What is Acupressure?

Acupressure is a safe, proven, and non-invasive technique of applying subtle pressure to the body that can help provide gentle, effective relief for common ailments.  Pressure can be applied continuously for a period of time, or intermittently.  It can be applied with devices or a finger.

Acupressure is part of a system of medical treatment that originated more than 50 centuries ago in the Orient.  Derived from ancient Chinese and Tibetan scholarship and grounded in some five millennia of clinical practice and observation, acupuncture and acupressure gradually developed into a rich and effective medical art.  

Widely practiced throughout Asia for thousands of years, both acupuncture and acupressure are still considered by many family doctors to be nothing more than "quack alternative" approaches to preventive healthcare in the United States and Europe.  Yet, the World Health Organization (WHO), the American Medical Association (AMA), and even the FDA have acknowledged that acupuncture and acupressure have demonstrated merit and effectiveness in treating a large range of healthcare problems. To better understand how acupressure works, it helps to have a basic knowledge of acupuncture - acupressure is based on it. 

Acupuncture is, in essence, the practice of inserting fine needles through the skin and into certain "points" on the human body, often supplemented with mild electrical or magnetic stimulus.  These thin needles are inserted in key points along the body's surface, because they can influence physiological functioning of the body reduce or eliminate pain, improve motion and trigger healing processes. 

The chart here shows some of the many WHO-accepted acupuncture & acupressure points on the body.  Those used by the SnorEnder to inhibit snoring are located on the head.

Acupressure is the application of slight pressure, usually with fingers, to these same points.  Its effects are similar, but not as pronounced as those created with acupuncture.  Acupressure is basically just "acupuncture without the needles..."

Acupuncture and Acupressure in Western Medicine

Many American doctors became aware of the potential medical benefits of acupuncture during the Korean and Vietnam wars, where they witnessed first-hand the results of operations performed by local surgeons who relied on needles instead of anesthetics.

In fact, one of us who served in Vietnam actually participated in an emergency operation on a South Vietnamese soldier in the early months of 1969.  The soldier had been hit by an RPG (rocket-propelled grenade) during a firefight.  The grenade had not exploded, but was half buried in the patient's belly. 

A very skilled Vietnamese doctor performed a delicate operation on the floor of a hut, using only acupuncture needles for anesthesia,.  He carefully removed the unexploded grenade and repaired the damaged soldier's abdomen.  If the grenade had gone off, all of us in the room would have been killed.  The patient was conscious; and although in shock during the operation, he did survive to eventually recover.  That was our first introduction to the power and promise of "alternative" medical approaches.  In the decades that followed, there have been many more.

Gaining Medical Credibility

In the early 1970's, a videotape of a Chinese operation on a man who had been given no anesthetics offered a first glimpse of just how powerful acupuncture is to the wider medical community in the West. 

Filmed by a distinguished and very skeptical delegation of medical scientists and experienced surgeons from the American Medical Association, the videotape showed a young man having part of his lung removed while fully conscious.  During their trip to China, the delegation filmed many such operations.

As shown in this rather graphic film, only several small acupuncture needles were used for pain relief while the surgeon cut through the patient's rib-cage and organs.  No modern anesthetics or other pain relief was given.  A nurse fed him orange slices and green tea during the operation.  She talked with the patient at times, and at the end of the operation, the bandaged patient got up and walked out of the room.  Needless to say, this is still not something you're likely to see in a modern Western hospital.

Origins of Acupuncture

How old IS Acupressure?  The accidental discovery, a decade ago in the Austrian Alps, of the Ice Man has forever changed our understanding of who we Europeans were, how we lived, and what we believed some 5,300 years ago. This was a time well before the Pyramids, before China was united, before the Mediterranean cultures emerged.

Among these new understandings is a growing appreciation of the sophistication of ancient cultures and in particular their practical medical knowledge.  The Ice Man was tattooed on his back with a series of parallel lines.  Created with a knife and charcoal, these lines were placed over the same body areas that, some 500 years later, the Chinese would just begin to codify in their famous writings.  And only over those areas.

The only logical explanation for these tattoos, scientists now conjecture, was for therapeutic reasons.  Based on exhaustive analysis of his bones and muscles (well preserved in glacial ice for so many centuries), he had back problems, arthritis, and a low-level state of chronic infection before he died. 

What we are beginning to learn is that knowledge, especially medical, was passed from place to place along with trade goods far earlier and more widely than suspected.  It is probable that such early trade spanned not just local regions, but perhaps even continents.  After all, the distance from Europe to Asia is not infinite.

The first written records describing Acupuncture and Acupressure were found in the 4,700 year old Huang Di Nei Jing (Yellow Emperor's Classic of Internal Medicine). Often claimed to be the oldest medical textbook in the world, it was probably compiled from even earlier theories attributed to Shen Nung, the father of Chinese Medicine. Shen Nung documented theories about circulation, pulse, and the heart over 2,500 years before the Roman surgeon Galens lived, and 4,000 years before the great European scientists had any concept of how the human body was put together or functioned.

As the basis of acupuncture and acupressure, Shen Nung theorized that the body had an energy force running throughout it.  This energy force is known as Qi (pronounced "chi").   Modern research has confirmed that Shen Nung was not that far from the truth.  The human body, with its vast nervous system, is an energy pathway that has been compared to today's global communications networks in its complexity and functionality.

How Acupressure Works  - Medical Findings

Medical research over the past few decades has discovered that the human body produces a chemical, called endorphins, in response to the insertion and manipulation of acupuncture needles.  Well documented through research, this reaction indicates that the way that acupuncture may work is somehow related to the body's natural response to injury. 

Acupressure also causes the body to release endorphins in smaller amounts and for shorter periods of time.  It is this release that may trigger stress reduction and other anti-snoring effects during sleep.  This response, the production of large amounts of endorphins, blocks pain and speeds recovery from injuries.  It can also improve mental awareness and give the patient a feeling of well-being. 

While much more research is currently being done at universities and government labs worldwide on acupuncture, very little is being done in the field of acupressure probably because of its reputation and the difficulty of "standardizing" the amount of pressure actually applied to points.  Our research into the effects of subtle, magnetically-induced acupressure on several key acupressure points on the head has indicated that while this approach is beneficial, much more research is needed. 

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What Can Acupuncture and Acupressure Treat?

The World Health Organization (WHO) is the premier medical association in the world, and is widely respected for its research and global activities to improve human welfare.  Because more than half the world's people live in cultures (including the USA) that accept "alternative" or complementary medical practices, the WHO has established and funded comprehensive programs to better understand their efficacy and safety. 

(http://www.who.int/bookorders/anglais/detart1.jsp?sesslan=1&codlan=1&codcol=93&codcch=196#)

WHO's web site states:

"With the unprecedented expansion of interest in acupuncture around the world, the need for a standard international nomenclature has become increasingly apparent. Practitioners and researchers everywhere must speak a common language as they attempt to ascertain the clinical benefits of acupuncture and elucidate the underlying physiological mechanisms."

This report records the consensus reached by a WHO Scientific Group on a standard international acupuncture nomenclature which met in Geneva from 30 October to 3 November 1989. Building on the proposals of expert meetings organized by the WHO Regional Office for the Western Pacific since 1981, the Scientific Group agreed that the standard international nomenclature should comprise an alphanumeric code as well as the Han character names of meridians and acupuncture points, along with their transliterations into the Chinese phonetic alphabet (Pinyin) and their English translations.

The experts went on to propose standard nomenclature for the 14 main meridians, the 361 classical acupuncture points, the 8 extra meridians and the 48 extra points, and for scalp acupuncture lines.  In our more than five years of research into snoring, we have determined that there are a number of unconventional "patterns" of acupressure points that seem to beneficially influence snoring. 

The report concludes with recommendations for the standardization of other areas of acupuncture nomenclature and for further action by WHO and its Member States in respect of basic training for the practice of acupuncture, regulation by health authorities, safety and research.

Issued by the World Health Organization medical branch of the United Nations, the following is a provisional list of conditions that this internationally respected medical authority asserts can be treated, at least to some extent, with acupuncture and acupressure:

o        acne

o        anxiety

o        arthritis

o        asthma

o        back pain

o        Bells palsy

o        bronchitis

o        bursitis

o        cerebral palsy

o        colds

o        colitis

o        constipation

o        deafness

o        depression

o        diabetes

o        diarrhea

o        dizziness

o        earaches

o        eczema

o        flu

o        hay fever

o        headache

o        hemorrhoids

o        hepatitis

o        herpes

o        high blood pressure

o        hypoglycemia

o        impotence

o        indigestion

o        infertility

o        irregular menses

o        insomnia

o        menstrual cramps

o        morning sickness

o        neuralgia

o        pelvic inflammatory disease

o        poor eyesight

o        premenstrual syndrome

o        ringing in the ears - tinnitus

o        sciatica

o        sinus infection

o        sore throat

o        sprains

o        stiff neck

o        stroke

o        tendonitis

o        trigeminal neuralgia

o        ulcers

o        vaginitis

That's a pretty good range of serious diseases.  What's even more impressive is the growing number of respected medical experts in the US and around the world who agree that acupuncture (and it's more gentle twin, acupressure) may have  a therapeutic impact on so many chronic health problems.   Acupuncture has also been found to be helpful in the treatment of chronic fatigue syndrome, auto-immune illnesses, post-surgical recovery, fibromyalgia, issues related to aging, stress reduction, addictions, and decreased immunity. 

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Having said this, we remind you that neither this web site nor our company is offering any health or medical advice or claims of any kind - expressed or implied.  This information is provided to inform you, not to treat you.  Please see your healthcare professional for that. 

Our products are intended for comfort only and are not designed or intended to treat any disease.  And we urge you not to rely on "alternative" healthcare remedies without first consulting with a qualified, licensed - and informed - healthcare professional.

How Acupressure Works - Ancient Chinese Theory

In Chinese acupuncture/acupressure theory and practice, the Qi  (pronounced "chi") is described as the sum of all essential life activities, including spiritual, emotional, mental and  physical aspects.  A person's health can be influenced by the flow of Qi in the body, in combination with the universal and opposing forces of Yin and Yang (discussed later in this article).

If the flow of Qi is insufficient, unbalanced, misdirected or interrupted, Yin and Yang become unbalanced, and illness may occur. Qi travels throughout the body along special pathways or "meridians."  These meridians or channels might be considered analogous to the central nervous system, although they are not really the same.  Meridians are the paired, the same on both sides of the body, and there are fourteen primary meridians running vertically up and down the surface of the body.  These are further sub-divided into twelve "organ" meridians located on each (mirror-image) side of the body in pairs.  There are also two unpaired or midline meridians.

The acupuncture points are specific locations where meridians come to the surface of the skin, and are easily accessible by "needling," Energy constantly flows up and down these pathways. When pathways (think of nerve pathways and endings) become obstructed, deficient, excessive, or just unbalanced, Yin and Yang are said to be thrown out of balance. This may cause discomfort or even illness. Acupuncture and acupressure are, the Chinese theory claims, said to restore the balance.

Oriental Philosophy of Acupuncture and Acupressure

Yin and Yang is an important theory in the discussion of Acupuncture treatment, in relation to the Chinese theory of body systems.  Qi is an energy force that runs throughout the body. It is also prevalent throughout nature as well. Qi is comprised of two parts, Yin and Yang. Yin and Yang are opposite forces, that when balanced, work together.

Any upset in the balance will result, it is claimed, in natural calamities in nature, and disease in humans. Yin is signified by female attributes, passive, dark, cold, moist, that which moves medially, and deficient of Yang.  Yang is signified by male attributes, light, active, warm, dry, that which moves laterally, and deficient of Yin. Nothing is completely Yin or Yang.  The most obvious example of this is a human being.  We all are a combination of our mother (Yin) and father (Yang), and we contain qualities of both.

You have probably seen the universal symbol describing the constant flow of yin and yang forces. You'll notice that within yin, there is Yang, and within Yang, there is the genesis of Yin.  

Its important to understand that this theory is just that.  You don't have to believe in Taoist philosophy, which this is based on, to use acupressure.  All you need to understand is that it works, that hundreds of rigorous medical studies in the U.S., Canada, Australia, Japan, Asia, and Europe have shown its beneficial effects, and that the AMA and the FDA both admit there is substantial medical value in acupuncture and acupressure. Even as researchers are working to figure out why.

Acupuncture and Acupressure In Use Today

In practice, acupuncturists can use as many as nine types of Acupuncture needles, though only six are commonly used today.  These needles vary in length, width of shaft, and head shape. Today, most practitioners use needles that are disposable - used once and then discarded in accordance with medical biohazard regulations.

Acupressure is generally performed with the fingers.  It is much less precise, but non-intrusive.  It can also be learned and practiced by anyone with relative ease.

There are a few different precise methods by which Acupuncturists insert needles. Points can be penetrated with needles anywhere from 15 degrees to 90 degrees relative to the skin surface, depending on the treatment desired.  In most cases, the acupuncturist (or application of acupressure techniques) is looking for a specific sensation that is felt by the patient. This sensation, which is not painful, is called deqi (pronounced da-chi).

After inserting a needle, an acupuncturist may use a number of needle-manipulating techniques such as Raising and Thrusting, Twirling or Rotation, Combination of Raising/Thrusting and Rotation, Plucking, Scraping (vibrations sent through the needle), and Trembling (another vibration technique). Acupuncture techniques are learned from long training and experience and are carefully chosen based on the diagnosed problem.

There are a few related procedures that fall into the range of acupuncture and even acupressure treatments. The first is electro-acupuncture: using micro-voltage electrical impulses delivered through specific acupuncture needles. This method can be used for pain relief or prevention and the amount of power used is only a few micro-amperes (think of the current that comes from a 9-volt battery), with a current frequency that can vary from 5 to 2,000 Hz.  Higher frequencies are generally used for surgery (usually abdominal), and lower frequencies for general pain relief. The first reported successful use of electro-acupuncture was in 1958 in China for a tonsillectomy. Today, it is a common method of surgical analgesia used throughout Asia.

The groundbreaking and very controversial work of Dr. Hulda Clark has also been compared to electro-acupuncture.  Her studies and approach are outside the scope of this article, but may be worth some investigation if you are interested in unconventional (and definitely non-FDA approved) disease treatment methods.  Other methods for stimulating Acupuncture points have included the use of lasers and ultrasound (Sonopuncture).  

In the treatment of tinnitus (ringing in the ear), a commonly used treatment in the United States is Auriculotherapy or ear acupuncture.  The theory is that since the ear has a rich nerve and blood supply, it would have connections all over the body.  What is also known is that there are a rich number of acupressure "hotspots" located on the head surrounding the ear.  This may be why some SnorEnder users have reported a lessening of tinnitus symptoms.  But, given the lack of rigorous clinical studies and scientific theory to explain observed effects, we cannot claim any beneficial results.

Because the ear has many Acupuncture points that are interconnected (in acupuncture theory) to many parts and organs of the body, auricular Acupuncture has been successful in treating problems ranging from obesity and alcoholism to drug addiction.

There are a growing number of credible studies either completed, or currently underway that indicate the effectiveness of auricular acupuncture in the treatment of certain health problems.  However, the FDA and leading medical organizations have generally reserved their approval pending more research.

Acupuncture, Acupressure and Snoring

Because snoring may be triggered or increased by underlying health problems such as sinus infections, stress, colds, anxiety, bronchitis, headaches, insomnia or sore throats, treating these conditions (either with acupuncture or acupressure, or through Western medicine) may help reduce or temporarily stop snoring.

There are approximately 100+ acupressure points located on the head that may affect how the human body performs.  Snoring is influenced by three major systems:  nervous, respiratory and lymphatic.  Acupressure has been demonstrated to have effects on each of these systems.  Our research indicates that the application of slight and intermittent "pressure" on some of these acupressure points may reduce snoring.  Such "pressure" may be applied bio-mechanically, through direct manipulation of these areas, or through small, focused magnetic fields in close proximity to specific points.

Other Effects - Tinnitus

As a side note, during development of the SnorEnder, we noticed that about 25% percent of the people who used earlier and current versions of the SnorEnder technology reported that their chronic tinnitus (ringing in the ears) seemed to lessen with regular use over a period of several months.  Those subjects that did report some decrease in symptoms said that they didn't notice the effects immediately, but only after some period of time - about 9-15 months. 

This effect was noted, but we do NOT claim that the SnorEnder can do anything about tinnitus.  Mainly because we really have no solid hypothesis about how this might be occurring, although acupressure, getting a better night's sleep and reduced stress may be helpful.  Tinnitus is a very difficult health problem, with many possible causes and few (if any) effective treatments.  Still, if it can help even one person reduce that incessant ringing in the ears, there may be some value in at least trying acupressure and/or the SnorEnder.

Recently (January 2008), a study in Europe seems to indicate that application of an electro-magnetic field to the head has some significant potential for relieving tinnitus.  If this proves out, it will be a real godsend for millions of sufferers.

Acupressure and Related Approaches

Because it can be self-administered, one of the most popular alternatives to acupuncture is acupressure which is simply acupuncture without needles. Stimulation of key acupuncture points is performed with the fingers or an instrument with a hard ball shaped head. Another variation of acupressure is Reflexology (also called Zone Therapy). This is where the soles of the feet and the posterior-inferior regions of the ankle joints are stimulated. Practitioners claim that many diseases of the internal organs can be treated in this manner.

Technical Insights

So, just how does acupuncture work?  In spite of decades of careful research, scientists dont yet have definitive answers to this question, but there are a few commonly-held theories.

Immunity Augmentation - through as-yet unknown processes, acupuncture and acupressure seem to raise levels of triglycerides, specific hormones, prostaglandins, white blood counts, gamma globulins and enhance anti-body levels. 

Endorphin Production - acupuncture and acupressure have been shown to significantly stimulate the production of endorphins in the body (specifically Enkaphalins).

Neurotransmitter Levels  - it has been observed that the production of certain neurotransmitter hormones (particularly seratonin and noradrenaline) can be increased through acupuncture and acupressure.

VasoCirculatory Effects - acupuncture has demonstrated that it can affect the circulatory system by dilating or constricting blood vessels. This may be caused by the body's release of certain vasodilaters such as histamine in response to acupuncture needles or finger pressure
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Nerve Gate or Impulse - it has been demonstrated that a patients perception of pain is controlled by the nervous system which regulates triggered impulses that may be interpreted by the brain as pain.  Acupuncture points and meridians have been discovered to have high electric conductance which is related to high density of nerve gap junctions. The neuro-humoral approach in acupuncture research was instrumental in establishing the scientific validity of acupuncture and acupressure. However, it is largely descriptive with little prediction power, and has not been able to explain many observations in acupuncture.

A number of studies have suggested (but not yet proved) that the nervous system may contain structures that act like "gates".  Some research indicates that these gates seem to allow or limit sensory impulses.  If the gate is hit with too many impulses, it becomes overwhelmed and closes, preventing some impulses from getting through.  Since the first gates to close would be the smaller nerve fibers that carry pain impulses, the possibility exists that acupuncture needles or acupressure may actually trigger these gates to close or open.