The History of Acupuncture

Acupuncture is one of the oldest continuous forms of literate medicine in the world and has been practiced for over 2,000 years on millions of patients in each generation from every climate and over 200 races in China alone.

 Today, acupuncture is viewed as one of the world's top forms of treatment for pain by the World Health Organization. Read on to discover how millions of people are using acupuncture for health and wellness.

Want to know the 4,000 year old Taoist roots of acupuncture?

Read here: https://www.theacupuncturecenterohio.com/post/the-taoist-origin-of-chinese-medicine

Acupuncture as Lineage Medicine

The practice of acupuncture began around 2,000 years ago. Most acupuncture was practiced in family lineages, meaning fathers would pass their knowledge down to sons. An example of this family lineage system is Master Tung acupuncture (a system Dr Tim uses extensively), one that dates back 2,000 years in China. Acupuncturists were often retained by families as primary care physicians for everyone in the household; they knew each person’s constitution (genetic predispositions) and prescribed not only treatment but also diet, exercise, and chi gong based on age, gender, occupation, and the climate they lived in. Retained acupuncturists were paid when the family was healthy and not when they were ill so disease prevention was emphasized as was their authority over their patients’ lifestyle.

This history of family lineages helped acupuncturists gain a unique cumulative clinical knowledge of both preventing and treating pain and illness.

In the mid 20th century Master Tung Ching Ch'ang published his family’s lineage secrets by teaching paying students, publishing manuals and treating millions of soldiers in Taiwan. His treatment protocols are especially valued for helping practitioners treat pain from chronic, severe and genetic-level disorders.

At different times, the government, imperial family or military would take measures to study, standardize, and promote the use of acupuncture.

The imperial family was supposed to appear immortal, so acupuncturists and other masters were routinely summoned for top practices to generate health, vitality and ageless beauty in later life for royals where budget was no concern.

Acupuncture for combat: Different factions, regions, and nations within China fought each other throughout the long history of its civilization and certain acupuncture lineages developed around combat and the martial arts. One insight they learned is that the sooner you treat an injury the better it heals. The Chinese fought only during the day. At night another contest ensued: the medicine men would do their magic fixing every form of trauma (both physical and mental) and injury to their camp’s soldiers.  Whatever side fixed up their soldiers best would often win wars- a constant motivation to develop treatments for every kind of injury ranging from superficial cuts and sprains to the deepest bruising, broken bones, and damaged organs. These practices spawned the use of herbs and liniments you may see in any given Chinese herb store around the globe, as well as  cupping, gua sha, “stop bleeding” powder (now available as Yunnan BaiYao) and bone setting and specific acupuncture treatments for acute injury and pain.

At present, there is a formal system of Battlefield Acupuncture where tacks are placed in the ear of wounded soldiers in combat to prevent fatigue and post-traumatic stress and promote faster healing of injuries.

Dr Tim has learned many approaches to treat injury and acute pain over 30 years of practicing martial arts and studying with masters and lineage holders from combat medicine traditions. He has used this knowledge as an on-base acupuncturist in top US military integrative pain clinics to effectively treat thousands of active soldiers and veterans for pain, injury, post-traumatic stress and morphine dependency and withdrawals.

*Many patients also get acupuncture before and after surgery to significantly reduce pain and swelling, prevent scar tissue formation, and regain mobility soon after procedures.