Now I’m not talking about doing Acupuncture while the patient balances on one foot. I’m referring to the often forgotten concepts of keeping your treatment “balanced” and the ideal position for your client to be in.
Balance Your Treatment
Although it isn’t incorrect to have your needles all in one place, it is preferred if you can spread things around a little.
Some leg points, some arm points, something on the abdomen or back. You don’t want to see only points on the lower body, or just the upper body (unless you are simply treating pain…perhaps).
Keep this concept of balancing your treatment in mind when you are refining your Acupuncture point selection.
Patient Position
What about the patient position – which position is best for the issues you are treating? Should they be face up or face down or side lying?
Most clinical cases which come in will make it very obvious as to which position the patient should be in.
For example, if someone comes in with issues surrounding their back (neck/back/posterior shoulder pain or perhaps menstrual pain around the sacrum or sciatic pain etc.). Your client will certainly expect to get treatment on the back.
Likewise, if your client has digestive concerns, chest/lung concerns, stress and anxiety – you are likely to treat them supine or face up.
Bottom line, your treatment should somewhat reflect where the chief concern is located – and the patient position should accommodate this accordingly.
Yin and Yang of Body
Other theories which may influence which position your patient will be in involve the Yin and Yang of the body.
Yin is the more supple anterior part of the body…if you are wishing to nourish Yin you may want to treat face up.
Yang is the harder posterior of the body and if you wanted to nourish the Yang of someone, perhaps treating the back is more idea – theoretically speaking.
Side lying positions almost entirely involve the treatment of pain such as sciatic nerve related pain or perhaps for those who are later on in their pregnancy.
The concepts of Yin and Yang are not hard rules by any stretch but merely theoretical suggestions.
Acupuncture Point Selection
Choosing the right Acupuncture points for a given diagnosis can be hard for most students. Consider the above concepts to help refine the number of points. Remember, you want to choose somewhere between 6-8 points for most internal disorders (when treating pain, it may be more).
For more on these concepts on how to master Acupuncture point selection – take the Acupuncture Point Selection Mastery online course! Check out more details and the free preview here!
You can be a better Acupuncturist!
