Medical Acupuncture

Dr. Gustafson combines the best of Traditional Western Medical Education with the most in depth training and rigorous certification for acupuncture available to medical doctors.

In case five thousand years of treatment success is insufficient, The World Health Organization has determined that acupuncture is beneficial in disease treatment and prevention. The following list of conditions has been studied, and acupuncture has been deemed helpful in treatment.


Acute sinusitis
Acute rhinitis
Common cold
Acute tonsillitis
Bronchopulmonary Diseases
Acute bronchitis
Bronchial asthma
Eye Disorders
Acute conjuctivitis
Cataract (without complications) Myopia
Central retinitis
Disorders of the Mouth Cavity
Toothache Pain after tooth extraction Gingivitis Pharyngitis
Orthopedic Disorders
Periarthritis humeroscapularis
Tennis elbow
Sciatica
Low back pain
Rheumatoid arthritis
Gastrointestinal Disorders
Spasm of the esophagus and cardia
Hiccups
Gastroptosis
Acute and chronic gastritis
Gastric hyperacidity
Chronic duodenal ulcer
Acute and chronic colitis
Acute bacterial dysentery
Constipation
Diarrhea
Paralytic ileus
Neurologic Disorders
Headache
Migraine
Trigeminal neuralgia
Facial paralysis
Paralysis after apoplectic fit
Peripheral neuropathy
Paralysis caused by poliomyelitis
Meniere's syndrome
Neurogenic bladder dysfunction
Nocturnal enuresis
Intercostal neuralgia

Most people are aware of the use of Acupuncture in pain reduction but are surprised to learn that it is useful for chronic organ disease, emotional disorders and many endocrine and hormonal issues. Many other conditions, most of which do not fit in a western medical diagnostic box, have not yet been formally studied and do not appear on the WHO list, yet anecdotally have been helped by acupuncture. As such, acupuncture fits well into Integrative Medicine strategies of optimal health and disease prevention. It can be used to augment almost all conventional as well as alternative healing therapies.

What is Medical Acupuncture ?

Medical Acupuncture is acupuncture that has been integrated into a western based medical practice. It is derived from Asian and European sources. It is practiced according to pure traditional methods, and in slightly modified forms which have been clinically proven helpful by other medical acupuncture practitioners. It can be used with or without herbal therapies.

The hybrid acupuncture approach can help organize and treat symptoms which do not fit into our standard western medical disease diagnosis box. It often successfully treats patients who have heretofore failed medical therapy, and even alluded diagnosis.


As a physician, the medical acupuncturist can recognize early symptoms in a pre-disease state, in numerous conditions. The treatment can creatively be directed to activate and rebalance Qi ( pronounced chee). In the study of Acupuncture, a block in internal energy patterns, or Qi is considered to be the most important and primary factor in illness and disease. Acupuncture opens up the energy channels by assisting in the creation of electron flow in a specific pattern common to good health. Thus it returns abnormal energy patterns to normal. Joseph Helms MD explains it well:

“The classical anatomy of acupuncture consists of energy channels traversing the body. The principal energy pathways are named for organs whose realms of influence are expanded from their conventional biomedical physiology to include functional, energetic, and metaphorical qualities (eg, Kidney supervises bones, marrow, joints, hearing, head hair, will, and motivation; Spleen oversees digestion, blood production, blood-related functions such as menstruation, and nurturing and introspection). Acupuncture anatomy is a multilayered, interconnecting network of channels that establishes an interface between an individual's internal and external environments, permitting energy to move through the muscles and the various organs.
Treatment in acupuncture involves the insertion of needles along the channels of the involved organs to stimulate energy circulation that can influence the problem at its level of manifestation, thus restoring energetic balance and organ function in the organism”.


We use energy patterns in the diagnosis of heart and neurologic disease commonly, as well as to conduct imaging studies used daily in Western Medicine. We use electrical impulses in the treatment of heart rhythm disturbances and depression. It is not so much of a reach to realize that electrical (or energy) patterns exist throughout the organs and muscles in an orderly manner. Similarly, it follows that changing the conduction pattern through the use of metal needles to enhance electron flow can restore health and reduce pain. Again according to Joseph Helms, the affect of acupuncture influences the following:
· “the nervous system, which includes peripheral afferent transmission, perivascular sympathetic fiber conduction, and the central neurohumoral and neuropeptide mechanisms
· the blood circulation system, which transmits the biomolecular elements locally and centrally, along with the biochemical and cellular changes stimulated by acupuncture
· the lymphatic system, which serves as a medium for ionic flow along fascial planes and perivascular interstitial fluid circulation
· the electromagnetic bio-information system, which consists of static electricity on the surface, ionic migration in the interstitial fluid between the needles and as currents of injury at the needled site, and fascial and perineural semiconduction throughout the body.
· considerations are of special importance in acupuncture's application in pain management, where knowledge of dermatomal, myotomal, scierotomal, and autonomic innervation patterns is indispensable.”

Credentialing of the Medical Acupuncturist
Finding a credentialed acupuncturist can be a challenge. The American Academy of Medical Acupuncture is a good source to verify the education and training of the physician acupuncturist.
The American Academy of Medical Acupuncture (AAMA) represents the education, legislation, and professional interests of physicians who are well trained in acupuncture. Full membership in the AAMA requires 220 hours of formal training and 2 years of clinical experience. This standard follows the physician-training guidelines established in the constitution of the World Federation of Acupuncture-Moxibustion Societies, an international society guided by the World Health Organization. The AAMA has established a proficiency examination as the first of a two-part board certification examination. Membership eligibility in the AAMA has become the standard of physician credentialing for state registration, hospital privileges, liability insurance, and third-party reimbursement. It is likely that the proficiency examination will also become a requirement for participation in managed care programs (American Academy of Medical Acupuncture; Los Angeles, Calif).
www.american