Scalp Acupuncture at Back In Action in Richmond, VA
Acupuncture and Chinese medicine are thousands of years
older than Western medicine. Yet,
in Western culture, we understand very little about it. With continual advances
in research and technology, it is without doubt that the more scientific and
explainable a technique, the more accepted and trusted it becomes.
Chinese scalp acupuncture is a contemporary acupuncture
technique integrating Chinese needling techniques with Western medical
knowledge of the brain. It is becoming more mainstream due to its east/west
overlap. It has also been proven
to be very effective with central nervous system and musculoskeletal disorders,
often producing remarkable results with just a few needles and usually bringing
immediate improvement.
Scalp acupuncture began in the 1950’s when various famous
physicians introduced Western neurophysiology into the field of acupuncture and
explored correlations between the brain and human body. Dr. Jiao Shun-fa, a Chinese
neurosurgeon is the recognized founder of scalp acupuncture. His original
mapping of the brain and its affects on the nervous system, have been the
cornerstone for modern day acupuncture applications, which really didn’t take
place in the states until the late 70’s.
Unlike traditional acupuncture, where a needle is inserted
into a single point, in scalp acupuncture, needles are painlessly threaded into
sections or zones of the scalp that correspond to areas of the brain
responsible for sensory and motor input, vision, speech, hearing and balance.
Only a few needles are inserted, then hand stimulated by the practitioner –
again, not painful. Each needle
only spans an area of about 1.5 inches beneath the scalp. With the stimulation of the needles,
one often feels sensations in a completely unrelated area, such as the arm or
foot.
Scalp acupuncture is frequently used in the rehabilitation of numbness,
tingling, weakness, phantom pain, reflex sympathtic dystrophy, loss of balance,
dizziness, vertigo, headache, multiple sclerosis, fibromyalgia, pain associated
with arthritis, sciatica, frozen shoulder and many other neuromuscular
disorders. There are often
unintentional but welcomed other effects, such as improved mood and improved
organ function.
The nervous system and study of the brain is complex and
often overwhelming to practitioners other than doctors who study the brain,
spinal cord, and nervous system at length. Dr. David A. Berv, chiropractic
sports physician and diplomate in acupuncture, has been involved in the study
and practice of neuromusculoskeletal rehabilitation for over 20 years. He specializes in the treatment of pain
and related orthopedic and neurologic sequelae.
In the Western medical model, there are often dead-ends and
reliance upon medication, which leads to frustration and disability – seen for
example in multiple sclerosis and other progressive neurological diseases. The
application of scalp acupuncture can not only can improve one’s symptoms, but
slow the progression of physical disability and reduce the number of relapses.
Scalp acupuncture offers a new opportunity for those who have seen a lack of
progress with their current regimens.
Dr. Berv has been trained and certified in advanced scalp
acupuncture techniques. Scalp acupuncture is one of a number of specialty
modalities that Berv has integrated into the advanced treatments available at Back In Action.
