Acupuncture Styles - Chinese, Western or Five Elements?

It is important the public is aware of the differences existing between the distinct acupuncture styles at present used in this country (UK).

Without such knowledge, they will be unable to make an enlightened choice when seeking practitioners for treatment or training courses should they wish to learn themselves.

The assumption is that acupuncture is "acupuncture" from who ever you receive it or wherever you train. This is misleading and unfortunately the terms 'acupuncture' or 'traditional acupuncture' are used indiscriminately.

Most acupuncture performed in the UK is likely to be described as traditional - but this gives no clear description of the exact type of acupuncture being offered.

This is very confusing for the public who without a detailed knowledge of traditional Chinese medical theories will regard "traditional" as relating solely to the kind of acupuncture practised in China. A very small proportion of the British population know that there are different styles of acupuncture.

'Traditional' could mean the type of acupuncture performed in present day China. This is very powerful and more invasive with deeper needling than the much more gentle and shallow acupuncture commonly used by practitioners trained in Britain - also often described as 'traditional'.

We believe it would be more suitable to have separate designations to describe these differences.

Acupuncture Chinese approach
Acupuncture Western approach

There is also another style that is based exclusively on Five Element theory which uses acupoints mainly located on the extremities and where needle insertion is often very brief.

This is a different style to the two described above and perhaps more suitable for members of the public that may not wish to experience the less comfortable, stronger acupuncture of traditional Chinese medicine. This gentler style could be described as:

Acupuncture Five Element approach
.
The public should be made aware that doctors, nurses, physiotherapists, osteopaths, chiropractors, etc do a very short acupuncture training, mostly just 2- 5 days. They mainly perform acupuncture for pain relief relating to musculo-skeletal problems. They come under a group called British Medical Acupuncture.

At the BODYHARMONICS centre, we teach - Acupuncture Chinese Approach.