Hi!
Hope you all had a great Christmas. Let us all hope 2019 is going to be better than 2018!
You may remember some time ago I was concerned that some acupuncturists were reinventing both themselves and also long established ideas and techniques. Here at Dr Max Acupuncture we have been digging…We have found a paper from 1941 that, I think, quite accurately describes the first published account of a needle being used as a “diagnostic tool”. Admittedly, this was a hypodermic needle and not an “acupuncture needle” but we won’t be deflected by that!
Kelly M. The treatment of fibrositis and allied disorders by local anaesthesia. Medical Journal of Australia 1941;1:294-298
There are also the older texts. The Chinese physician Sun Ssu-Mo, in the 7th century A.D., is dry needling Ah-Shih points. These are tender points from where the patient’s pain is emanating. We now call these points Myofascial Trigger Points. Lu G-D, Needham J. Celestial Lancets. A history and rationale of acupuncture and moxa. Cambridge University Press; 1980. p.127. Thanks to Peter Baldry, old friend.
So: “There is nothing new under the sun” Ecclesiastes 1:4-11.
Have a very Happy New Year.