertebrae, also during a developing invertebral disk disease)
- Sports medicine (for example tennis elbow, irritation and inflammation of the achilles tendon, limitation of motion in joints due to muscular tension etc.)
- Allergic diseases (hay fever, asthma, rashes etc.)
- Sinus inflammation
- Irritable bowel syndrome, several types of digestion disorders
- Treatment for nicotine addiction, complementary therapy during treatment of alcohol detoxication and alcoholism
- Insomnia, anxiety, tension or panic
- Light to medium depression
- Hyperkinetic syndrome, tic treatment for children and adolescents
- Tinnitus
- Vision impairment etc.
Please ask about possibilities of treatment for diseases that are not mentioned above.
For each disease, I will clarify the therapeutic possibilities and chances of success in a conversation with the patient. Generally, three to five acupuncture sessions will be scheduled. After these first sessions, you should clearly feel a tendency toward improvement or cure. This shall determine the frequency and intervals of further acupuncture treatments.
Generally, an acupuncture treatment lasts between 30 and 60 minutes. For patients with private insurance, the fee shall be calculated in accordance with the fees regulation in force.
Unfortunately, the compulsory insurance companies have denied reimbursement of fees for most acupuncture treatments for the last three years. In the past, it was possible to obtain authorization for reimbursement by handing in a simple application, if the medical practitioner had a training certificate of a renowned acupuncture society. However, in order to cut costs, the reimbursement was then limited to treatment for chronic headaches as well as back and joint pains, and the reimbursement procedure has become very complicated for the treating medical practitioner.
This was the first indication of a policy that led up to the almost complete exclusion of natural remedies and remedies of complementary medicine of the health insurance companies’ beneficial catalogue.
However, I am open to counseling any patient with a compulsory health insurance and a solution to the problem of payment should be found in each individual case.
