Gilbert Matheney was facing 10 months of chemotherapy treatment for cancer, and he was worried about how his body was going to react to the treatment. The Waynesville massage therapist credits weekly acupuncture with helping him get through the invasive chemo treatments better than most.

ìI would come in here green, feeling like I had just given three quarts of blood,î Matheney said. ìAnd I would leave feeling great. I sailed through chemo at a 7 or 8 level, whereas most people go through it at a 1.î

Through with his chemo treatments and rid of his cancer, Matheney is still visiting his acupuncturist.
ìIt helps on so many different fronts. I feel so good I donít want to stop.î

As Matheney can attest, acupuncture works. As more people try the 4,000-year-old Chinese needle treatment and find success, acupuncture is gaining popularity as an aid in relieving a variety of woes. And in Western North Carolina, it seems to be catching on faster than in other parts of the state.

According to the North Carolina Acupuncture Licensing Board, there are 162 licensed acupuncturists (L.Ac.) in the state, and about five to 10 new practitioners are licensed every two months. Of that 162, at least 26 are in Asheville and the seven counties west of Buncombe. Thatís more than 16 percent of acupuncturists in an area that has about 5 percent of the stateís population.

Nancy St. Clair, the practitioner who treated Matheney, has been providing acupuncture treatment in Waynesville at the Alightenings Center for Healing since May 2000. Now a second acupuncture clinic, The Chinese Acupuncture and Herbology Clinic, has opened.

ìI think even eight years ago people thought acupuncture was unusual, but now it is considered pretty normal,î said Andrea Ford, who has been licensed for five years and operates the Chinese Healing Arts Center in Sylva. ìAttitudes have changed a whole lot.î

Ford and others say that while the use of acupuncture and Chinese healing herbs is growing, what is really changing is how the treatments are being used in conjunction with traditional Western medicine. They say many people now realize it is not an either-or choice.

ìWe work with a lot of physicians in Asheville,î said Cissy Majebe, who opened the Chinese Acupuncture and Herbology Clinic in Asheville in 1985. The clinic is the stateís largest, with offices seeing patients in Asheville, Hendersonville, Morganton and now Waynesville.

ìOften the best kind of care is a combination of eastern and western techniques. More physicians are becoming aware of its uses, especially with patients who have chronic pain.î

Dr. Stephen Wall is a Haywood County pediatrician who cracked a vertebrae three years ago in a skiing accident. He was treated for the broken bone but remained in pain. He visited his physician and had an MRI, but the pain persisted. He decided to try acupuncture in hopes of relieving pain that was so bad he could barely get out of bed each morning.

ìThree years ago I had eight sessions of acupuncture and some massage, and I was 95 percent cured of the pain and stiffness,î Wall said.

Wall said he recently attended a medical conference that focused on alternative and complementary medicine in pediatrics, the first of its kind that he can recall.

ìItís very exciting to see the use of alternative medicines, the integration of different modalities. People who are intelligent and not dogmatic realize the benefits of a mix of treatments,î Wall said.

Dr. Patrick Hanaway, a general practitioner with the Family to Family Clinic in Asheville, has also used acupuncture himself and referred patients for treatment. He said as patients get more comfortable about using acupuncture and alternative treatments, it can help traditional practitioners of western medicine.

ìWe are mixing the two in a way where we can all know whatís going on. In the past, if someone was using acupuncture, they might not talk with their doctor about it. Now, doctors recognize the benefits and we can discuss it with the patient and the practitioner,î he said. ìThat will lead to better treatment for the patient.î

Bill Collingswood, a 58-year-old Maggie Valley resident, has had more medical problems than most people could imagine: seven bypasses, multiple neck, head and back injuries, bone spurs, degenerative disc disease, and high blood pressure. His body has about seven feet of incisional scars.

His was taking heavy narcotics for pain and was facing several more operations on his back. He tried acupuncture, and has been surprised at the results.

ìFor the pain, sometimes the relief is almost immediate,î he said. In addition, he has been able to go off his high blood pressure medicine. His wife, a nurse, is amazed at how effective acupuncture has been, Collingswood said.

ìI donít quite understand it all. Weíve been studying nutrition and alternative health care for years. I was a martial arts instructor and understand the body, soul, spirit that is important in oriental arts, and I certainly agree with the whole philosophy,î he said.

A wide acceptance
But acupuncture isnít like yoga: it does not require a willing patient. In fact, it is sometimes used instead of an anesthetic in China for major surgeries. And it isnít just for pain. The World Health Organization lists about 50 conditions for which acupuncture is considered appropriate treatment, including everything from digestive disorders, stress, bronchitis, urinary problems and menstrual disorders. Though just catching on in the United States, it is a widely accepted treatment in Asia and Europe.

The explanation for how acupuncture works is that there are channels of energy that run in regular patterns throughout the body. This flow is referred to by the Chinese as Qi (pronounced ìchiî). The channels, known as meridians, flow like rivers and irrigate and nourish tissue.

If these meridians are clogged, it can lead to any number of problems. By inserting the needles into different body points that Chinese practitioners have located over the centuries, the regular flow of energy is re-established and disorders are corrected.

The needles are not like hypodermic needles. In fact, they are mere slivers, about the width of three human hairs, according to St. Clair.

Western medical scientists explain acupuncture's effectiveness in different terms. The points of the needles, they say, stimulate the nervous system to release chemicals in the muscles, spinal cord and brain. This release stimulates the bodyís natural healing abilities, they say.

Going mainstream
However one explains it, acupuncture is catching on. Majebe may be partly responsible for that acceptance, at least in North Carolina.

She opened her Asheville clinic in 1985, before the state required licensing for acupuncturists. In 1990, she was raided by the SBI for practicing medicine without a license after the N.C. Board of Medical Examiners filed a complaint. All her patient files and equipment were confiscated.

She turned around and sued the state, arguing that she had extensive training and should be allowed to practice acupuncture. She won, and the state set up a licensing board for acupuncturists. Majebe was the first chairperson of that board, appointed by the governor.

Diana Mills is the executive assistant for the N.C. Acupuncture Licensing Board in Raleigh. She said people who are considering acupuncture should make sure the practitioners have a license. To get a license, a person must have three years of study and pass state boards. Only then are practitioners allowed to display the ìL.Ac.î as part of their title.

The state law as currently written allows licensed medical doctors and chiropractors to practice acupuncture without obtaining an additional license. Mills, however, said the ìL.Ac.î designation definitely differentiates who has had the most training.

ìThe more educated and advanced in the field of acupuncture would be a licensed acupuncturist. There is only one MD in the state who is also a licensed acupuncturist,î Mills said.

Acupuncture treatment depends on a wide knowledge of the patient, and most clinics do an extensive intake that asks as much about emotional and psychological health as it does about oneís physical condition. That, according to practitioners, is a key to solving many problems.

ìI talk to people about an hour,î said Ford. ìLots of times its not just the physical breakdown thatís causing the problem. There is an awareness in eastern medicine to include the whole person in the treatment, and I think western doctors are coming back around to that.î

 

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