Interactive Medical Acupuncture Anatomy PDF

Preface

Awakening to acupuncture as neuromodulation permanently transformed my teaching and practice. In contrast to the early days of my acupuncture education, when I hungrily consumed and dutifully assimilated the belief systems required to adopt an energy-based viewpoint, I am no longer willing, nor ready, nor able to accept that acupuncture works through mystical, spiritual processes.

That is, I, like so many others, was taught that needling stirred an unseen electrical force (“Qi”) along invisible lines called “meridians”. When I learned, through mentors such as Deke Kendall, OMD, PhD, that the notion of acupuncture as “energy medicine” possessed neither a scientific nor historically accurate basis, I was shocked. How could this entire domain of acupuncture energetics result from a mistranslation of the Chinese word “Qi” in the early 20th century into “energy”, “for lack of a better word”?

After reviewing the evidence for and against an energy-based mindset in acupuncture, I found no other rational explanation for its effects other than through, primarily, the nervous system. Intellectual honesty forced me to let go of belief systems entirely and instead teach only truth based on science and evidence. Intellectual curiosity led me to find far more beauty and wonder in the anatomy of acupuncture than even the most elaborate fairy tales ever could.

What I discovered inspires me endlessly. The modern science of acupuncture replaces the myths and metaphors of yesteryear with detectable mechanisms and measurable outcomes. The neurovascular channels beneath the skin allow us to both literally and figuratively “connect the dots”, i.e., acupuncture points. The anatomical structures assembled at each site tell of their function and thus their effects.

Acupuncture then becomes more accessible, predictable, and sensible. Knowing which nerve pathways to target and why constitutes the cornerstone of noninvasive neuromodulation with acupuncture. Starting at the acupuncture point, one can follow a nerve’s centripetal course to the spinal cord, autonomic centers, and the brain. The nervous system’s responses to scientific medical acupuncture and related techniques thereby become clear, as fact replaces fiction.