Acupuncture is an ancient and miraculous medical science that originated in China. Acupuncture refers to a treatment method that uses acupuncture and moxibustion as the main treatment methods under the guidance of traditional Chinese medicine theory, and uses the characteristics of meridians to "connect internal organs and external limbs" to stimulate the body's own disease resistance after stimulating acupuncture points, so as to achieve the purpose of disease prevention and treatment. Acupuncture has a good effect on the prevention and treatment of most diseases, and has made outstanding contributions to the health of the Chinese nation for thousands of years, and is still trusted by the masses to this day, playing an important role in the process of disease prevention and treatment.
However, although acupuncture is good, like other medical disciplines, it cannot cure all diseases, and there are certain contraindications and precautions.
Contraindications to acupuncture
Before receiving acupuncture treatment, patients should accurately, truthfully and objectively introduce their physical discomfort to the doctor, including whether they have past medical history, family genetic history, chronic disease history, infectious disease history, allergy history, long-term or recent drug history (including health care drugs), especially whether there have been accidents such as fainting needles (including faint moxibustion and halo pot) during acupuncture in the past, whether it is scarred constitution, and whether the woman is in the menstrual period, pregnancy, and lactation period, so that the doctor can accurately distinguish the syndrome and decide whether to carry out acupuncture treatment.
(1) Diabetics
Due to the high blood sugar of diabetic patients, once a wound is formed, even a small wound is more difficult to heal than ordinary people, and it will be more troublesome if acupuncture is improper. As early as the Sui and Tang dynasties, the physician Sun Simiao had the advice that "those who quench thirst and disease for more than 100 days should not be moxibustion, and moxibustion will leak pus on the sores without stopping, and then become carbuncles". Therefore, diabetic patients, especially "old-fashioned" diabetic patients with unsatisfactory blood sugar control, should carefully choose acupuncture and strictly grasp the indications and contraindications. Acupuncture should be prohibited in patients with acute metabolic disorders, ketoacidosis or hyperosmolar coma in diabetes, as well as patients with diabetes mellitus and skin infections and ulcers.
(2) Patients with abnormal coagulation function
Hemophilia, thrombocytopenic purpura and other diseases will cause patients to have a long clotting time, or it is difficult to clot, and some people need to take aspirin, compound salvia tablets and other blood-inhibiting drugs that inhibit platelet aggregation all year round for various reasons, resulting in abnormal coagulation function. If these two types of patients are treated with acupuncture, they are prone to have difficulty in clotting blood at the eye of the needle and the blood flow will not stop after the needle is started. During cupping, subcutaneous capillaries will rupture due to negative pressure and gua sha stimulation in the cupping, which has certain medical risks. Therefore, regardless of whether the coagulation dysfunction caused by disease or drug should be classified as contraindications to acupuncture, cupping, and scraping.
(3) Other contraindications
Although acupuncture has good effects on heart disease, hypertension, menstrual irregularities in women, and correction of fetal malposition in pregnant women, it is not suitable for patients with unstable angina pectoris and high-risk hypertension, and women who have no special needs during menstruation and pregnancy.
In addition, people with allergies, especially those who are allergic to iron (stainless steel) and lactating women, should also carefully choose acupuncture. Skin infections, ulcers, and tumor sites are not suitable for needle pricking.
Precautions before acupuncture
"The Yellow Emperor's Neijing, Su Wen, and Prohibition of Thorns" says: "No thorn is drunk, which makes people angry, no thorn is angry, no thorn is angry, no thorn is angry, no thorn is very laborious, no thorn is new and full, no thorn is hungry, no thorn is thirsty, and no thorn is amazing." "Caution patients who are drunk, angry, fatigued, after a full meal, hungry and thirsty, highly nervous, and extremely weak in constitution should not undergo acupuncture, and if acupuncture (cupping) and other treatments are carried out, fainting (fainting, fainting) can easily occur. Therefore, patients should easily receive acupuncture treatment under the premise of eating in moderation, being in a good mood, and not getting tired.
In order to facilitate acupuncture treatment, patients should wear loose-fitting clothing that fully exposes the selected acupuncture points without exposing the skin too much. Women should especially pay attention to wearing two-section suits, not elastic clothing (corsets), tights, dresses, cheongsam, suspenders, etc.
Precautions when acupuncture
During acupuncture, the patient should relax the whole body, breathe evenly, take a comfortable position, do not be nervous, do not move the limbs arbitrarily, and carefully experience whether there is normal acupuncture sensation such as slight pain, soreness, numbness, swelling, heaviness, heat, coolness, itching, convulsions, ant walking, electric shock, conduction or diffusion sensation after acupuncture.
During acupuncture, if there is sudden appearance of mental fatigue, dizziness, palpitation, shortness of breath, nausea and nausea, paleness, cold sweat and other faint needle (fainting, dizziness, dizziness), you should inform the doctor in time.
Precautions after acupuncture
Acupuncture is a "minimally invasive intervention". It is inevitable that small blood vessels will be encountered during acupuncture, causing local small areas of bleeding and subcutaneous bruising, which is not harmful to the human body except for the appearance of the body. After the needle is removed, the patient only needs to press firmly for 3 ~ 5 minutes. Localized small subcutaneous bruises generally do not need to be treated and can gradually resolve on their own. There are also some sensitive people, after acupuncture, slight pain, soreness, numbness, swelling, heavy, heat, cool, itching, convulsions, ant walking, electric shock or conduction, diffusion and other acupuncture sensation will exist for an hour, patients do not need to worry, just pay attention to rest, do not rub, stimulate the place with these feelings, can gradually subside on its own.
Generally speaking, do not get water on the pinhole within 2 hours after the needle is started, and if it is a fire needle, a three-edged needle, or an ear acupoint, the needle hole should not be watered within two days. Localized skin should be kept clean to prevent infection.
If there is an accidental burn during moxibustion, if the blister is less than the size of a soybean, you can not do any treatment, just protect yourself from pricking the blister, and it will be absorbed and scabbed in about half a month. If the blisters are larger than the size of soybeans, they should go to the local hospital for surgery and be treated by a specialist.
After moxibustion, you should avoid eating raw, cold and spicy food, and do not take a bath on the day of moxibustion. Patients with long-term moxibustion should eat a light diet, eat more fruits and vegetables appropriately, and prohibit spicy and easy-to-fire foods. If the patient has numbness in the hands and feet, and the skin sensation in the limbs is reduced or disappeared due to various reasons, the doctor should be informed in time to prevent unknowingly burns during moxibustion.
Cupping is one of the types of acupuncture treatments. After cupping, due to the negative pressure of the cupping and the patient's individual skin reasons, there are sometimes small blisters, small water droplets, bleeding spots, blood stasis or local itching in the cupping area, which are normal phenomena and do not need special treatment, the small blisters will be absorbed by themselves, and the bleeding spots, blood stasis or local itching can subside on their own. If the blisters are large or have many small blisters in one piece, it is best to go to the local hospital for surgery and be treated by a specialist. Don't take a shower on the day after cupping, even if you sweat a lot, don't wash it, this is because the skin is in a state of being hurt after cupping, it is very fragile, and taking a bath at this time can easily lead to skin breakage and inflammation.
People with scar constitution should pay special attention to prevent scars after acupuncture, burns during moxibustion, and blisters during cupping.
For acupuncture therapy, the author has a little insight: Chinese acupuncture and moxibustion are simple and effective, avoid hidden dangers, remember taboos, and work together with doctors and patients to protect health.
Director of the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine
Hosted by the Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences
Knowledge of Chinese medicine Health and wellness information
The copyright of the article belongs to Family Chinese Medicine, and it is not allowed to be reprinted or excerpted without authorization. The copyright of the picture belongs to the original author.
Please use the prescription under the guidance of a physician.
This article was written by Cai Xiaogang
Editor: Chaoyang