What to learn in acupuncture and massage majors

To put it bluntly, this is a clinical major with a medical degree. The core of what you learn is how to use acupuncture and massage, two types of traditional Chinese medicine external treatment methods, to safely and effectively solve common clinical diseases. It is by no means a "craft job" that laymen think you can get started by recognizing acupuncture points and practicing your hand strength.

When I first entered school, I thought I would be able to touch a needle in half a semester at most. However, I didn’t even touch the handle of a needle for the first half of the year. I first took half a person’s worth of basic courses: systematic anatomy, basic theories of traditional Chinese medicine, diagnostics of traditional Chinese medicine, physiology, and pathology. None of them was easy. To be honest, if you want to treat low back pain, you must first distinguish the positions of the third transverse process of the waist and the superior iliac spine, right? You have to understand the segment of lumbar disc herniation on the CT film, right? If you can't even tell whether the patient's pain is caused by muscle strain or lumbar tuberculosis, and you just press and prick it, you are not helping but harming others.

Only after you have passed the basics can you start touching on the core professional content. Let’s talk about acupuncture first. It’s not just about memorizing the 362 acupuncture points of the Fourteenth Meridian. You have to practice your finger strength first. Whenever I had free time, I would hold a needle and prick the paper pad until the fingertips became calluses. Then I dared to prick my own Hegu and Quchi. I had to experience the sore, numb and swelling feeling of “Deqi” before I dared to practice with my classmates. In addition to the most commonly used filiform acupuncture, you must also be proficient in commonly used external treatment methods such as moxibustion, cupping, auricular acupuncture, and skin acupuncture. Last month, I met a young man with a stiff neck in the outpatient clinic. The pain was so painful that his neck could only be tilted to one side. I inserted the Houxi acupoint on him with Qi Dynamic acupuncture. I twisted the needle for two minutes and asked him to slowly turn his neck. He was able to move most of his movements on the spot. This was all practiced through repeated details in the class.

Let’s talk about the massage that everyone often talks about. The more standardized name in our profession is massage, which is completely different from the relaxing massage in health shops outside. When I first started practicing the technique, I practiced the rolling technique on the massage table every day, until my forearms were so sore that I couldn't hold the chopsticks when eating. The teacher repeatedly said that you need to rely on the waist and abdomen to bring strength to your arms, and you can't just use your wrists to fight hard. Otherwise, you won't be able to work for two years and you will get tenosynovitis and frozen shoulder. In addition to conventional relaxation and tendon management techniques, you must also learn bone-setting and repositioning techniques. Of course, the prerequisite is to memorize the contraindications thoroughly. Last time, a girl in the first year of high school had a misalignment of her cervical vertebrae facet joints after sitting at her desk for a long time. She had a headache for three days. The teacher found the right position and used a light wrench. When there was a click, the girl immediately said that her head was not heavy. But if it were an old man with severe osteoporosis, if you dare to wrench casually, it would be a medical accident.

Speaking of which, I would like to mention that the industry has always had different views on the logic of acupuncture and massage. Many doctors of the older generation believe more in the traditional theory of meridian qi and blood, and believe that classic acupoint selection and techniques are effective enough without resorting to Western medicine explanations. Younger doctors are more willing to combine modern fascia theory and neural gate control theory to explain the efficacy. For example, the principle of acupuncture analgesia can be explained clearly using the logic of nerve conduction. When we were in school, we were exposed to both ideas. The teacher would not say which one is absolutely correct. We would all find out the suitable way in clinical practice. As long as we can safely solve the patient's problem, it is a good method.

In fact, in addition to this, you also need to learn Western medicine diagnosis, imaging reading, health regulations, and medical ethics. After all, it is a serious medical profession, and you must be responsible for the patient every step of the way. It's a bit helpless to say that many people now think that our profession is a "craft learned by people with little education." After reading it, I realize that the classics to be memorized and the effort to practice are no less than those of ordinary clinical majors. However, every time I see the patient walking out of the door relaxed after acupuncture and massage, I feel that all the effort has been in vain.