Here at Boise Acupuncture Co-op, we treat everything through points in the lower legs, forearms, feet, hands, head, neck, and ears. That’s right EVERYTHING! We can do so because of the way the body and brain are connected. There are several different styles of acupuncture. Our practitioners primarily practice “distal acupuncture”, also known as meridian acupuncture or balance method acupuncture. Distal acupuncture means we use points that are located further down the limbs, or away from the pain/problem area. We do this for several reasons:
1) The area of pain will not get further injured by needling.
Acupuncture is placing needles into the body. And sometimes when the body/area is inflamed like right after an injury we do not want to go shoving a foreign object into that area. It doesn’t feel good, and it can potentially cause more damage. So we help the body heal by using points away from the injury.
2) Distal points are the most powerful points.
Certain acupuncture points have specific uses or jobs. The points with the most jobs are distal points. One point, say in the hand, can have several functions and be able to treat a dozen different health concerns. This is in part due to the nervous system. Areas farther away from the trunk of the body (hands, feet, and face) have FAR MORE nerve endings that connect to the brain - as you can see from the image below. These nerve endings send messages up the central nervous system to the brain to tell the body what to do. The needling of acupuncture points causes a cascade of natural chemicals and hormones to be released which can increase blood flow, decrease pain, and help the body heal. The more connections the points have to the brain, the greater impact we can make in the body.
3) No need to get naked.
Thanks to distal acupuncture, you don’t need to bare all- that’s right most of the time everyone is fully dressed. This enables us to treat more people at the same time in the same room and keep our prices low. Sometimes we might adjust clothing a little, roll up sleeves & pant legs.
4) It’s our job.
And lastly, if we weren’t doing what our patients were paying us to do we wouldn’t be here. BAC is committed to our mission and committed to providing relief. We will do what is best for our patients first and foremost.
We understand that it is hard to see how putting a needle in your foot can help your back. If you'd like to learn more, check out “Why Did You Put That Needle There?”, by Andy Wegman. We always have a copy on our coffee table, or you can download it for free from Manchester Acupuncture Studio.